Flowers and trees and birds (of prey), oh my…

A few weekends ago, in a flash of boredom, I googled if there were any interesting gardens near us. (I’m 15 years away from being 50, I swear…) I’d really liked our summer hols trip to Bedgebury Pinetum with the in-laws a couple of years ago, and figured if there was something like this nearby it would be the perfect place to spend a beautiful spring day. Thorp Perrow Arboretum popped up in the search results and off we went!

The Maps app told me it was about 40 minutes to an hour to drive the scenic route along the A61 through the Dales, and let’s just say it wasn’t wrong about scenic! Thanks to some traffic lights being out through Harrogate, we arrived an hour and 15 minutes later. It had been a while since I’d driven through the Dales and I’d forgotten just how full of winds and blind corners it is.

Here’s a little tip if you’re thinking about going to Thorp Perrow – book your tickets online a few days before you go and it’s a little bit cheaper (£13.95 adult, £9.20 child). I didn’t think to do this and it cost us a couple of quid extra each. Plus there’s always a chance the gardens are at capacity if you just turn up.

It was a blazing hot day and I just loved being able to get up close to photograph the flowers and catch the streams of sunlight in the tree trails. We decided to just go with the flow and not get a map, but I think that meant we missed a few areas we might have liked.

After a wander round a couple of tree trails, we headed to the bird of prey area (clucking at a few wild chickens along the way) to watch the owl and hawk display. Now, I have a complicated history with owls thanks to a terrifying story my grandad told me as a child, but who honestly could be scared of old Colin here?

Isn’t he gorgeous! He’s apparently been on show for over 20 years and boy did he put on a display. The hawk was amazing too, flying off behind the trees to strategically and silently swoop and dive for his prey. The show was so worth the ticket price alone!

Then we wandered over to the meerkat and wallaby enclosure. I’ve never seen wallabies in real life, so that was a nice experience. You can buy food from the little shop next to the bird of prey area to feed the wallabies and pygmy goats. By the time we got there, the wallabies I assume had been fed for most of the morning so weren’t interested in our goodies! The goats, however, couldn’t get enough.

After a stomp around the bog garden and some pictures of a pretty acorn statue, it was time to make our way home. I’m sure we’ll be back!