• Born: 30 Nov 1906, Ditchling, Sussex, England
• Christened: 20 Jan 1907, Ditchling, Sussex, England ¹
• Married (1): 1929, Cuckfield District, Sussex, England ²
• Married (2): 1962, Cirencester district, Gloucestershire, England ³
• Died: 1998, Wensleydale district, Yorkshire, England ⁴

  Research Notes:

Barbara daughter of Sydney Martin Lampard of Ditchling, surveyor, and Mary Elizabeth (baptismal record)

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In May 1958 Barbara Strange, widow, was granted Probate of her late husband's personal effects.

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A finale in splendid style

The delicate effects of Yew Tree Cottage at Ampney St. Mary make a perfect finale to this year's Gardens to Visit series.

The medium-sized cottage garden set against splendid Cotswolds scenery is a mass of colour, texture and detail.

Penny Strange now does most of the work but the gardens were originally created by her mother Mrs Barbara Shuker when she and her late husband moved to Ampney St. Mary, near Cirencester, 18 years ago.

Mrs. Shuker, who still lends a hand in the grounds, was faced with a run-down market garden. Within seven years Yew Tree Cottage was already shaped enough to open to the public.

Stone Walls

The acre or so had been worked into a series of attractive areas, using existing features like stout Cotswolds stone walls and the position of the cottage itself to their best advantage.

Today Yew Tree Cottage is a truly mature country garden. There's a particularly attractive collection of clematis and one of the specialities is the alpine garden.

But the really striking aspect is the endlessly repeating theme of small flowers.

Each area of the garden has this attention to detail in beds and borders, delicate touches from carefully worked plantings which are even more attractive seen close to than at a distance.

Winter

It's very much an all-year-round garden. Penny Strange said: "The only time it really quietens down is in the middle of winter but otherwise there's always something interesting to see. We seem to have colour and interest in every season."

Penny Strange and her mother love visitors coming to their garden, and they're always willing and eager to offer information.

Because they're so enthusiastic in sharing their creation, they have decided that in future Yew Tree Cottage will be open to the public every Wednesday afternoon throughout the year...

Bristol Evening Post, Thursday, 21 Aug 1980, p. 10