In the early 1830s and 40s John Claudius Loudon - creator of the first gardening magazine - and his young wife journeyed through the countryside of Britain, recording all they saw. Loudon was obsessed by a desire to recall the great country parks and gardens of a nation in an era of impending change. They travelled to Blenheim Palace, Alton Towers, Woburn Abbey, Windsor Castle, Stourhead and Chatsworth, the great gardens of Fonthill, Dropmore Woven into the narrative is a fascinating gallery of characters - innkeeper's daughters, illiterate old gardeners, pious landlords and genteel widows all with one thing in common - the desire to create the finest garden.