Thanks to the glorious weather and the reputation that secret gardens has built up over the years the May event was a great success. We sold more than 400 tickets and raised £2.000 for the Bradford on Avon museum society and a further amount for both the local 'Save the Children' and 'Dorothy House' charities. Twelve gardens were open to local residents and visitors from far and wide, which included even a family from Texas. Garden owners and visitors all had a great afternoon. Everyone I spoke to gave very positive feedback praising the secret garden owners for their generosity. Many said they liked the variety in the types of gardens available and were fascinated at what gardeners did even with the smallest or most difficult of spaces, and all loved the variety of views the gardens provided of the town and its surroundings. The delicious tea and cakes on offer were, it goes without saying, a further highlight pointed out by many. Garden owners were all very welcoming, chatting and responding to queries put to them about the buildings, garden plants and surounding areas. Chris Young even went to the effort of providing further entertainment to his visitors in the form of a competition, where those visiting his garden had to guess and write down on a piece of paper the provenance of a set of teeth, which had been found in his garden earlier in the year. Visitors provided a variety of answers which included: badger, horse or cow, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and curiously even the Bradford monster. The winning answer was 'a pig' and the winner, who I presume was not a vegetarian, was given a prize of four sausages from local pigs bred outdoors. Well done Chris for adding a fun element to the day. Some of the newer residents in Bradford visitng the gardens enjoyed the day so much that they expressed an interest in opening their own gardens in the future, so well done everyone for helping to provide such a successful day!