A LANDSCAPE gardener who built many gardens and parks in Wiltshire died peacefully at his home in Staverton on June 2.

Adrian Orchard, 62, leaves behind his wife Beryl, a local midwife, and his three children, Thomas Alice and William, their partners and his five adored grandchildren Bella, George, Daisy, Elsie and Emma who all miss him dearly.

A loving and devoted family man, Adrian grew up in the village of Monkton Farleigh and was the middle of three brothers.

He attended Trowbridge High School for Boys and subsequently attended Lackham Agricultural College in Chippenham where he studied farm mechanisation. On finishing the course he obtained his dream job of working on Sir Charles Hobhouse’s farm in Monkton Farleigh.

Adrian met his wife-to-be, Beryl, in the Kings Arms pub in Monkton Farleigh in August 1978 and after a whirlwind romance, married four months later. They moved to Kilkenny in Ireland where Mr Orchard took up a position as a farm foreman for 18 months.

Mr Orchard loved Ireland and developed a fondness for Irish folk music. In latter years he taught himself to play the melodeon and enjoyed playing both Irish and English folk music and belonged to various folk clubs in the area.

On returning to Wiltshire, he and Beryl settled and brought their three children up in Bradford-on-Avon, during which time he changed career and ran his own landscape gardening business.

Mr Orchard designed and built many gardens and parks in the area and was commissioned to build the festival gardens in Bradford-on-Avon to celebrate the millennium. He particularly enjoyed designing gardens with natural habitat to encourage wildlife.

Adrian was a quiet, kind, generous and modest man, never happier than when outdoors. He was a keen walker and lover of the countryside and wildlife.

Seven years ago, Mr Orchard further demonstrated his creative skills and love of the outdoors when he designed and built a successful camping park at Monkton Farleigh named The Blackberries, which he had run with his wife and for the past year with the help of his eldest son Thomas. The family have many happy memories of times spent at the camp site.

As a Christian, Adrian was always keen to help others and both he and Beryl spent a few years volunteering as street pastors at night in Trowbridge when the initiative was first set up.

He was a wonderful family man and loved his family dearly. Last Christmas Adrian and Beryl celebrated 40 years of happy marriage with a big party at Trowbridge Rugby Club for 150 guests. Adrian will be sorely missed by numerous family members and friends.

The Funeral service will be held at St Peter’s Church, Monkton Farleigh, on Wednesday, June 19 at 12 midday. Family flowers only please.

Donations, if desired, will be given to Dorothy House Hospice and the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, care of C S Bowyer Funeral Directors, 2 The Bull Pit, Bradford on Avon, BA15 1NB. Call 01225 863208.