Burrows Gardens in Derbyshire have been open to the public since 2006. Naturist visits started in 2012 and benefitted from being on a Saturday, as the gardens were closed to the public on that day, writes Andrew Davies
Craig Dalton took over the farm in the 1980s - the house having been bought by his grandfather in the 1920s. Craig developed the gardens but as it became more difficult to make money out of agriculture, he sold the farm in 2000, enabling him to indulge in what he had always wanted to do, which was to spend more time on the gardens. He began to make changes, starting with the Italian garden, and built the Temple Garden, introducing an all-white theme. He planted an entire bank of hydrangeas, known as mini-Cornwall.
During the Naturist visits Craig would often stand by the entrance and spend time with visitors telling them about the garden and his plans for the future. Sadly, and unexpectedly, he passed away in 2015 leaving behind his wife Nicky and seven-month old daughter. Although Nicky is a teacher by profession, and would be the first to admit that she knows little about gardening, she continued to open the garden to the public as before. This included our annual Naturist visit, when she would also welcome Naturists to the gardens as well as serving them with tea, coffee and cakes. Over the years she got to know people, and knew who was a regular visitor and who was a newbie.
The events would normally take place in June, July, or August. There were concerns that the July 2020 event would not go ahead when lockdown was announced, but fortunately restrictions were lifted in time. As this was the first opportunity for Naturists to meet face to face that summer, it was very well attended, and many met up with friends they had made at the various online events that BN had introduced. In fact it was so successful that a second visit was arranged in August. Since 2020 there have been two visits each summer rather than one as in previous years.
Nicky was finding it harder to maintain the gardens as well as hold a full-time job so in 2023 she decided to put Burrows Gardens up for sale. Two successful visits took place in 2023 but many of us wondered if these would be the last to take place before a new owner took over.
Andrew Calow had been the Regional Coordinator and the organiser of a number of the previous visits, and later in 2023 decided to pop in to visit Nicky. However, she had sold up by then. He spoke to new owner Anthony about his plans for the gardens and whether he would consider continuing the Naturist visits. At the time Anthony was unsure of his plans but didn’t rule out the idea and I followed up in 2024. After meeting him with BN colleagues on a dark night in February, three visits for the summer were confirmed!
That June, Anthony enlisted the help of Michelle, who worked in the local pub, as well as his parents, to help with serving hot drinks and excellent cakes. The weather was not brilliant with a cool wind and the occasional spots of rain. Nevertheless 64 people attended, with 47 in slightly better weather in July. In August, 75 of us enjoyed the best weather of the three visits with sunshine and a warm breeze which meant people were able to sunbathe on the lawns and most stayed until the end of the afternoon.
As part of the publicity for the 2024 events, I decided to refer to six of the challenges within Challenge 60 which could be accomplished during the visit: play a game of miniten, attend a naked visit to a garden, attend a naked picnic with others, sunbathe naked in someone else's garden for the first time, be photographed next to a nude statue in a garden, and tell others about your participation in the BN 60th Challenge. Many accepted the challenges, and even posted their photos. The photo next to a nude statue was particularly popular. An extra one became possible on the day - pose naked for a Naturist photography session. People were keen to participate.
The gardens are centrally situated and localish guests come from across the East and West Midlands, nearby Yorkshire, and Lancashire. Some come from further afield – from London and the South East, and even from Scotland.
Returning visitors have found the welcome to be warm and appreciate the opportunity to come back to a familiar place. New visitors have enjoyed the opportunity to be naked in beautiful surroundings and many have vowed to return. We all appreciate the efforts of Craig for creating the lovely gardens and for welcoming naked people into his pride and joy; for Nicky for continuing with the garden visits and being such a welcoming host; and now to Anthony and his team for agreeing to host these events and continuing with the welcoming approach.
The best news is that there are two visits for 2025 - 14th June and 30th August. Booking is now open!
