Ross Garden Store

Isambard Brunel could scarcely have imagined that his Engine Shed at the edge of Ross on Wye would one day become a flower-filled garden centre. Tucked away on a small industrial estate, the enormous doors at one end stand as a reminder of its former life. Have a look at the walls inside for the black and white photos of how it once looked.

A sea of flowers and plants fans out to the boundary of the garden centre, while inside the Shed is a cavern of considered gifts and homewares arranged on trestle tables against the stone walls. A clapboard entrance signals the way into the homely café and gives the air of a station waiting room. Old-fashioned home-cooked values reign in the kitchen where everything is made from scratch – the cheese scones and cream teas are held in particularly high regard.

There’s an overflow car park over the road if spaces inside the gates are all taken. A wonderful place to pause on the way to or from Wales.