National Garden Scheme: Goldsborough Hall, Yorkshire

If you haven’t heard of National Garden Scheme (NGS) then you are in for a treat. The NGS is an organisation that opens beautiful private gardens throughout England and Wales for charity. For a small admission fee, visitors can enjoy the splendour of gardens that they would never otherwise be able to see.

Since the NGS opened in 1927, they have donated more than £42.5 million to different charities around the United Kingdom. All of the beneficiaries are nursing or caring charities including Marie Curie Cancer Care, Macmillan Cancer Support, and Help the Hospices.

Goldsborough Hall has been open to NGS since 1930, and now, after undergoing a huge renovation in 2010 by the current owners, it will open up again to the public.

The 11 acres of gardens at Goldsborough have been changed many times starting with the first time they were planned out, in the 1750s, by Richard Woods.

The first tree of the beautiful Lime Tree Walk was planted in 1922 by Princess Mary, who lived there. The Walk is a quarter of a mile long and lined with over 50,000 daffodils. Goldsborough has many false acacia plants, classified as British Champions by the Tree Register. These false acacia plants, dating back to the 1700s, are a pair of purple-leaved plums and a rare whitebeam.

There are five Japanese cherry trees on the grounds that were given to Princess Mary by the Emperor of Japan as a wedding gift.

Not only does Goldsborough Hall have magnificent gardens, but also grandeur lodging. Imagine watching the sun rise from your room overlooking the grounds in your four poster bed. Not a bad start to your day! The bathrooms have whirlpool jet baths and monsoon showers. To continue the luxurious experience of Goldsborough Hall, head to the dining hall for a real Yorkshire Feast using local ingredients. The hall features beautiful stained glass windows that were a wedding gift to Princess Mary from the Mufti in Jerusalem. York is only a 30 minute drive away if you want to venture to the city for the day.