So – we’ve had our lot for Bank Holidays now until August but all is not lost if you like poking around secret places or you like gardens. As a Phantom who would sit squarely in the little lozenge between the  two in the Grand Venn diagram of Greenwich (which, hmmm, I must draw up some day…) I thought I’d bring you a little bit of brightness to go with the sun thats shining so insolently outside now we’ve all had to go back to work.

St Alfeges is doing some seriously good stuff, events-wise, just now. The Advent Windows is both an enduring and an inspired idea, as is the 1711 Walk but just as  the anniversaries surrounding our local saint are coming thick and fast now, so are the events. I just love this one – chuck away your Yellow Book, there’s nothing for Greenwich in it anyway – and put June 11th and 18th in your diaries…

On each day a selection of private West Greenwich gardens will be open to the public for a few hours only. It’s in aid of the church restoration fund (they’re slowly working their way through the building but  in its turn the building  is slowly working its way through their cash) so expect to spend £3 per garden or (bargain) £10 for all the gardens on one day.  In some gardens they’ll be serving tea and cakes, but if you want to see all of them you might have to give the buns a miss as they’re only open between 2.00pm and 5.00pm. Do-able, as they’re close to each other, but I wouldn’t recommend stopping to inspect every daisy.

Okay – so here’s the itinerary.

On the 11th June these folks will be throwing open their garden gates:

1. The Manor House, Crooms Hill, Greenwich, SE10.Jonathan and Teresa Sumption.
2. 124 King George Street, Greenwich, SE10.Geoff and Paula Nuttall.
3. 4 Egerton Drive, Greenwich, SE10.Jon and Vicky Rhodes.
4. 14 Crooms Hill, Greenwich, SE10.Ann Broadbent.
5. 20 Crooms Hill, Greenwich, SE10.Rachel Lethbridge.
6. 27 Maidenstone Hill, Greenwich, SE10.Alan Bartlett and Simon Gallie.
7. 24 Dartmouth Row, Greenwich, SE10.Elizabeth and Alun Jones.

And on the 18th June, this is the selction:

1. 3 Gloucester Circus, Greenwich, SE10.Richard and Ginny Williams.
2. 41 Gloucester Circus, Greenwich, SE10.Mark and Clare Hatcher.
3. The White House, Crooms Hill, SE10.Tim and Patricia Barnes.
4. 89 Maze Hill, Greenwich, SE10.Tony and Stella Booth.
5. 34 Hyde Vale, Greenwich, SE10.Bob and Sue Yates.
6. The Vicarage, 33 Park Vista, SE10.Chris and Gill Moody.
7. 119 Maze Hill, Greenwich, SE10.Susan Waller.
8. 93 Westcombe Park Road, SE3.Robbie & Helen Swales.

So, folks. Stick that in your diaries and take pity on the Phantom who’s bloomin’ busy both days