I watched the sun set from my hotel room whilst listening to the weather forecast for opening day at Hampton Court Garden Festival. It didn’t sound too good and those clouds were a bit ominous. Never mind, I’d packed summer dress, umbrella, wool cardigan and raincoat. The comfy shoes were essential too, because needless to say being a member of the Tradestand Assessment team involves a fair bit of walking!

I did wonder if trousers and a pair of wellies might have been a better choice though.

I don’t know what it is about Kingston upon Thames but every time I drive into the town I get lost. Well, not so “lost” but simply can’t get to where I need to be. I had stayed at the Premier Inn right in front of me here, had already driven around that traffic jam twice and here I was a third time, getting nowhere (but trying to reach the bridge over the Thames!) I’m sure the lady in my SatNav gave up and went home by this time.

Eventually I arrived in the car park at Hampton Court, finding myself in a very different part of the grounds than previously. “Exclusive” said the steward!

I took photographs so I’d remember where my car was parked later - row 6.

I also took photos as I made my way into the showground, because this was a very strange route indeed. Tradesman’s entrance or what?

Through the Paddock Gate. There was no-one else around and I did wonder….

but turned the corner and was immediately on more familiar territory as I recognised the backstage area of the floral/plant village. Those black clouds were none too reassuring though.

I doubted that the Arctic Store would be quite so essential for keeping plants cool this year.

I love these places before they open. I enjoy seeing everything quiet, as it all wakes up and gets ready for the day.

I crossed one of the bridges over the Long Water and looked towards the Palace.

When I look the other way, towards the Thames, I’m reminded of the Peterhof in St Petersburg. An altogether different scale of course, but the same idea!

Into the garden area then and time for a sneaky preview of some of the stands. I recognised this one and noted that though they’ve brought just one greenhouse for this show (I think they had three or four at Chelsea) the way the whole stand has been styled and planted, it’s no less lavish.

I was looking forward to my day here!

There were some show gardens along here and it being the 4th July, it seemed appropriate that these were representing places in the USA. So here we were in a courtyard garden in Charleston, South Carolina.

I’m not involved in the gardens at all, but it’s always lovely to see them, especially when there’s no-one else about. I spent a while looking more closely at this one and the next “three in one”, which had a more general theme.

Part represented the desert.

Then there was the forest

and finally, the prairie.

I think the main challenge the designer had was to capture the spirit of such immense landscapes on such a small scale, don’t you?

Anyway, it was time to get a move on and meet my colleagues for a coffee and our briefing, get our papers and instructions for the day and begin work. If we needed encouragement not to hang about, there was the added incentive that the rain was forecast from around lunchtime.

Before we begin, we always get together and assess a stand together, agreeing the features we’re looking for, those that we’d rather not see and to set an agreed standard we can work to. We’ve a matrix of descriptors for each level of award but need to agree what’s “good”, what’s “very good” and what is “excellent” at each show. Having sorted that out, off we went!

The first few stands proved tricky, because it was early and it seemed as though not everyone was ready to receive visitors.

But the show was open and there were already customers arriving! And of course, those eagle eyed Tradestand Assessors were already active and always appreciative of lavish planting and colourful, well displayed products.

As we worked through our schedule, we found we saw similar things along the way, in different settings. Some were more successfully displayed than others according to our criteria. Every so often, one of us would remind the other that we’re here to judge the stand, not the product!

No credit for passing visitors either, even if they did sit and pose nicely for the camera!

We moved on from garden accessories to furniture. Quite funny this, because last year visiting several such stands proved quite expensive for my Hero and I in the end.

So I stepped into some of the more lavish garden buildings with caution!

There did seem to be an ongoing theme though. The ‘good life’ needs a bit of sunshine though, don’t you think?

Frequently reminding ourselves of the agreed standards - what had we agreed about things piled up on the grass like that? - we worked our way down our schedule. The clouds were gathering and we had a few more to do before lunch. Let’s crack on!

Hmmm, we needed no reminder of where we stood on plastic sheeting billowing from underneath a stand like that.

There’s a special category for storage too, because it’s essential that extra stock and all the paraphernalia of sales “business” is taken care of safely and securely. Stuffing it behind the stand isn’t the answer (and, neither is stuffing behind someone else’s stand!)

As always, it’s the smallest of detail that makes the difference between the “very good” and the “excellent”, not to mention the “outstanding”.

Along the way, I built a small list in my head of stands to return to when we were done.

Not only was it time for lunch, but we’d reached the last stand on our list with minutes to spare! We gathered and went through the Palace grounds and out onto Hampton Court Road to La Fiamma again, noting that just as we arrived, it was starting to rain. During the next hour or so, we sat enjoying our lunch as the heavens opened and the rain came down heavily. Timing or what?!

Amazingly, it had almost stopped as we walked back to the showground.

We just needed to complete the last part of the assessment process - moderation. We sat together and discussed our judgements, making sure that we’d been fair and worked to the same shared standards. With all the results agreed, we went off on our separate ways around the showground. By mid-afternoon, I’d decided to stick to the metal tracks, having had a near-slip on some wet and muddy grass! I did a quick run around those stands I wanted to visit (Hello Masons! Hello Shibumi! ) whilst finding new distractions along the way.

I had intended to search out a plant recommended for one of our large pots by one of my colleagues but the wet grass and my aching feet gently persuaded me it was time for home. It was 6pm and the traffic through Richmond and Sunbury was already pretty slow moving. I had a long drive home.

With the aid of my photos, I found my way to that odd little section of the car park, again without seeing another soul. I’d no sooner set off than the rain began in earnest and for the next two hours I drove through the nastiest of wet weather. It was remarkable how we’d managed to stay dry all day.

Being part of the Tradestand team is such fun and it’s great to be able to apply my skills to a different area of work. My word, though, it’s a bit more physically strenuous than judging embroidery!