Chance to explore an inspirational garden and a tranquil art gallery

It is the garden at Hill House which has provided so much of the visual richness which has inspired artist Nancy Murgatroyd.

She created it with her late husband, Keith, after he became a tetraplegic.

She said: "It shows that wheelchair- friendly can still be beautiful if you use different shapes and textures, and create interesting vantage points."

Over the years, the garden grew into a lush tapestry of brilliant flowers, shrubs and trees. But, late last year, she allowed a friend with considerable horticultural experience to cut it back heavily.

"She was far more daring than I would have been. She has revealed the whole structure and lightness that I never knew was there because you plant things and you don't realise how much they have grown.

"It has really been a delight to work with someone who has completely different knowledge to you, and comes to the garden you have created completely afresh.

"And then there was that hoar frost and it was magical out there.

I have enjoyed the garden so much this winter."

The creation of more light in the garden has accompanied a change in her artwork. She was encouraged to take up painting when her husband became paralysed and she could no longer continue her own career in fabrics and clothing, colour forecasting, and buying and directing design teams.

As the garden developed, she became renowned for her studies of flowers in acrylics and oils.

Whether they are quite intimate or up to a metre in size, they are designed to engage the viewer in a visual adventure, encompassing both balance and contradiction.

Her work often touched on the light and dark side of our thoughts and, following the pain of bereavement in 2005, she felt drawn to painting large, abstract canvases which allowed the mind to explore all kinds of emotions.

As the processes of adjustment have continued, her work has become lighter and clearer, just at a time when her garden is being transfused with light.

She also enjoys painting fruits and vegetables, even finding inspiration from one of the smallest country shows in Yorkshire - at Thornton Rust in Wensleydale.

From May 17-18 and May 24-26, her gallery will be open as part of North Yorkshire Studios 08. This year, Jackie Hunt will be showing her glassware against the backdrop of the garden.

Mrs Murgatroyd said: "That will be a lovely time of year in the garden because I have planted a lot of bulbs."

She has enjoyed preparing for the event, and an earlier exhibition, as they have provided her with opportunities to work with others.

"It's fun sharing with others and seeing things from a different point of view," she said.

Her gallery, like the garden, is a living memorial to her husband.

As with all the work on the house and garden, she shared every detail with him so that he could be part of the project.

Originally, the gallery was a derelict building. As it had two fireplaces and chimneys, it is possible that it was originally two medieval cottages. Or, as one of the fireplaces was in the yard, it might have been a stable with a smoking room for curing bacon.

The archway which frames the window looking out on to the garden was blocked in with stone.

Once opened up, the light from the garden poured into both floors of the gallery.

But, upstairs, the floor was rotten and Mrs Murgatroyd said of the crook beams: "The only things supporting them were the woodworms holding hands."

They kept those as a design feature, but had new beams installed to support the old stone slates.

They managed to retain the Yorkshire sliding windows by adding new frames and glass to keep the upstairs room warm and cosy.

"It wasn't until towards the end of the project we realised it would be super for the gallery," she said. "It's an amazingly tranquil and peaceful building.

"The concept of the gallery is important - it needs to be relaxing and unpretentious.

"If people are going to do something important, like buying a picture, they should be able to do it in a relaxed manner and take as long as they want."

That peacefulness is equally important for Mrs Murgatroyd as she has a busy life.

For many years, she was chairwoman of the Middleham Key Partnership, which was responsible for implementing the £2.8m Rural Challenge project. She was also chairwoman of trustees of the Middleham Key Centre, built as part of that project.

She is a member of the Middleham Heritage Group and, for the past ten years, has worked as a non-executive director in the NHS. Her most recent appointment was to the Yorkshire Ambulance Services in 2006.

She has always been passionate about the delivery of good health care and enjoys all the challenges involved in developing and modernising the service.

She said: "Sometimes people think that it is strange for a painter to be chairing a governance committee in the NHS, but it makes perfect sense to me. I can use my analytical and business skills to help improve something I believe in, and then come away and do something entirely personal. So I am really very fortunate.

"But I sometimes feel that, if I didn't have to get up and go to work, I might spend all my time just enjoying the garden and never leave Middleham.

"There is one thing for sure - every time I drive back into the town, I think what a great place it is to live."