TOURISM leaders and gardening experts had a first-hand view of a series of exciting developments at one of Britain?s finest gardens at an exclusive evening party.

Guests including South West Tourism chief executive Malcolm Bell toured exciting new planting at the Garden House, near Yelverton.

The event marked the completion of the new quarry garden, where a dramatic series of ponds is fed by tumbling waterfalls, surrounded by planting designed by head gardener Matt Bishop and overlooked by a hand-crafted summerhouse giving stunning views of the plants and surrounding countryside.

The summerhouse and quarry were part-funded by £7,500 in donations from the John Spedan Lewis Foundation and the Lillie C Johnson Trust.

Visitors, including West Devon mayor Christine Grills, Dartmoor Tourist Association chairman Adam Southwell and Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty chairman Neil Burden, also enjoyed the newly-refurbished South African garden, which offers an exotic taste of tropical summer colour, and had a sneak preview of a refurbishment of the historic walled garden at the core of the attraction.

They were also able to look around the newly-refurbished Garden House itself, a former vicarage completed in 1829.

Here, more than £27,000 in Gift Aided donations from visitors during 2003 helped fund restoration and development, including a new commercial kitchen for the Garden House?s famous tearooms.

Matt Bishop said: ?We wanted to show our guests just how good the Garden House is looking thanks to our extensive programme of restoration, refurbishment and development.

?The Gift Aid scheme in particular helped us take great strides forward.

?All of our work has been carried out by local firms, showing how Gift Aided donations are ploughed back into the local economy.

?My aim at the Garden House is to respect the design and planting legacies of my predecessors, our founder Lionel Fortescue and his successor Keith Wiley, while offering our visitors plenty of exciting new garden sights. I hope this garden party helped show off our first steps.?