AN open gardens event that started life 50 years ago as a church fundraiser is once again set to welcome hundreds of visitors to the weekend event.
Gargrave Open Gardens – due to take place this weekend, Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22, – last year attracted a record more than 700 visitors and raised more than £8,000 for the church and hospices. People visited 30 gardens of all shapes and sizes, while also enjoying live music, artists in residence, quirky plant containers, and all-day refreshments.
The event began in the 1970s when Margaret Green and a few other residents decided to open up their gardens to visitors to raise money for the village’s Methodist Church. The event was handed over to St Andrew’s Church when the Methodist church closed and has raised money for it ever since.
It expanded from a single day to a weekend event when several gardeners said they wanted profits from the event to be shared with other good causes in addition to the church.
This year’s event, which will see the inclusion of new gardens, will for the second year see half the money raised go to the church, and the other half to Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice, and to Martin House children’s hospice.
A spokesperson for St Andrew’s said: “We chose our local hospices to be our long term partner charities as they are significant to our whole community. They have touched the lives of many of us through loss of a spouse, parent, friend, child or grandchild.”
Duncan and Bee Faulkner, who have been running the open gardens event on behalf of St Andrew’s Church, Gargrave for the last 16 years, said: “We’ve been trying to make it more and more of a community event, with so many people pulling together to bring it off.
“We encourage inclusion of a wide variety of gardens: tiny to huge, wild to manicured, new to mature. Visitors love a day out exploring places usually out of bounds. In 2025 we have some impressive extra gardens opening for the first time.”
The event will run on June 21 and June 22 from 11am to 5pm. Tickets are £6 in advance, or £8 on the day from Gargrave Village Hall where visitors will be able to pick up their garden ‘passport’ and a map of all the garden locations. Find out more at: https://gargraveopengardenscom.wordpress.com/