Ticketholders at the Lyme Regis Town Mill’s recent fundraising talk left The Malthouse inspired and informed after spending an evening with gardening experts Anne Swithinbank and Professor Sir Ghillean Prance.

Mill patron Anne kindly gave her time to speak about the challenges of gardening in a coastal environment - bringing with her several samples of hardy plants which flourish even in plots by the sea.

Anne was later joined by Bobbie Smith, a Lyme resident who was instrumental in the creation of the Miller’s Garden at The Town Mill, and Mill trustee Peter Coe, to form a panel to answer guests’ various questions.

The chairman was prominent British botanist and ecologist Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, a former director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, and a long-time supporter of The Mill.