Dungeons and Fridges

We wouldn’t have been able to struggle through the last two months without the help of two technological developments. One is the marvellous refrigerated van which we have been hiring this season, and which has enabled us to deliver fresh, happy flowers to our florist customers on even the hottest of days without a qualm. The other is something much less modern, but which equally owes its success to scientific thought and development, and that is the old boiler house at Stokesay, also known to us as The Dungeon. This room leads off the bothy, down some old stone steps, and is several feet below floor level. This used to be an asset in the days when the huge boiler (still here) was being fired up to heat the old greenhouses which run along the south-facing wall of the garden. Today we find the sunken stone-built room to be a wonderfully cool, dark place to store our flowers and foliage, where they can draw up water and rest, before being sent on their journey to meet the customer.