Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland to feature on BBC1’s Escape to the Country

Barnsdale Gardens will feature on BBC1’s Escape to the Country on Monday at 3pm.

A crew filmed in Rutland during August and spent a day at Barnsdale Gardens with owner Nick Hamilton.

Presenter Steve Brown chats with Nick before seeing the new ‘Cutting Garden’ and the allotment, where they harvest runner beans.

Steve, a former captain of the Great Britain wheelchair rugby team, is also a presenter on Countryfile.

Nick said: “It was great to have him in the gardens because he’s a novice gardener, but very keen to learn, particularly about gardening for wildlife. He said that he’s gone away full of ideas and very inspired for his own plot at home.

“His visit also reinforced how accessible the gardens are for visitors who use wheelchairs and those with mobility issues. I don’t know which bits of what they filmed will be included in the programme and will only find out when everyone else does!”

Nick's father, the gardener Geoff Hamilton, was a member of the team on BBC's Gardeners' World television programme from 1979 and filming often took place at his home in Rutland.

In 1983 he moved to a Victorian farmhouse with more than five acres of land, and 'Barnsdale' as people now know it was born.

The work that Geoff started not only continues in the gardens at Barnsdale but also through the charity set up in his memory.