A Final Visit

We've been to Consall Hall Landscape Gardens several times in Spring and Summer, in fact I've written about it on this blog before. The gardens aren't very far away from where we live, about 15 minutes by car and we'd always planned to go in Autumn, in fact the last time we went the man on the desk said to us that the gardens were spectacular in Autumn so this year we decided to visit. Imagine my surprise and sadness when I visited the garden's website to check the opening times only to read that on 28th of October they were closing for good.

The reason they are closing is twofold; the owner and designer of the gardens Mr William Podmore is nearly 91 years old and the number of people visiting has fallen over the last couple of years making it financially impossible for him to continue, so he has decided to call it a day.

Over fifty years Mr Podmore has created a superb garden of lakes, woodlands, wildlife habitats, summerhouses and follies from what was formerly an industrial site.

The gardens are right next door to the Consall Nature Park and the Churnet Valley Railway - you can hear the steam train - the one I photographed in the last post but one - toot tooting as it passes through the Churnet Valley and stops at nearby Consal Station on its way from Froghall to Cheddleton.

Everywhere you look is a spectacular view arranged by Mr Podmore to maximum effect for the visitor - a constant delight to the eye and the senses.

These are just a few of the many photos I took and I would normally say to whet your appetite for a visit but in this case unless you can go on the next two Wednesdays or this coming Sunday it won't be possible.

I'm so glad that we were able to visit this wonderful garden, which I'm sure has brought such pleasure to its visitors over the last four years since it opened, one last time before it closes and at such a beautiful time of year too.

All Sorts

The Tulip Tree at the top of the garden is looking quite spectacular at the moment as it has changed its colour from bright green to bright gold.

There are some interesting leaves in the garden - all sorts of attractive colours.

These two visitors pop by every evening to collect and eat any seeds the birds have dropped from the bird feeders - sorry it's not a great picture as I was trying to be quiet and they weren't very still.

Today we spent the morning wandering around Bridgemere and Dagfields looking for a birthday present. We were successful but as the recipient will probably read this post - I'll say no more.

I saw this lovely display in one of the units at Dagfields; we spent ages wandering around the antiques and bric-a-brac stalls and also the second hand bookshop which had some amazing books.

Since my last post all those charity bags have popped through our post box; as I only had a few items to give I had to chose just one of them. I always chose the ones belonging to a registered charity but even then when I put anything out I wonder if they actually get to the proper collector as I know that some people take them when they shouldn't. All in all it is probably better to take the bag to the relevant charity shop as then you know that at least your items reached their destination.

Last but not least a photo taken on our walk last week - I loved the fact that the cattle were almost the same colour as the autumnal trees in the background - yes that is a bull in the middle but there was a sturdy fence between us and it.

Pumpkins, Steam Trains and a bit of Mime

The Mime artist above was helping to encourage people into the new L'Occitane shop at Trentham Gardens retail outlet. I didn't need much encouragement but he escorted me into the shop anyway. I love L'Occitane perfumes and was bought their 'Eau de 4 Reines' for my birthday this year. For those of you who know Trentham, L'Occitane is in the unit where the Emma Bridgewater shop used to be - next door to the Yankee Candle Shop. The mime artist had a friend playing suitable French music on an accordian - all very entertaining.

Meanwhile, in the Trentham Garden Centre they are getting into the mood for Halloween with loads of witchy, batty and spidery displays inside whilst outside we found these lovely displays of pumpkins and gourds.

It was Steam Train weekend at the Churnet Valley Railway and after our long Sunday morning walk we stopped by on the way home to watch the 2p.m. train leave Froghall for Cheddleton.

Froghall is a lovely station and very well kept by the volunteers who help run this railway.

The sounds and smells of the train as it left the platform brought back some childhood memories of travelling on the railways.

Woosh - it was gone in a puff of smoke under the road bridge and on its way to Cheddleton.

Sculptures in the Woods

Last Sunday we headed off to Cannock Chase to walk in the woods. We found this intriguing trail and followed it for part of our walk and then found the end of it on our way back.

It was a community arts project called The Route to Health. I photographed most of the displays and sculptures along the way and have chosen some of the best ones to share with you.

The one above is 'Earth Mother'

I guess we were representing the tortoise and the people flying past us on cycles from the hire shop or jogging past as part of the orienteering event that was happening that day were representing the hare. We were slower but got there in the end.

Walking the dog - there were lots of people doing that, too.

Exercise - good for the heart and mind - keeps you fit and happy.

Keeping happy makes you smile and here is what you use for a healthy smile!

Laugh, dance, listen to music - all healthy pursuits.

We strayed off The Route to Health into the woods.

This was a very busy side of the Chase and the first time we had walked here; there was also a 'Go Ape' type of activity with wires extending out above the paths so you had to dodge people dangling above you as they slid, screaming down the wires as well as trying to keep out of the way of the cyclists and joggers. It was all well organised but not the place for a quiet stroll. The side of the Chase where we normally park is far more tranquil - even so it was great to see so many people out and about and being active. The route to health indeed!

Autumn

An Autumn Haiku for National Poetry Day

Wind rustles through trees
Crisp leaves fall upon the ground
where green turns to gold

Lots to Do

Last week was a fairly busy week. As well as my trip to Leicester on Thursday there was plenty to do at home. Things like taking advantage of the dry weather to mow the lawns for what is probably the last time this season. I managed to get this done on Monday morning and on Monday afternoon I reduced all the shrub and tree clippings in size so they could be put in the garden wheelie bin, we've been waiting for it to be emptied again, I think we could do with a weekly collection at this time of year.

