Once again I eschewed a weekend on the sofa to get out and about in my adopted home county of Sussex, not least as I was once again joined by a friend staying for the weekend.
Leonardslee sits a few miles south-east of Horsham over the border in West Sussex. I say over the border, whilst the county is divided administratively many locals still refer to it as simply Sussex. It was also just a short run from Southwater, where Patsy was first dropped off for her annual wallet busting service.
Leonardslee only re-opened in 2019 after being closed for 10 years, the new owners carrying out a thorough restoration of the gardens as well as adding a vineyard.
Arriving around lunchtime we elected to eat our packed lunch in the car to save carrying a bag around - this turned out to be opportune as I later discovered on flipping through the website that no outside food or drink was allowed. A little mean perhaps although like many things at the moment I’m not sure how it’s enforced. Picnic baskets could of course be purchased from the café.
In the main we followed the prescribed walk around the gardens, which is indicated as mobility scooter accessible but not suitable for wheelchairs due to some steep slopes. Mobility scooters can be hired and a buggy shuttle service runs most days giving those with limited mobility access to the lower gardens and lakes.
Whilst the sun remained largely shy the autumn colours were certainly impressive and it was a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours. Right, enough of the inane waffle - to the photos:
We finished our walk with a restorative cuppa in the courtyard of the Clocktower Café. A Pot of Tea for two turned out to be two paper cups with hot water and a teabag but it was refreshing at least.
As with many places at the moment, pre-booking is strongly advised - www.leonardsleegardens.co.uk