Helmsley Walled Garden launches first in a series of Community Days

The first event launches on June 10 and will kick off with free-of-charge ‘starter’ willow-weaving workshop (paid garden entry is required).

Course-goers will learn to weave a garden ornament which they can take home and further decorate if they wish.

A spokesperson for HWG said: "We are encouraging picnics in the garden and the Vine House Café will also be supplying pre-bookable lunch boxes which visitors can enjoy on the lawn. The afternoon will see a posy-picking event, especially for children, where they’ll use a map to find, learn about and pick a bunch of blooms to take home."

There has been a walled garden beside Helmsley Castle, since 1758, built to provide fruit and vegetables for the Feversham family at Duncombe Park.

By the mid-1800s the walls contained glasshouses and structures for growing exotic fruits, and at that time there were about 20 full-time gardeners working within its walls. It was abandoned in the 1920s after the First World War brought devastation to the estate and its staff.

There were some later attempts to use it as a market garden, but it became derelict and may well have remained so but for the vision of local nurse Alison Ticehurst, who was looking for a place that could not only be a beautiful garden, but could also provide healing and therapeutic horticulture.

In July 1994, she found the garden an overgrown wilderness, and together with a band of friends and helpers began the process of bringing order to the area. Alison died in 1999, but her legacy lives on in the garden, which, as well as offering visitors the chance to escape from the stresses of the outside world, is now a charitable venture with strong community links.

The spokesperson added: "The first thing you’ll notice once you have entered the Garden is the peace and tranquillity. Overlooked by Helmsley Castle and Duncombe Park, these work in tandem with the garden’s walls to bring a sense of safety and security to the people contained within its boundaries.

"Gardening is a great leveller – there is always a task of some kind that can be undertaken by anyone, no matter their level of skill, experience, or ability. Related to this, our garden is entirely maintained by our 100- plus volunteers, who all contribute to the garden in a meaningful way, and who all equally benefit from their involvement in the garden.

"The well-being of our visitors, who come from near and far, is just as important to us. And so, we are launching a series of Community Days over the course of the summer and autumn months. Bringing people together to enjoy time outdoors.

"It’s never been more important to get out into nature, and there are numerous studies showing that being outdoors, in a green space, can have a huge impact on our mental wellbeing. It’s this that sits at the very heart of what Helmsley Walled Garden is all about."

The Garden is open every Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to last entry at 4pm from March to December.

The willow weaving workshops have been kindly subsidised through a grant from Helmsley Town Council.

Further courses include:

• July 4: Learn to weave a bird feeder. £20 – allows entry to the garden.

• August 26: Second Community Day – ‘Get out in Nature’.

• October 14: Third Community Day - Learn to weave an obelisk.

• October 21 & 22– Apple Weekend.

For more information go to www.helmsleywalledgarden.org.uk