Don’t miss Bungay Black Dog Arts Gardens Art Trail this weekend. The trail is on from 11am to 3pm for two days only this Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July.

Pick up a free leaflet with a map on the back from Bungay Library, or shops and public places throughout the town.

Then look out for A-Frames topped with pointing Black Dogs guiding you in to each garden!

And why not make a day of it?

Pack up a picnic to eat on the meadow in front of Bungay’s Bigod Castle, where the trail ends.

Or plan a pub lunch in one of Bungay’s many fine hostelries!

Or do three gardens in the morning, then treat yourself to a great lunch in one of Bungay’s cafes or restaurants, then do the last three gardens in the afternoon.

Black Dog Arts committee members have been working hard to make sure there is cover, should it rain.

The marquees, pergolas and other cover going up in the six gardens will also give each garden’s “invigilators” somewhere they can “set out their stalls”.

Each garden will have two invigilators on hand to give out information about the art and artists showing their work in each of the gardens.

The two volunteers will also be selling postcards of some of the artworks in each garden for 50p each.

For visitors, the trail offers a rare chance to see some fine Bungay houses and gardens not normally on view to the public.

For locals it offers the opportunity to see what is on the other side of that wall, or behind that gate they have walked past for years and never had the chance to see past!

For people interested in art the trail offers the chance not only to see fine art but also the places that inspired the thirty or so original artworks on show.

All over Bungay artists are putting their paintings up on easels in the six gardens on the trail in front of the views that inspired them.

So pick up your friends, your parents, your children or your grandchildren and head on down to Rose Hall on Upper Olland Street, right opposite Bungay Community Centre, which is the first garden on the trail.

There is free on-street parking just past Rose Hall and on Sunday parking is free in all Bungay car parks.

So park your car and take a stroll round Bungay stopping off to see fine art for free.

For more information about the trail, or for on access for people with disabilities, please ring Jan from Black Dog Arts on 01986 895227.

Black Dog Arts would like to thank Suffolk County Council for their Single Gateway/Arts for All grant, without which the trail would have had no publicity!

Click for previous Black Dog Arts news on the Waveney Valley Blog . . .