top of page

Anna Baker Cresswell

Founder & Executive Director, HighGround Charity


Life beyond the military - outdoors

Your three favourite flowers?

Lily of the Valley, Iris, Reticulata Rose


Tell us about your childhood garden?

My grandparents walled garden in Northumberland


Who or what inspired your career choice?

My Mother, a Nightingale Nurse


What is a typical day in the life of Anna?

I am a slave to my laptop but at some time during my waking hours, I can always be found in my garden.


No garden is complete without …

Hens


Something we’d find:

• On your bedside table: Unread books

• In your flower arrangement: My Mother told me to always use greenery

• In your garden shed: Bulbs from last year waiting to be planted out


The flaw you wish you didn’t have?

Overthinking


What would you be in another life?

One of my favourite aunt’s dogs


Guiding principles?

Be kind, be useful. (Sorry President Obama but I can’t better that..!).


Who is a horticultural hero?

Capability Brown, a fellow Northumbrian


What is the one flower or plant you’d never plant in your garden, but don’t detest when you see others plant it?

Monkey Puzzle


If there was a fire, and you could only keep one book on gardening, what would it be?

Susan Campbell’s, A History of Kitchen Gardening


For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for?

Seriously, my work with HM armed forces. Less seriously, for being a good friend and a good laugh and if not stretching too far, a good boss too.


Contact: https://highground-uk.org/ @HighGroundBoss @highgroundcharity


"No one joined the military to drive a desk!"

Quick fire: some favourite things


Book (fiction): The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Film: Pretty Woman

Painting: Anything by Rex Whistler

Smell: Jasmine

Meal: Risotto

Travel Destination: Australia

A cause near and dear to me: Horticulture as a rehab intervention for the military

Place to go for inspiration: The top of Preston Tower

A great walk near where you live: Bamburgh Beach

Thing to collect obsessively: Vases

Museum: National Army Museum

Garden in the UK: Chelsea Physic Garden

Garden anywhere else: I itch to go to Madeira…



Anna Baker Cresswell
bottom of page