Visit the GBBO film set for Welford Park’s annual snowdrops display

A normally private garden that millions of people see each year when a large white tent is erected in the middle is currently open to the public to visit. This is Welford Park, which you might not have heard of but will recognise when I mention that it’s where the Great British Bake Off is filmed.

For just over a decade, a large white tent has been erected in front of the house for the summer, and each weekend, a shrinking group of amateur bakers seek the Star Baker prize or even a coveted handshake from Mr. Hollywood.

Welford Park has been in the same family for a bit over 400 years after a former Lord Mayor of London bought it. However, the family tree of how it was handed down the generations is so confusing that it’s less a tree than an overgrown bramble. It seems that if owners weren’t “confirmed bachelors,” they were still often childless, and the inheritance often went sideways rather than downwards.

Nowadays, although they still own a lot of land around the house and the grounds are private, the estate also earns income from filming and events, and this year will mark its 10th anniversary as the GBBO film set.

Unless you rent the garden, it’s otherwise not open to visit — except for a few weeks each year, as the estate’s woods are famous for their fleeting display of snowdrops, when the woods are carpeted in bunches of tiny white flowers.

Quite when they started opening the gardens for the snowdrops seemed surprisingly difficult to pin down. One suggestion is that it started in 1998, when the current owner moved in. However, I found older news reports suggesting either 1966 or 1955.

I will note that Aline Puxley inherited the house in 1954 – the year before the open days might have started. Initially only open a few Sundays for charity, it’s now a much bigger event that generates revenue for the estate, although the Sundays are still for charity.

Once you’re in the estate, it’s not a guided tour and more a chance to wander around the woods and parkland at your own pace. There are routes, in the form of well mulched paths to follow, and signs asking people to keep off the grass where the bulbs are blooming, but otherwise, wander where you want.

The bulk of the snowdrops are in the woods, which are fenced off to protect them from being trampled underfoot and give the biggest wow effect in the estate. Elsewhere, bunches of snowdrops line the paths and can be found sprouting up all over the space wherever they’ve managed to take root.

You can be the sort of person who can identify the roughly 50 varieties of snowdrops here, or you can be like most of us who can see a drooping white flowerhead and, well, that’s about the level of our knowledge.

They look lovely though.

It’s not just snowdrops, as yellow flowers are starting to appear in places, and in one spot, they are vigorously fighting the snowdrops for supremacy. The river runs through the gardens, and there are several bridges to play Poohsticks on, a long covered bamboo walkway, and plenty of open spaces to explore.

It’s less obvious, but there’s also a decorative garden and more snowdrops over to one side of the old house.

And, of course, the GBBO filming set.

The marquee tent is removed when not in use, but sitting on the grass for several months every year leaves its mark, and you can easily see the darker, thicker grass where the tent would be.

Yes, you can stand “in the tent” and maybe put your hands in your pockets and glare at people à la Mr Hollywood. Maybe wander around a bit, or walk down those famous stone steps, hoping that you aren’t about to leave your pastry pies with a soggy bottom.

One lady near me taking photos laughed that she doesn’t even watch the show but had to take a photo because it’s such a famous filming location. The gardens are open for the snowdrops, but so many people are just as excited to see that singular patch of grass.

If you’re wondering, the funfair, where the winner is announced at the end of the show, will be on the lawn right in front of the house.

But the tent? Go around the corner to where they’re serving lunch, and oh, is that the tent?

It’s a tent, but sadly, not The Tent.

The park owns this tent for weddings and events, while the TV company owns The Tent. However, lunch is served inside, which is much appreciated on a cold day. The soup was lovely (if pricy), and you sit in there in a very WI-style operation that keeps the impromptu kitchen working.

Next to the park is the local church, which you can see with its remarkable round tower by leaving the park (but not entering). The church was also open on my visit, so pop in for a look.

Welford Park is open for the snowdrops on Wed-Sun until 2nd March 2025.

You can pay on the day or book tickets in advance from here.

Adults are £12, and children are £5 at weekends. It is slightly cheaper if you visit on Wednesday or Thursday.

Because of the bus times to get there, I stayed for nearly three hours. Initially, I was worried that it was going to be far too long, as I thought I would struggle after an hour or so. However, starting with the church first and then going into Welford Park, it took about an hour to slowly amble around the gardens. I took a break for lunch and a second amble around the gardens to see any bit I missed.

I was probably there for 2.5 hours in total, which genuinely surprised me and it made for a very pleasant day trip from London.

And, of course, you can say you’ve visited a much-loved TV show’s film set.

Getting to Welford Park

If you drive, you can park next to the estate, and incidentally, the car park is the old railway station.

If you use public transport, I found it both very easy and slightly awkward.

There are fast trains from London Paddington to Newbury, which takes just under an hour. From there, if you visit Wed-Sat, you can catch the number 4 bus from Newbury town centre to Welford Park. Payment is by contactless card, so it’s very simple.

Note that the bus doesn’t run on Sundays.

So far, so easy.

This is where it gets a bit more awkward, though — the buses are infrequent and frustratingly so.

The first few buses from outside the railway station or in the town centre are hourly, but they switch to every other hour after 11am.

With Welford Park opening at 11am, I caught the 10:45am bus from Newbury town centre (The bus stop on Park Way next to Victoria Park has a countdown display) arriving at Welford Park at 11:09am. Unless you want to spend just half an hour in the gardens, the next bus back to Newbury is at 1:56pm. So nearly three hours between buses.

As noted above, while I was a tad worried that would be irksome, two walks around the gardens plus the church and lunch did fill most of the available time.