As mentioned in the previous post, I went with my family to some gardens last week – Biddulph Grange Garden to be specific. The weather was bright and sunny which made it perfect for this sort of excursion. We ended up spending a few hours there as though these gardens are fairly small they are built in a maze like manner, with no sign posts and plenty of tunnels and cleverly hidden entrances. You basically get given a very basic map, then you are on your own trying to find your way around. That is how the gardens were designed, the map tells you. “We want you to experience the spirit of surprise and exploration”, it tells you. Well, my sister and I were certainly wandering around in circles before we finally discovered the entrances and passageways that would take us to where we wanted to be. (My aunt and my mother had long given up and gone for lunch) Along the way we bumped into another couple who were also hopelessly wondering around trying to find the bowling green, to little success. It really was frustrating, but strangely fun. You could not help but feel accomplished every time you stumbled upon a cleverly concealed entrance, every time you then managed to uncover a new section, and of course, once you’d finally managed to see everything (minus the bowling green. We really could not figure out where to go for that, either.)