A grand total of £2,125.46 was raised when four gardens in Bere Ferrers were opened in aid of St Luke’s Hospice on Sunday.

A total of 267 adults plus children and dogs visited the picturesque gardens, most with views over the River Tavy. There were also stalls and refreshments in the church hall.

The sun shone for most of the day, but there was frustration that camellias and magnolias that had been magnificent the previous day had been damaged by the morning frost. There had also been a problem for those planning to travel by train, as all morning trains were cancelled. But some took the afternoon train for a shorter than planned visit.

The village has taken part in the scheme every other year, this being the fifth time. The first year just one garden had been involved, but others have been drawn in in subsequent years. Garden owners this year were Margaret and Alan Willmott, Christine and Michael Poole, Cathy and Pete Sirey and Fiona and Ian Pidgeon, with Brian Johnson displaying his bonsai trees.

St Luke’s Hospice is in its 40th anniversary year. The Hospice Open Gardens Scheme co-ordinator Wayne Marshall said it was ‘pretty fantastic’ that so many people had come to the event. It had been virtually impossible to hold the events for the last two years, and the money would make a tremendous difference.