As everyone knows Boris had hoped to ease the lockdown on June 21st. In the end caution prevailed and the country was urged to carry on with the existing arrangements. Which was a pity as we’d publicised the opening of the garden to the public on June 24th. What a dilemma…what should we do? But after a lot of thought Rosie and I decided to follow the example of Boris himself, Mr Cummings and Matt Hancock and Totally Ignore the Rules. After all, the proceeds were all going to charity. And so it was that, yesterday, 206 cheerful and ultimately delighted people spent the day ambling around The Long House garden enjoying the sunshine that almost miraculously appeared amidst the rain and gloom of this summer.
And after they all went home we totted up the takings and found it was on a par with 2019 despite the attendance being 20% lower. The British public, it seems, have a natural reluctance to break the rules. Unlike our Lords and Masters. Will they never learn?