Pentyrch Open Gardens

The concept of ‘ordinary’ Pentyrch householders opening their gardens to the public began many years ago in 1999. After a visit to the Usk Open Gardens weekend, one Pentyrch villager thought “We could do that!”. She discussed the idea with a friend and together (with unsung backroom support from their long-suffering spouses!) they planned what they thought would be a one-off Open Gardens Weekend. Their initial aim was to raise enough money to buy the land around Pentyrch Village Hall, in order to secure it for the future as the car park for the Hall. That first weekend was a great success. The land for the car park was successfully purchased and money was also raised for the drainage, surfacing and landscaping required.

Since then, Pentyrch Open Gardens has become a significant annual event in the village calendar and has continued with only one break in its history, the Queens Golden Jubilee year. Many enthusiastic villagers have opened their gardens over the years and other villagers, less keen on the gardening front, have helped with the other varied but essential aspects of the whole set up of the Open Gardens weekend. From helping with the catering arrangements, selling admission and raffle tickets, helping with signage, manning the courtesy buses, growing plants for the plant stall or co-ordinating the advertising – there is a job for everyone who wants to be involved.

After the initial fund raising aims had been met, Pentyrch Open Gardens and its eager participants began to raise money for local charities, projects and groups. Some initiatives improve the local village environment. For example, there are now tubs and hanging baskets which are planted up twice a year and various bulbs have been planted on the approaches to the village. Recently the churchyard of St Catwg’s acquired a bench and a beautiful new planter For the last three years, half of the profits have been donated to Macmillan Cardiff and Vale and this will also be the case this year.

Pentyrch Open Gardens always takes place on the first weekend in July and this year the dates are:

Saturday 2nd July 2016 and Sunday 3rd July 2016

Sat 10.00 am – 5.00 pm Sun 11.00 am – 5.00 pm

Tickets – £6 per person for a weekend pass – these can be purchased on the day from Pentyrch Village Hall (CF15 9QR). Accompanied children are free. N.B. No dogs – except guide dogs.