We were lucky to have a break in the appalling early June weather for our trip to Kelmarsh Hall Gardens.

In the last few days we had seen torrential rain and high winds, and the cancellation of the Harborough Carnival Parade for the first time in 60 years, so we were watching the weather forecasts closely.

Fortunately the gods were smiling on us for our coach trip, with the day staying dry and relatively warm (although the rain returned after we were all safely home).

We were split into two groups so that our guide Sam could take one group on a tour of the gardens while the other group enjoyed their refreshments and we then swapped over. Sam proved to be immensely knowledgeable and was able to talk to us us not only about the gardens and plants, but also the history of the house.

It was agreed that it was a very enjoyable outing, with several of our members commenting that, though they had lived locally for many years, they had never been to Kelmarsh Hall before.