WE’D like to thank everyone who came and everyone who helped with our open garden in Hamsterley on August 31.

We had glorious weather and our usual combination of plants for sale, plus music from the Cleveland Branch of the Northumbrian Pipers Society, and home-baked cakes for tea. We’d never had more than 200 visitors before, and suddenly we were faced with 370 – such is the power of the press, and our thanks to The Northern Echo for its preview article (Echo, Aug 27).

I’m afraid it led to very long queues for tea, because we just weren’t anticipating such numbers. I do hope people still enjoyed the afternoon.

Graeme Hopper’s huge metal bulrush sculpture in our duck pond won many compliments and he had lent us a couple of other pieces, including a ‘fairy ring’ of toadstools. He thoroughly enjoyed talking to many of the visitors about his work.

The staggering thing is that we can send the National Gardens Scheme more than £1,750, which is about twice what we have ever managed before. The NGS supports a whole range of charities: Macmillan, Marie Curie, Help the Hospices, Carers’ Trust, Queen’s Nursing Institute, Perennial and, as ‘guest’ charity for this year and next, Parkinson’s UK.

So thanks to everyone who helped make it possible.

Caroline and Jonathan Peacock, Hamsterley.