The biggest job in the garden this week has been sorting out the pond. It had got very overgrown during the summer with both flag iris and water lillies taking over; these plants were taking a lot of water from the pond and this plus dry weather over the last week or so had led to the levels in the pond going down.

On Saturday morning we decided to tackle the problem. Water was added to the pond and then all the plants were lifted out, the mud cleared out from the bottom and held in a tray and sifted for wildlife. Plants were reduced in size and quantity and then replaced. We now have a happy pond.

The last of the tomatoes and cucumbers were collected from the greenhouse during the week so on Saturday afternoon I made some Green Tomato Chutney.

Later today I'm going to make some Cucumber Pickle; both recipes from the little book pictured below.

I've also been planting up bulbs for the winter months; pink Hyacinth and Paper White Narcissus which apparently have a wonderful scent. They are now stored in the back of the garage in the cool and dark as per the instructions - I hope they will produce some lovely scents and colour for the dull days of January.

Last but not least I've been knitting wool squares for the project I found on Teresa's blog. I've been using up scraps of wool and I've been knitting them whilst watching TV - things like 'Waking the Dead', 'Spiral.' Nigel Slater's 'Simple Suppers', 'Autum Watch', ' Land Girls' and Sunday evening's new adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Emma'.

A Train Journey

Yesterday I was up early and getting ready to catch the train from my local station to Derby. I was the only person on the little platform and when the disembodied announcement came over the hidden tannoy that the train was approaching the station it made me jump. I was happy trundling along on the little train going through tunnels and passing rivers and streams, trees turning russett and golden and fields full of pheasants rushing, helter skelter as the train passed by. We arrived on time in Derby and I had a short wait to catch my next train to Leicester. This train was a modern, sleek affair which filled the whole of the platform as it came in from Sheffield on its way to London, St Pancras. In contrast to the first train which was full of people with rucksacks and bicycles and groups of friends going shopping this train was full of people talking loudly on mobile phones, listening to I-pods or tapping away on laptops. I felt an interloper in this busy, workday environment overhearing discussions about business I'm sure I shouldn't have been overhearing. In twenty minutes I was in Leicester and my friend who had travelled up from Peterborough was waiting for me. We'd been planning this meeting for some time and now the day was here and what a lovely day it was too.

We were soon at the top of New Walk, one of my favourite parts of Leicester as I have lots of memories of it. I used to walk up and down here from the Museum Studies Department of Leicester University when I was studying for the Museum's Diploma, about 20 years ago. I spent two lots of three week sessions lodging in a house with other students further up New Walk opposite the De Montfort Hall; but we were headed down New Walk because coffee was needed after our journey and where better to find it than the New Walk Museum.

Over morning coffee we caught up on news about our families and of mutual friends, we looked around the Museum - some parts of it were closed for refurbishment - but the Egyptian Mummies were still there. I spent the first five years of my life in Leicester before we moved to Derbyshire. We lived just north of New Walk by the Royal Infirmary and the Granby Halls; the streets we lived in have long gone - the area now the hospital car park - but the Museum is still there. My mother told me that the two things I loved most in the museum were the giraffe (long since moved to Wollaton Hall in Nottingham) because it was so tall, and the mummies.

We'd spent ages chatting over coffee, wandering around the museum and making purchases from the shop. Our aim was to visit the Newarke Houses Museum so we set off down into the centre of the City. We passed the Cathedral and couldn't resist popping in to have a look.

It was beautiful inside.........

.....and out. The building next door to it is The Guildhall, unfortunately closed on Thursdays, the modern building on the other side of the road is the Radio Leicester building.

It won't surprise you to know that I couldn't resist taking this photo of the memorial to Richard III in the chancel.

After a lunch of carrot and corriander soup with french bread we ventured towards Newarke Houses. After losing our bearings and getting lost in the nightmare of roadworks around St Nicholas Circle and The Magazine ( the fifteenth century gatehouse to Leicester Castle) and with lots of kindly intended but not always accurate directions from passers by we arrived at our goal. We got there via the Church of St Mary de Castro, one of the oldest churches in Leicester, and through the archway into the castle grounds towards The Great Hall. The lovely Norman door into the church was at the side of the archway.

The church was built as a chapel for Leicester Castle which stood in this area. Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales was married here to Philippa Roet, sister-in-law of John of Gaunt, who owned the castle. We wandered past the Great Hall of the castle which now has a Georgian frontage. Apparently inside is the original timbered framed hall but it is rarely opened to the public. This led under another archway which I think must be a part of the old castle.

Just around the corner was the Newarke Houses Museum - the house on the right of the picture below is the oldest of the two houses which was the Chantry House for the church of St Mary de Castro which means 'St Mary beside the Castle' - seen in the background.

The main entrance to the Museum is below. There were some wonderful displays in here about the history of Leicester, street scenes, room settings, the Royal Leicestershire Regiment and even a WWI trench. We spent ages looking around.

Below is a photo taken inside the Draper's Shop, one of the shops in the Wharf Street Scene.

All to soon it was time to head back towards the station to catch our trains home. We had a cup of afternoon tea in Fenwick's Department Store on our way back to New Walk. At the station we waited for our trains on the same platform, mine came in first, my friend's ten minutes after. We said our goodbyes and set off on our way home. We'd had a lovely day, seen some wonderful things, had a good old chat and the sun shone all the time. What more could you ask for?