Gardens

Anglesey Abbey Gardens – The Winter Walk

April 19, 2013

Anglesey Abbey, a National Trust property near Cambridge, although in parts almost nine hundred years old is in its present form the creation of its more recent owners from the sixteenth century onwards, culminating in the work of the 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966) a grandson of one of the founders of what is now the [...]

Autumn’s here … or is it?

September 13, 2012

Yes, there’s an autumnal chill in the air, and the media have been telling us for a fortnight that it’s Autumn. But is it really? No! Autumn starts at the equinox which isn’t until the 21st of September. So, Hey! We still have another week of SUMMER. Anyway, regardless of the technicalities of seasonal dates [...]

Arley Hall and Gardens, Cheshire

December 7, 2011

Recently I promised to include weekly items on attractive places further south than my recent Cumbrian and Pennine posts. Regulars here will have noticed very little activity of any kind since then. I’ve been working on a major new feature of the site (secret! husshhh!) to be launched shortly and was rather distracted from routine [...]

Some Places to Visit in the Lake District

October 28, 2011

[Updated from a 2008 post]In addition to the lakes themselves there is a wide variety of things to do in the Lake District. There are places to visit ranging from the literary connections of Dove Cottage at Grasmere (home of the poet William Wordsworth) to the practicalities (although also with artistic potential) of the pencil [...]

Herb Garden at Acorn Bank, Cumbria

June 29, 2011

This lunchtime my wife and I decided to make a detour on our way home from Penrith, and to visit Acorn Bank, the National Trust property in the Eden Valley near Temple Sowerby and Culgaith. After a delicious soup and sandwich we strolled around the gardens and walked through the woods to the beautifully restored [...]

Holehird Gardens, Windermere

January 27, 2011

Last summer, while staying for a few days in Kendal (dog-sitting for our son who was holidaying in warmer climes) my wife and I paid our first visit to Holehird Gardens, high up on the hillside above the village of Windermere in the English Lake District. This had been recommended by friends who had “discovered” them [...]

Herb Garden at Hardwick Hall

December 3, 2010

Hardwick Hall, home of that powerful Elizabethan lady, Bess of Hardwick, is a “must-see” for anyone visiting Derbyshire or Nottinghamshire. Another day I’ll post something about the house itself, now in the care of the National Trust. Its wall tapestries are amazing, and have hung there for hundreds of years. Today, though, here’s a view [...]

Muncaster – Overnight at a Lake District Castle

January 28, 2009

Over the past thirty years of driving up to Whitehaven, I’ve often looked across the valley to Muncaster Castle on the hillside above the River Esk not far from Ravenglass. Last week, though, I had reason to stop there. On my way north in the morning, and looking for somewhere to spend the night before [...]

Gardens of the Lake District

May 21, 2008

The English Lake District is well-known for its water and its mountains, but maybe less known for its gardens. And yet this “most beautiful corner of England” contains some magnificent gardens of many different varieties. I recently came across a book that I’d missed noticing when it was first published. (Obviously my eyesight must be [...]