CANCER patients from Hillingdon Hospital are helping breathe life into a secret walled garden in Cranford Country Park.

The garden is one of the few reminders of the Earls of Berkeley, whose estate consisted of the park and surrounding land, now managed by Hillingdon Council.

The Berkeleys were one of the country’s richest families, but their home was sold in 1918 and demolished after World War Two.

A few remnants of its opulent past remain, including the stables, the walled garden and a huge, tiled cellar that is hidden underground.

More than 20 volunteers, including patients from Hillingdon, have helped create and look after the garden through Macmillan Cancer Support, which opened an office at the hospital earlier this year.

Lorraine Barton, a Macmillan cancer specialist and one of the founding members of the park friends group, said: “It’s a very relaxing place and patients enjoy coming here once a month to work with and meet other people.

“It gets people out of their homes and active, which is important when you are recovering.”

The garden’s features include a small vegetable and wildflower plot, a natural well and its own grapevine, which this year helped produce 20 bottles of Cranford wine.

The odd glass helps ward off the autumn chill and the possibility of crossing paths with the Grey Lady, a ghost that is rumoured to haunt the 144-acre park.

Cranford Park Friends are always on the lookout for volunteers to help, and secretary Robert Barton says everyone is welcome. More info: www.cranfordparkfriends.org