George Plumptre from the inside … reflections on a prison visit
I have been fascinated by prison gardens ever since my time as gardening correspondent of The Times newspaper in the 1990’s. I had not been long in the job when I got a press release through from the Royal Horticultural Society headed: The Windlesham Trophy; the competition for prison gardens.
My interest aroused I discovered that there was an annual competition for prison gardens; it had been started by, and was named after, Lord David Windlesham when he was Chairman of the Parole Board 1982-88. He had discovered that gardening was the most popular pastime for prison inmates so started the competition and persuaded his friend Robin Herbert, who was President of the Royal Horticultural Society, to lend the RHS’s prestige and expertise by judging the finalists.
A few weeks later I was heading to HMP Kingston, a small but famously impenetrable fortress prison in Portsmouth, which was closed in 2013, where a relatively small number of life-sentence prisoners (in those days mostly members of the IRA) were housed. We – the judges and I – along with prison officials, walked round with the prisoners on the gardening team. I learnt at first hand how productive their daily gardening was and at the same time marvelled at what they had been able to achieve in brutally unhelpful surroundings; small areas within concrete and stone where flowerbeds could be scratched out and planted.
Kingston did not win that year, but the Windlesham Trophy became an annual event in my calendar while at The Times and its impact has stayed with me ever since. So when I arrived at the National Garden Scheme I knew that in the past a few prison gardens had ever opened, not least HMP Leyhill in Gloucestershire. During the early-2000’s Leyhill managed the unlikely achievement of putting on gold medal-winning gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and their success inspired Trudie Styler (a keen gardener) to produce the 2000 comedy film Greenfingers.
In 2025, HMP Leyhill returned to the National Garden Scheme and my wife Annabel and I attended their open day in July. Once through the security formalities on arrival, it had the community atmosphere of most other National Garden Scheme openings starting in the large open hall where there was one stall dispensing tea and home-made cakes and other selling plants. Our group of visitors who had purchased tickets were guided round the gardens by the prisoner gardening team and their supervisors, discovering that for many of them gardening had become a passion and would be their chosen occupation when released. We also admired the way the gardens were spread throughout the prison grounds, as well as including a highly productive kitchen garden and a number of now stately commemorative trees.
Leyhill is opening again in 2026 on Saturday 11th July and there are tickets available. For an unusual but memorable garden visiting experience I cannot recommend it enough.
CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION AND TICKETS
