Welcome to HILLTOP GARDENING CLUB
Bussage, Brownshill, Chalford Hill, and Eastcombe
Next Meeting - Tuesday 7th April 7.15pm Eastcombe Village Hall -
Harriet Rycroft - 'A Friendly Greeting - Pot Plants by your Door'.
2026/27 Programme is on the Programme Page.
This Years Gardening Club Holiday to Kent- 14th - 17th June.
There is just 1 single room still available.
Download all the information HERE
Last Meeting Report
Robert Bryant: The Natural World of Gloucestershire -
3rd March 2026
A familiar figure at HGC, Robert Bryant’s talks are punctuated by riveting images and driven by lived experience of the natural world witnessed in often macroscopic detail through the lens of a digital camera. Such images are testament to dogged patience and photographic skills used to better grasp the complexity of Gloucestershire’s diverse landscape. All the while drawing out the symbiotic relationship between insects, birds, amphibians, butterflies, plants and habitats this comprehensive talk was too detailed to adequately summarise but in brief it was good to see Gloucestershire’s natural richness beyond Cotswold’s hare-bells, Siccaridge Wood’s lily of the valley, Daneway’s butterflies to the limestone of Selsey Common and Rough Banks ‘insects galore’. Habitat friendly sites were also pictured in the acidic soil of the Forest of Dean’s ancient woodlands and iron-ore industrial legacies. The iconic clump of trees acting as a beacon on May Hill is also rich with bird-life and counterintuitively bluebells and so on to the silt of the Severn Estuary and Purton Hulks. Each person present will have their own highlight but the photographs of Bewick and Mute swans at Slimbridge Wet Land Centre and large blue butterflies at Daneway warrant a mention. The latter a reminder of conservation success and the former the necessity of maintaining wetlands for winter visitors. After a whistle-stop tour of glorious Gloucestershire there was just enough time to shoehorn in regional abundance of fascinating fungi and mistletoe. This talk was indeed ‘full of sex’: fecundity and breeding success stories from Oystercatcher’s courtship to Cranes and to insect-worlds in wood-piles. A talk delivered with wry humour while not anthropomorphising wild-life, Robert made playful comparison with human behaviour as well as giving a gentle nudge in the direction of the ecological gardener’s mantra ‘leave litter’. Robert’s talk was a reminder in a fractious world that time spent looking at our natural world’s local habitats, even on our own doorsteps, can provide respite. Take some slow moments with a fast shutter to shut out the noise for a while and ‘stop and look’.
Pam Meecham
AGM and Member’s Talk, February 3rd
Hilltop Gardening Club held their Annual General Meeting to review last year’s speakers, events and annual holiday, discuss the Treasurer’s Report and vote for the continuance of the committee for another year. Over tea and cake there was an opportunity for members to discuss snowdrop specimens from their garden.
The Member’s Talk on gardens worth visiting was given, this year, by Robert Bryant on three contrasting gardens. First up, Caerhays Castle and Garden in Cornwall was a revelation. Robert’s visit last spring, in near perfect weather, to the 90-acre garden resulted in stunning photographs of a historic collection in peak condition. Many plants in Spring Gardens at Caerhays were a tribute to the industry of intrepid plant-hunters of the Victorian period. Amassed when the natural world was full of botanical wonder, Caerhays is now home to the National Magnolia Collection, and a huge array of Camelias and Azalea. Cornwall’s equitable, costal, damp-climate created ideal growing conditions for such ‘exotics’ but the wealth of mosses and lichens too looked intriguing. Moving on to a recent seasonal trip, galanthophile Robert headed to Colesbourne Park near Cirencester to visit its justly famous snowdrop collection, many planted with Cyclamen, Winter Aconites and heady-scented Sarcococca and Daphne. The planting schemes are echoed in many of our winter gardens. The compelling photographs chimed with HGC members own modest garden snowdrops discussed during the afternoon. Robert’s final, four-acre garden, The Laskett, designed by Sir Roy Strong and his late wife Julia Lady Strong in the early 1970s mixed contemporary garden-tropes and architectural design while paying homage to the Italianate. Playful statues in theatrical settings abound as do many, overt autobiographic references. The Laskett Gardens at Much Birch in Herefordshire is closed for 2026. The juxtaposition of Robert’s three contrasting gardens was inspired, giving food for thought and conversation and a note to self about gardens to visit.
Notes from the last few meetings can be found below. (Previous meeting notes can be found on the Archive page)
