The Crossing House At Shepreth

When I was little I sometimes was taken to see my Nan in London. We went on the train which greatly added to the excitement for a small boy. Now, (before one of my witty readership asks if it was on a steam train) it was on a steam train. As we chugged through the green countryside I always looked out for the Flowers Beside The Tracks. 

This was a stretch of line which had been planted up with garden flowers alongside railway - it seemed to go on forever. It was the work, I was told, of the level-crossing keeper, who was employed to open and close the gates where the road crossed the rails. When not performing this arduous task he tended his plants. And when he ran out of space in his garden he spread his activities along the line.

It seemed an idyllic existence but one which was doomed; automatic gates were soon to replace the crossing-keeper.

It became clear that I would have to seek alternative employment. I could draw neatly and had a head full of useless facts so, a few years later, they sent me up to university to study geography. That meant travelling up to London by train again.

Although the crossing-keeper had been made redundant I was pleased to see that his flowers lived on, seeding themselves by the trackside.

Twenty-one years ago I moved to the village of Meldreth, just a mile or two from the flowery level-crossing of yesteryear. There was the house, right beside the railway, with a little sign on the gate which read "Plant-lovers are welcome to wander around this garden".

The house and garden had been sold but the garden was still being cared for and added to.
Well, it was only a matter of time before I had to go and investigate. So today, twenty-one years after moving so close to it, I passed through the little garden gate for the first time!

Although the site can't be much more than a quarter of an acre in size it's crammed full of plants, both traditional and the more unusual. What's more it's only a five minute stroll from Docwra's Manor gardens which are open regularly throughout the summer, so ideal to visit on the same day. 

Amazingly, in this day and age, there's no charge for entry - not even a box for donations as far as I could see - and it's open from dawn till dusk every day of the year! They obviously just like to share their garden with the world.

Oh, and those self-seeding plants are still surviving by the tracks. 

                                                                                                                  Take care.