Q&A with the RHS Garden Bridgewater team

We spoke to Kimo Morrison, communications and people manager at RHS Garden Bridgewater, about the garden’s new pre-opening tours and plans for the future. 

Why did you decide to open RHS Bridgewater up for pre-opening tours?

It’s because we had so much interest. People have been fascinated with the project and want to find out more about where you start with developing a 154-acre site.  

What can we expect from the pre-opening tours?

The whole experience will take about three hours end to end. They will start with a safety briefing and the tour of the site. The guides are wonderful and will talk about everything from history and horticulture to future ambitions for the site. After the tour groups will have the opportunity to look at the exhibition and find out about the stories associated with the garden.

What will groups get out of a pre-opening tour?

It’s a unique opportunity. We are developing an extraordinary world-class garden. On the pre-opening tours groups will have the opportunity to give us their opinion on the site and have input into things like the menu we will offer in the café, what they enjoyed most, and what they’d like to see more of, so they will have the opportunity to leave their own fingerprint on the future garden.

How will RHS Bridgewater stand out from the other RHS gardens?

RHS Bridgewater will be the first RHS garden set in an urban environment. It’s right in the heart of the city so it’s going to be completely different to the others in many respects.

More about the pre-opening tours

During the tour, groups of 20 people at a time will be able to see how the 154-acre garden is being developed on the grounds of what was once Worsley New Hall – a grand mansion that was built in the mid-19th century and demolished in the 1940s. 

Parties will get to walk around areas of the site that will become the kitchen garden, the wellness garden and the centrepiece Paradise Garden. They’ll get to see how the hall’s historical lake is being sympathetically restored and learn how a brand-new lake, stream, and stream-side Chinese garden is progressing. 

Depending on group fitness, visitors will also be able to see the Cold War bunker that was built on the site in the 1950s and walk around the area where Worsley New Hall once stood, fronted by grand, sweeping, ornamental terraces.

Other highlights of the experience will include the opportunity to see RHS Bridgewater’s rare breed Berkshire pigs at work – they’re responsible for turning over the land in areas of the site like the spot earmarked for the orchard – and a look at the Grade 2 listed entrance gates.  

RHS Bridgewater will be offering pre-opening tours for groups of 20 on Mondays between April and September 2019. Tours cost £5 per person and the money will go back into developing the site.