Rosemoor

I had no idea that there was another RHS garden on a par with Wisley in the West Country! The 65 acres of Rosemoor demands much more than the bare hour we spared it this morning. If it was too late in the year to see the shrub roses at their best, then the tropical border and veg both looked magnificent. As did some of the trees - this is a Prunus Serrula.

Nearby Torrington is a pretty town, with some fine buildings. Like Barnstaple and other West Country towns, it has a pannier market: just a few yards from its exit, you can join a path running high along the ridge of the Torridge valley with hardly a building in sight.