The Lovell Quinta Arboretum

The Lovell Quinta Arboretum can be found in the village of Swettenham which is about four miles off the road which runs between Congleton and the village of Homes Chapel in Cheshire.

There is a very large car park behind the church at the Swettenham Arms and the gate through to the Arboretum is easily found off the car park.  You pay the entrance fee into an honesty box near the gate.

The arboretum was founded by Sir Bernard Lovell who is best known for his work on radar and for his telescope at nearby Jodrell Bank which can be seen for miles around.  He bought the land in 1948 and worked on building up the collection of trees and plants throughout the 1950s. In 1996 it passed into the hands of the Cheshire Wildlife Trust and in 2003 it was passed on to the Tatton Garden Society.

There are currently two thousand five hundred trees at the site including national collections of both Pine and Ash.  There are also displays of snowdrop, daffodil and crocus in Spring.

It was dry but hazy with that feeling of rain not being very far away as we arrived at the arboretum.

There are some interesting and unusual trees and most are labelled.
Above a Goat Horn Tree from Western China

Some of the colourful shrubs which we had just missed being at their best.

Conifer -I loved the fluffy spikiness of this one.

Sorbus

Laburnum

One of the paths through the woods

I loved the light on the oak leaves

A view across the flood plain of the River Dane which rises in the Peak District and wends its way through Holmes Chapel to join the River Weaver at Northwich.

At this side of the arboretum is a gate through to the Quinta Nature Reserve which a mixture of wetland, woodland and grassland. We didn't have time to explore on this visit but intend to return to see more. This part is still administered by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

The nature reserve runs at the side of the field above with trees on the opposite side of the path.

Acer - Snake Bark Maple

It was quite magical under the trees but it had started to rain.  Soft and gentle drops at first turning to more persistent sploshes as we decided that perhaps we should return to the car park.

You can see how heavy it was from the splashes in the pond which is surrounded by ancient trees including two old oaks both over three hundred years old whose holey branches are home to birds, bats, beetles and spiders.  The lake was created by the family of Sir Bernard Lovell close to the family home The Quinta. 

The Swamp Cypress has its own island on the pond.
 

It was lovely to see the place in the final days of Spring and  we will hopefully return in Autumn.