You may have glimpsed a sea of snowdrops from the cinder track at Clayton, but did you know those dappled brick paths curve away to a wider secret garden? Or perhaps, thanks to the National Garden Scheme, you’ve been one of those lucky visitors who’ve benefited from a restorative spring visit. Deirdre Huston chatted with Jane and Nick Baker, to find out how they nurtured the gardens at Pembury House into a horticultural haven.
In 1983, they moved to Pembury House in Clayton. It was originally a three-bedroom house with an art déco fireplace in the dining room. “When we arrived,” says Jane, “I used to have terrible nightmares about the weeds whereas Nick saw the house and garden as a challenge.” Over the years, they’ve extended the house, in a style sympathetic to its origins and gardens, including the addition of a Victorian style glasshouse. Nick continues: “In those early days, I could come home and paint in the evenings, but then teaching changed.” Increased administration tasks, demands of parents and continuing governmental changes reduced their leisure time and, in 2006, the couple were pleased to retire. When they moved in, the garden was just mown grass with weed-ridden borders, alongside the cinder track. Over the years, they’ve added more land, making it three acres. The garden has evolved organically. “There was no real plan,” says Jane, ‘’except we knew we wanted to plant trees.” She remembers: “I used to drive to Heathfield and pick up slender tree seedlings or ‘whips’ and bring them home in the back of my orange VW beetle.” They would plant the trees on a Saturday, helped by old university friends. “In those days, in the winter, we’d have worn a balaclava and a woolly hat,” adds Nick. “It was much colder, then.” They planted a mixture of elm, oak, ash, alder, hornbeam and silver birch to create a balanced mixed woodland.
Jane and Nick have been welcoming visitors for 30 years. “Since 1992, when we started opening the garden, we’ve raised a total of £133,247 and there have been 21,624 adult visitors, 940 children and 292 dogs!” says Jane. They opened on the hottest day ever, the year their godson, Louis was born, and they also opened on the coldest day ever, one February! “It’s a lot of hard work just before you open,” says Nick, “so you get very tired.” As well as meeting challenges, they’ve learned how to make things run smoothly. Jane recalls: “The first year, we did the teas and there was parking on the village green. As it grew bigger, more people in Clayton helped, and we raised money for the church roof, too.”
To read more about Jane and Nick’s journey please pick up a copy of June’s Hassocks Life and turn to page 18.