March 10th: Plas Dinam, Llandinam
After a long miserable soggy Winter, the thought of wandering around a beautiful garden in the sunshine, topped off with tea and home-made cake, may seem a distant dream. However, take heart- the National Garden Scheme season is almost here. Garden owners met at Plas Dinam with the NGS team this week to prepare to welcome visitors and raise money again for a wide variety of health-related charities for 2026. Over £42,000 was raised in 2025 across Powys as part of the UK total of £3,875,596, and with 60 gardens to choose from this year, old and new, all we need is the sunshine!
Celebrating 10 years of opening their gardens for the NGS were Rufus and Cherry Fairweather from Rock Mill in Abermule, near Montgomery, and Simon Cain and Simon Quinn from Hurdley Hall, near Churchstoke. They were presented with a certificate and ceremonial trowel by North Powys County Organiser Susan Paynton and Nerys Sales from The Carer’s Trust. Details of both gardens can be found in the Powys booklet distributed across the County, and at www.ngs.org.uk .
£450,000 was donated last year to The Carer’s Trust, with £6.5 million given to support 135 carer organisations across the UK during the 30 years’ partnership with the NGS. Nerys Sales gave an overview of the Trust and described some of the many ways in which the carers in Wales have benefitted.
Of course, as it was the National Garden Scheme, the meeting concluded with tea and lots of homemade cake!
Feature image: Rufus and Cherry Fairweather from Rock Mill.
Image credit: Laura Shepherd from www.laurashepherdslensphotography.com
