RHS Bridgewater, Worsley, Salford

Helen and I are on our way to the Lake District for a week and stop off en route to visit RHS Bridgewater, in Salford, Greater Manchester.

RHS Bridgewater is the RHS's most recent site and only opened in May 2021; it is a modern revival of the historic Worsley Hall New Estate. This former grand estate covered 154 acres and was visited by Queen Victoria. It had many fine gardens but was requisitioned during WWII and used as training grounds. It fell onto disrepair and was eventually demolished, although the Bothy House, chimney, and Garden Cottage survived. The RHS stated their work in 2017, and RHS Bridgewater is still developing and has many projects coming through.

After entering, we walk towards the Chinese Streamside Garden (being developed in collaboration with the local Chinese community) to its Music Pavilion (the first of four pavilions, apparently). We then walked around Ellesmere Lake and through Upper Middle Wood to the Weston Walled Garden area;  this is one of the largest Victorian walled gardens in the UK and in its original incarnation contained a series of kitchen gardens built to service Worsley New Hall. It is divided into two halves, the Paradise Garden (comprising lily pond, Asian and Mediterranean planting) and the Kitchen Garden (inspired by the local history). We then walk through the Community Grow and the Community Wellbeing Gardens.

It has been a good visit, but RHS Bridgewater is a work in progress and needs to be revisited again by us in the future.Read more