Houghton Lodge Gardens is a glorious privately-owned property about 2.5 miles from Stockbridge in Hampshire. The gardens have a wide variety of habitats including a traditional walled garden, with herb patches, fruit trees and flowers, a beautifully manicured lawn leading from the house down to the stunning river Test, a field containing alpacas (and now also sheep) and all available (but not the house) to BN members and other naturists throughout the evening. There is also a small greenhouse of orchids and there is often art for sale on the orangery walls.
Of course, there are also the tea rooms, which remain open throughout our evening.
The gardens will remain open to the non-naturist public until 5pm and once the last of the day visitors have left then the site re-opens for naturists, usually about 5:30 p.m. The owner is always very welcoming and the teas, coffees and (especially!) the cakes are a particular highlight of the evening.
It is definitely worth the visit if you live in the local area or want to include the gardens as part of a longer day trip. If you are coming from further afield there are some holiday lets on site which can be rented for the night. These can be arranged directly with the owner via applerooms@houghtonlodge.co.uk. - subject of course to the latest CV19 restrictions of course!
BN members and other naturists have been visiting this site every year since 2016 and have always been blessed with glorious weather. Although the date of 23 July has been scheduled for some time, this year has thrown up some special challenges and the owner has agreed to rearrange to later in the summer if CV19 restrictions mean than we cannot go ahead on this planned date. The owner loves having us there and tells us that she always looks forward to our visits.
So why not give it a try this year? All you have to do is turn up, pay the entry, strip off and enjoy!
More information about the gardens is on www.houghtonlodge.co.uk
