Frogmore Gardens

The weather has been beautiful the past couple of weeks and what a lovely lunchtime treat we had on Thursday when we took our meal deals along to picnic at Frogmore House and gardens. The House is only open to the public for a couple of days in May and a couple of days at the end of August each year. It's well worth sticking a reminder on your calendar. Tucked away off the long walk, lying less than a mile from Windsor Castle you would never imagine that it was there until you visit.

The first building you come to as you meander through the gardens is the Royal Mausoleum built to house the mortal remains of Prince Albert and many years later his widow, Queen Victoria. The Mausoleum was unfortunately closed this year, but the interior was inspired by Prince Albert's favourite artist Raphael and is definitely worth a visit. The gardens are stunning in May with all the Rhodedendrons in magnificent full bloom. Our tickets this year were in aid of St Dunstan's which supports blind Servicemen and women and with lots of veterans in attendance it felt a very worthy cause.

As you pass the Mausoleum you come to a pretty bridge which you cross over to the main pathway towards the house. This is a very dramatic view as you turn a corner and see the house in all it's glory reflected in the lake. We didn't manage to go inside the house this time as had to get back to the office, but I would recommend the full tour. The house includes some recent royal history including letters between Royals, beautiful art and fabulous views out over the gardens and lake.

Parts of the gardens are relatively recent having been remodelled in the seventies by the Keeper of the Gardens. At the same time, numerous donation of trees and shrubs were made in commemoration of Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee and these are maturing beautifully. Having read through the booklet I see that we have still managed to miss parts of the garden so we shall just have to go along again next May and spend a bit longer there next time!

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