Nick Mason opens his gardens again to raise over £50,000 for charity
Written by Matt   
Wednesday, 07 July 2021

Middlewick HouseIn a return to what was an annual event pre-2020, on 26th and 27th June Nick Mason and his wife Annette opened up their gardens at Middlewick House in Corsham, Wiltshire, to support the Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust, of which Annette is a vice-patron, and the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

Over the two days, they had over 5000 visitors and raised over £50,000 for the two charities.

Nick told the Wiltshire Times that he was delighted to be able to go ahead with this year's event, after last year's was cancelled due to Covid-19: "People are delighted to take a look at the gardens; they look so much better after one of these events than they did before.

"Many people have been bottled up for so long during the pandemic they are just pleased to come out."

Brain Damage regular Ian McKenzie made it along to the Sunday opening (27th), and was grateful that the rain (only just) kept off.

He told us that "there were a lot more of Nick's cars there compared to 2017 when I last attended, including two very special cars. I managed to have a chat with him on a couple of occasions, and asked him which task requires the most co-ordination and concentration; driving a Ferrari or playing the drums. For the record, he said the former is the hardest!"

Nick Mason open day - Ian McKenzie pictures

Ian kindly sent a selection of his pictures from the day, which can be seen in full over at the Brain Damage Facebook page, but the thumbnails here give a flavour of the shots - Nick's cars, his helicopter, and Nick himself. For more information about the event itself, and for tickets to attend in future years, visit middlewickhouseopengarden.com.