The Lighter Side
A photographic journey through joy at Hestercombe
This event has ended
Hestercombe will be taken over by all things bee this summer!
Come up and join us in our mission to become bee savers with our exciting new trail and activities to learn more about the fantastic world of bees. Help us to support the wonderful (and important) variety of native bees in the UK.
Our Time to Bee Friendly trail is available all day throughout the summer holidays. Walk a family-friendly route around our beautiful, and nature-filled, gardens, stopping at bee-formation trail boards to learn useful facts and bee-rilliant jokes! Look out for pictures of different native bees and bee-friendly flowers in the garden to note in your log book and put them to use for bee spotting in our gardens.
Each trail booklet includes a bee friendly prize at the end - which you can collect at the plant centre.
Don't forget to add your piece of bamboo (included with the trail) to help us build a solitary bee hotel over the summer. This will become a permanent structure in our gardens so when you return to Hestercombe you can see if any bees have taken up residence.
As you walk the trail, stop in at our learning hive based in the Octagon Summer House, the sensory bee cave by the Orangery Lawn and then on to Hestercombe House to play your part in creating a giant beehive sculpture.
Check out our What's On page for other bee events such as a free waggle dance session (weather permitting) for all of the family and free badgemaking (both Monday to Friday).
Prices & tickets
The Time to Bee Friendly trail is FREE when paying standard garden admission (Hestercombe members go free).
Admission tickets are available via the Hestercombe website.
Please note that Hestercombe House will close at 5pm daily.
| Event | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
Time to Bee Friendly Trail | Every day (21st July to 3rd Sept) | 10am to 4.30pm (last entry) |
Family Waggle Dance Sessions | Mon to Fri (24th July to 1st Sept) | Session at 11am and 1pm (weather permitting) |
Badge Making in Hestercombe House | Mon to Fri (24th July to 1st Sept) | 11am to 2pm |
Membership at Hestercombe
Join today and enjoy unlimited access to Hestercombe for a whole year
Described as “one of the top twenty gardens to visit in the country”, Hestercombe is always beautiful throughout the year. Join today and enjoy great value: unlimited access to Hestercombe with prices from £4.21 per month.
Your membership includes:
- Unlimited access to Hestercombe Gardens for a year from date of joining for the Member, guests and children according to membership type
- Unlimited 'bring a guest' privileges during March and September
- Half price entry for visitors accompanied by a Member of Hestercombe (one visitor per member)
- Free children's trails available throughout the year
- Special members’ discounts on many of our events throughout the year
- Our 'members first approach' with members receiving 24 hours priority booking for our most popular events, such as Mother's Day, The Bampfylde Lecture, workshops and most importantly, our winter events such as the Christmas Market, Father Christmas and ILLUMINATE
- Half price entry to our partner attractions: Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, Forde Abbey Gardens(half price garden entry only), The Bishop’s Palace, Wells(available for full membership only), The Garden House, Dartington Trust Gardens, Exmoor Zooand Glastonbury Abbey(half price garden entry only).
Give a Gift of Membership to friends and family and they too can enjoy all the benefits of membership.
See Membership Options
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Event Location
Hestercombe GardensCheddon Fitzpaine
Taunton
Somerset
TA2 8LG
