Tour Overview
Photographers have been drawn to gardens since the camera was invented. Whether to try to capture specific blooms or atmospheric settings, the garden has always been a source of inspiration. The dawn of the digital age has brought photography within the grasp of a wider range of people. Whether you use a sophisticated SLR or simple ‘point and click’ camera, the home computer certainly has revolutionised our interest in, and the possibilities from, amateur photography. That said, no one does it better than our friend Ray Cox, a professional photographer who specialises in garden photography and whose work is regularly featured in many national newspapers, magazines and books including the recently published ‘Scotland for Gardeners’, a wonderful new guidebook full of beautiful garden images. Together with Ray we have organised a stimulating new style of garden tour which he will host throughout. It is aimed specifically at those with an interest in photography who have a grasp of at least basic techniques, and are keen to learn more about how to improve their own photographs taken in a garden environment. Anyone who needs to discuss the level of expertise required to get the most from the holiday can contact Ray by email at info@rcoxgardenphotos.co.uk
The holiday is based at the comfortable, 3 star Loch Melfort Hotel, ideally located on the coast amidst spectacular West Highland scenery. All rooms are en suite with TV and hospitality tray and enjoy breathtaking views over Asknish Bay to Jura, Shuna and Scarba. The hotel’s Arduaine Restaurant holds two AA Rosettes for food and its menus largely feature fresh local produce from farm and sea.
Just a short walk away is the National Trust for Scotland’s Arduaine Garden. We spend a full day in Arduaine’s twenty acres of outstanding woodland plants, and visit a selection of other gardens in Argyll which should be at their very best in early spring – An Cala, which enjoys beautiful seascapes of the islands to the west; Angus Garden, famed for its collections of hybrid rhododendrons and azaleas; Crarae, spectacularly set in a dramatic gorge and Ardkinglas, with its many champion trees. The vivid colours cloaking the gardens, the magnificent scenery surrounding them and Ray’s expertise should ensure plenty of memorable photographs!
In the evenings at the hotel Ray will hold a range of informal ‘clinics’ and will show examples from his own portfolio as to how to incorporate different techniques on your own, and how to get the most from your camera. Then at each garden visit he will set you the challenge to take your own photographs incorporating these techniques. Just for fun on the last evening there will be a prize for the best photograph taken on the tour.
Monday 10 May 2010
We depart by coach from our designated pick up points and, with breaks for refreshment en route, drive up Loch Lomond-side and over the Rest-and-be-Thankful pass; through Inveraray and down Loch Fyne to Lochgilphead, where we turn north to Arduaine and check in at the Loch Melfort Hotel. There will be time to take the short walk to Arduaine Garden to familiarise yourself with the garden before dinner, after which Ray will make the first of his presentations to give technical advice and, hopefully, some inspiration ahead of our garden visits.
Tuesday 11 May 2010
After breakfast this morning we visit the National Trust for Scotland’s gem of a garden at Arduaine. The garden here was started in 1897 by James Arthur Campbell, a tea planter, and a friend of Osgood MacKenzie, the creator of Inverewe Garden. It is a splendid site, moist and mossy and full of the most magnificent plants. Although known primarily in rhododendron circles for its major species collection, Arduaine also boasts all the usual spring flowering favourites such as camellia, azalea and magnolia. However the range of vegetation here is very extensive; something can be found from every continent and we have a unique “behind the scenes” tour with Head Gardener Maurice Wilkins. A stroll to the easily accessible cliff top viewpoint affords glorious views of a spectacular coastal and island panorama. Today we include lunch in the hotel and, as Arduaine is adjacent to it, you are free to spend as much time as you like in the garden before wandering back to relax before dinner is served in the evening.
Wednesday 12 May 2010
Today, following breakfast, we visit two gardens in the north of Argyll. We travel first beyond Oban to the shores of Loch Etive, where by Taynuilt we find Barguillean’s ‘Angus Garden’. This a nine acre woodland garden set in superb scenery, with stunning views towards Glen Etive and Ben Cruachan. There is an extensive collection of rhododendron hybrids, including a large collection of North American rhododendron hybrids from famous contemporary plant breeders; deciduous azaleas; conifers and unusual trees.
In the afternoon we cross the “Bridge over the Atlantic” to the Isle of Seil to visit the small, private garden of An Cala. Snugly set into the horseshoe of cliffs which surround it, An Cala’s colourful borders, rockeries, streams and quirky garden buildings embody the romantic English heyday of the 1930s. It is very much on a domestic scale but its situation is grand, looking out to the sea with the islands of Luing, Scarba, Mull and the Garvellachs in the distance.
We later return to our hotel for dinner, followed by the presentation of the prize for the best photograph taken during the tour.
Thursday 13 May 2010
This morning after breakfast we check out of the hotel and retrace our steps round Loch Fyne to Crarae Garden. Rescued by the National Trust for Scotland in 2001 and now fully restored with new plantings, this is a spectacular, 50 acre woodland garden centered on the Crarae Burn which tumbles through a wooded ravine in a series of cascades. In late spring the garden is a blaze of colour thanks to the great Asiatic flowering shrubs - azaleas, camellias, magnolias and rhododrendrons. Crarae also has some of the largest and most brilliant examples of the Chilean flame tree, smothered from top to bottom in fiery red blossom at this time of year.
We continue to nearby Ardkinglas Woodland Garden, wonderfully situated overlooking Loch Fyne and containing many champion trees, including one of the tallest in Britain. Throughout spring and early summer the fine rhododendron collection and carpets of fragrant bluebells create a riotous display of colour, and wildlife abounds – look out for the red squirrels!
Following this, our final visit, we return to our original pick up points where we expect to arrive in the early evening.
Three nights dinner, bed and breakfast and one lunch at the Loch Melfort Hotel, Arduaine. All rooms have private facilities.
Comfortable coaching throughout.
Admission to the gardens of Arduaine, Angus, An Cala, Crarae and Ardkinglas.
Services of Ray Cox as tour manager and photography tutor.
Single room supplement £90.00
Insurance £19.00 (66 years and over £38.00)
Rail/air travel and overnight accommodation in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth before and after the tour is available on request.
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Departure
points
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Depart
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Return
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Aberdeen
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0800
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2245
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Arbroath
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0905
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2110
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Montrose
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0845
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2130
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Dundee
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0930
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2045
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Perth
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1000
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2015
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Kinross
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1100
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1915
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Dunfermline
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1115
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1900
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Edinburgh
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1200
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1815
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Glasgow
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1315
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1700
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Please note all pick-up points are subject to minimum numbers. All timings are approximate and are subject to change, and will be confirmed when the joining instructions are sent out, approximately ten days prior to departure.
A four-day package by air from London is also available from £625.00 per person – please ask for our separate brochure.