2:45pm Monday 11th January 2010
By Sue Ward
any people will have made a New Year’s resolution to live a healthier lifestyle, yet that doesn’t necessarily mean lifting weights, taking up circuit training or cutting out of your diet anything remotely tasty.
For instance, Harlow Carr in Harrogate, one of Yorkshire’s most relaxing yet inspiring locations – with 68 acres of landscaped gardens housing several important national collections – is hosting a Health And Wellbeing month.
You can join them for some revitalising fresh air. Wrap up warm and embrace the great outdoors on a self-guided walk around the wintry gardens, many of which will end with a range of health-related workshops.
Even though it’s early in the year, you’ll see plenty of colour and form, and you can still wander by the streamside garden, or the alpines, scented and kitchen gardens, as well as taking a bracing stroll through the woodland.
While it isn’t obligatory to pop into Bettys Cafe when you visit, it is a pleasure when you visit the Royal Horticultural Society’s most northerly outpost to sit by the window with a pot of tea, and look out at the visitors strolling around the cared-for landscape that’s a winter wonderland.
Every day at Harlow Carr during the month there will be a welly walk quiz, when you can put on your coat and gloves for an invigorating walk with a self-guided tour. There are also prizes, including a family day out to Go Ape.
For those who fancy themselves as gardeners, a walk around Harlow Carr is inspirational. Stroll around its paths and arbours, or the woodland trails, and you come across neat labels advising you of the Latin and English names of plants you might never have seen before. Meander by the stream, where in July the Giant Himalayan cowslips will be bursting into spectacular bloom, then take in the Queen Mother’s Lake, which was constructed in 2002, providing Harlow Carr with a larger expanse of open water than the streams and ponds.
Wildlife has moved in, with ducks and moorhens, who will be gratified if you take along some bread or other feed for them.
The lake is overlooked by a white peak, a scale replica of the Eiger, part of the popular Gardens Through Time which reflects changes in gardening styles from the Regency period to the present day.
Each Tuesday until January 26 you can try the gentle ancient Chinese exercise of tai chi – you may discover it’s the best form of exercise for you.
Next weekend there’s a Healthy Heart Weekend, when experts from Heart Research UK will be running healthy lifestyle checks and giving individual advice about how you can make some small changes to your life to keep your heart healthy.
In the run-up to Chinese New Year, visit the weekend of January 23-24 and experience many aspects of eastern health and wellbeing. You can take part in Lishi (a unique Chinese exercise system), Chinese tea tasting, massages, acupuncture, calligraphy and Chinese music sessions, and receive advice on nutrition and organic food.
Even if your children are young enough to be in a pram, there’s no excuse for not joining in. Each Monday you can sample Pramercise – a pram-based, low-impact, full body workout session that will improve stamina, tone, strength and posture.
The 30-minute class begins with a simple warm-up, including power-walk and stretches. Once everyone is warm, a full body circuit begins, interspersed with body conditioning and toning exercises to target all those difficult areas. Many of these are done in front of your baby, and involve peek-a-boos and songs as you cool down and stretch out.
Each Monday there is also a fun exercise session designed to get children involved and moving, so the whole family can take part.
Before you finish your day out at Harlow Carr, there’s a well-stocked plant shop to help you part with any cash you might have left after Christmas and the New Year sales.
Fact File
* RHS Garden Harlow Carr is in Cragg Lane, Harrogate, off Otley Road (B6162), about a mile and a half from the town centre. It is open every day from now until the end of February from 9.30am to 4pm, and then from March to October from 9.30am to 6pm. Last admission is one hour before closing. There is a 400-space free car park.
* How to get there: 106 bus from Harrogate bus station every 20 minutes, Monday to Saturday. For details contact Harrogate and District Travel on (01423) 566061.
* All events are free with normal garden admission. Children under six get free entry all year round Some events have limited numbers – arrive early to avoid disappointment.
* Admission charges: RHS members free; adults £7; students £3; children (6 to 16 years) £2.50.
* Tai chi taster sessions are on January 12, 19 and 26; healthy heart weeks, January 16 and 17; Chinese wellbeing, January 23 and 24; Pramercise, January 11, 18 and 25 and a fun movement class on the same dates.
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