Happy Memories

A Memory of Riddings.

We used to live in the grounds of Riddings House in the cottage to the left of the main house. The two cottages used as accommodation for the head and assistant gardeners. I used to go with my dad up into the clock tower to wind up the clock at the weekend. There were buildings down the gardens; in one of them local people could visit and buy some of the produce that was grown. The lawns and gardens being kept immaculate when the Oakes family were in residence. Christmas time was a time to help again when lots of holly wreaths were made. The wrought iron gates at the entrance are no longer there but the posts still remain. The gardens went into decline when Oakes sold the estate to Guinness Trust, and the house was altered and extended and turned into a care home.