Walk the talk
RIGHT: Mrs Lywood.
If you are interested in viewing the gardens they are open annually under the NGS, five-and-a-half-acres with easy paths, numerous seats, good views, colourful perennials, shrubs and mature trees, a large geranium border overlooking grounds, bog garden, pond with fish and water lilies, newly installed scented garden, small secret courtyard garden and container planting on residents’ patios, please enquire. www. thedowerhousewinchester. co. uk and apartments – and even a creche for staff’ s children. This part of the business was sold so that she could focus on The Dower House, with it’ s 43 rooms, made up of 39 long stay and four short stay rooms.
Mrs Lywood, who now lives in Bath, is still very much involved and visits The Dower House once a month when she gives talks on her great passion, gardening, always accompanied by seasonal photographs of plants in the home’ s grounds.
“ Many people who live here arrive as active, elderly residents and The Dower House remains their home until the end,” explained Philippa.
“ A number of residents now arrive when they need nursing care, which has changed the dynamics somewhat, but bridge, piano recitals and gardening are part of the vitality they enjoy in living here.
“ Many enjoy gardening, or simply appreciating gardens, therefore we arrange trips to view other gardens as well as admiring our own. It really is something special.”
Testament to that observation is extremely low staff turnover. Residents may live at The Dower House for a decade, meanwhile several staff have notched up a few more years – matron 14 years, one of the cooks 25, a night sister has just retired after 27 years whilst the housekeeper had been here for 25 years!
Philippa is married to Tim, who now drives a Winchester Community Bus and they have three grown-up daughters, Charlotte( who thinks nothing of spending the weekend cycling the length of Wales and back again), Sophie( new mum to Frankie) and Kate( a former England Junior Golf squad captain working in London after several years abroad).
The girls’ inspiration has come, in part, from their dynamic mother’ s charity commitments, which have included treks to the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu and the Arctic Circle with huskies. Philippa completed X-Runner UK for the British Heart Foundation, and most recently, ran the Stockholm Marathon for Southampton Hospital Charity, finishing in just over five hours.“ I’ m six foot two and not a natural runner,” she added.“ As anyone who has tackled a marathon will tell you, it’ s the training which is harder than running on the day!”
With a yearning for explore new countries, Philippa is off cycling from Vietnam into Cambodia in November, a personal trip this time, not a charity event.
Residents and staff know what this joyous, surprising and inspiring woman gets up to … and perhaps a few more now.
When Philippa encourages people to remain active, she knows what she’ s on about.
44 Resident www. residentmagazine. co. uk