Last month’s open meeting of the Bude and District U3A

was held at the Parkhouse Centre on Thursday, April 20, with two unusual features — a sale of plants by the gardening groups, and a satisfactory working microphone.

The gardeners may have been inspired by their recent visit to Hartland Abbey Gardens.

They enjoyed a very interesting talk by the head gardener on the history of the Abbey and the planning and development of the various walled, flower and vegetable gardens.

The Abbey, which dates from 1157, was the last monastery to be dissolved by Henry VIII, who gave it to his wine steward, and it is now the home of Sir Hugh George Copplestone Bampfylde Stucley, 6th baronet, and his family.

The ‘William connection’ shows that among the most generous donors to the Abbey were the Botreaux family from Boscastle, whose male heirs were all named William; Henry VIII’s sergeant of the wine cellar at Hampton Court was called William Abbot; and Prince William held his stag party at the Abbey in 2011.

History does not relate whether, like the U3A garden group, the young men walked down to the beach below, but decided against taking a dip in April.