Shaded, Faded Elegance

 Bishton Hall in Colwich, Staffordshire is a grade two listed Georgian house and gardens.  The present house dates from around 1750 although the estate has much earlier origins and is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086.

From the 1770s the house belonged to the Sparrow family. John Sparrow bought the house and it eventually passed to his daughter Charlotte who added to and enlarged the mansion and built the gardens over the years.

Charlotte Sparrow was known as an educational pioneer and philanthropist.  She founded the Colwich Primary School in 1827.   She never married and lived at the hall until her death in 1876.  The Hall passed into the hands of Edward Harland, Vicar of Colwich and then Major Charles Wood who lived there until 1945.  In 1946 it became St Bede's Preparatory School.

The Orangery

The Temple Garden was probably designed and built in the 1830s, possibly by local architect James Trubshaw . It was certainly completed by 1838 when it was painted by Thomas Peploe Wood who came from nearby Great Haywood. 

 

It is thought to be one of the finest Doric screens in the country.

There is also a woodland walk and fairy trail.

In the courtyard there are several shops and Sparrow's Tea room.  As we walked around we saw many butterflies especially around the Buddleias, all too busy to sit still for photographs. 

In 2019 the hall was bought by Charles Hanson and it is now the headquarters of Hanson Auctioneers.  There are two salesrooms in the gardens, one of them in what looks like a WWI hut.

It really is a gem of a place to visit and wander around.  Both garden entrance and parking are free.  There are plenty of shady areas to both sit and walk, much needed on the day we visited.

Just a Smidgen Cooler

It feels slightly cooler today, cool enough to lift me out of my stupor of the last few days and inspire us to get out for a short walk whilst it was overcast with a softly cool breeze.  Trentham as usual I'm afraid as we didn't want to travel far and it's just down the road.  

After the wildflowers shown in my last post I was looking at the more formal flowers in the small show gardens this time. 

First the Reedmace or bulrush by the lake

Lots of lovely colours and shapes

Now back home, I have laundry drying outside and Paul is mowing some of the grass which had grown quite high in places.  

Yesterday, early morning we did manage to make a Summer Pudding. Strawberries, Raspberries, Cherries and Blackberries.

We ate a portion this evening with a scoop of ice cream.  It was cool and delicious.

It's probably going to get hot again this week but I've really enjoyed the cooler air today and the short respite from the heat.  We really do need some rain.

Wildflowers

 The Wildflower meadows at Trentham are looking wonderful at the moment.

These pollinator friendly displays are by Pictorial Meadows and were originally designed by Professor Nigel Dunnett from the University of Sheffield.

It was a joy to walk amongst them.  They sparkled in the weak sunshine after the gentle rain earlier this morning.

Bees and butterflies hovered everywhere.

Mostly large whites and wood browns.  It was lovely to see the butterflies as we haven't seen many this year.

We also spotted a Skipper.  Is it a small Skipper?  I wonder as there are several different ones.

What a lovely first step into the month of July.

The Last Day of June

The last two weeks have flown by in a haze of not coping very well with the heat, mostly due to my medication and not walking very far because of painful and swollen knees and ankles but also popping out now and again here and there for treats and visits for Paul's birthday.

This lunchtime Woody visited, he landed on the tree in front of the kitchen window.  Luckily my camera was handy on the kitchen table where I'd left it when we came in from our morning walk - how wonderful to walk in cooler weather.

Isn't he handsome?

Over the last couple of weeks we have visited the Trentham Monkey Park, the RAF Museum at Cosford, taken a late evening Beaver Safari at Trentham and on the actual day a music event at the Dorothy Clive gardens where various performers sang songs from the musicals from each decade 1920s to 2020s, folk music and sea shanties.  Thank goodness it was cooler and the morning rain cleared.  Later we popped up to Bridgemere Garden World, where we visited the Food Festival and the show gardens.  One more treat to come is lunch with friends in Nottingham later this week.

Our Beaver Safari bus took us to the ranger station for a talk and presentation and then around the lake.

 Barry, the only beaver I saw that evening even though one was spotted on the lake and several people saw it.  Paul did manage to capture a photo of it.  I had binoculars but couldn't see it. I'll write more about the Beaver family group later.  The ranger in the purple top below was an excellent guide and so enthusiastic.

I thought with it being a Sunday Bridgemere would be crowded but it wasn't too bad at all.

We had the Octavia Hill show garden to ourselves.

See you in July.

Spotted in June

 A quick 'spotted locally' post for mid June.

The three sculptures above are part of the Staffy trail across Staffordshire this summer.  Left to right - 'Outdoors, Muddy Paws' at the Goods Yard, Stoke.  'Sonney' in Hanley Park and 'Artie' in the churchyard at Stoke Minster.   

There are others in Lichfield, Stafford, Tamworth and Uttoxeter.  

Inflatable purple ducks have appeared at Trentham gardens. I have no idea why.  As the event tents are all purple I expect it is to do with that.

Lots of lovely flowers in the garden to make up a table posy.  Pinks, Sweet peas, Oxeye daisies, Hardy Geranium and Pink Valerian.

A tailless squirrel at Westport Lake.  There are one or two like this here and have been for a year or so.They seem perfectly healthy so I think they must have been born tail free.

A Macaque monkey enjoying an apple at the Monkey Forest, Trentham Estate.

It was easy to spot this years new-borns in their family groups.

Twinkletoes the lucky cat at the RAF Museum, Cosford. In June 1919 navigator Arthur Brown and pilot John Alcock made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic ocean.  Twinkletoes took the journey with them tucked into Arthur Brown's pocket.  Arthur and John had both served in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War.

Rainy Days

 Rainy days can be a nuisance but they can also be quite beautiful.  Twice this week we have got drenched whilst out walking even with weather coats and umbrellas. Today was just such a day.

The car park at the Dorothy Clive Gardens was busier than we thought they would be in such inclement weather. The friendly person at the entrance told us there were actually very few visitors and that the cars belonged to the 'Wednesday Weeders'. I guess the volunteer weeders are used to all weathers.  The gardens were looking wonderful.

We explored the bottom half of the garden in lovely sunlight but the skies soon darkened and the heavens opened.  We found a dry space in the coffee shop so early elevenses were in order.  Then it was out again in weak sunshine to enjoy the rest of the gardens.

The flower borders were looking so beautiful.  Alliums, Astrantia, roses, peonies and foxgloves.  All a treat for the eyes and a mindful escape from the woes of the world.  The colours and colour combinations were so attractive.

Of course I took far too many photos, so I've selected just a few of my favourites. 

All for now