Hare Hill, Over Alderley, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 4QB

Tel: 01625 584412 or see Hare Hill website

This secluded 10-acre woodland garden is very close to a busy road, but you’d never know it, and in fact you can reach it along a footpath from Alderley Edge, the wooded sandstone escarpment two miles to the west. The core of the garden is an old walled kitchen garden, but with the big house demolished, it has been converted into an ornamental area that’s mainly lawned. The walls have been put to good use for supporting a range of climbing plants. Hare Hill is a pleasant retreat at any time of year, but at its most spectacular in May, when rhododendrons flower in a blaze of vibrant colour.

Unusually for a National Trust garden, there’s no cafe here (except possibly at weekends in the car park), but there are toilets.