A Morning Visit

On Friday morning we visited Biddulph Grange Gardens.  It's our nearest National Trust Property and we tend to visit five or six times a year and definitely in each season.  This time it felt as if it was on the cusp of seasons still summer yet with portents of Autumn in the air.

As well as a Bee Trail for children which had been there throughout the school holidays there were also a few Mindfulness boards.  This one as you can see made the point of trying out new things.  If a regular visitor it was pointed out that you could take a different route around the gardens.

It occurred to us that we had already done that  as we had visited to kitchen garden first instead of last as we usually do.

Loads of watering cans for little helpers.

The orchard had been opened up.

The apples were nearly ripe

Curly Kale

Ruby chard

On the steps down to the main garden the fuchsias in the urns were very pretty.

Another Mindfulness quote near the fish pond, where iridescent Koi carp drift amongst the lilies under the shimmering water of the pond and ducks paddled along on the surface.

We continued our walk......

.....past the lake

......through the trees and rocks.

It's sometimes hard not to worry about the future especially the way things are at present but we did try although shopping for something for tea on the way home was on our minds.

Inside the Cheshire Cottage where there was an exhibition about plant hunters and how they, at great danger to themselves, brought back exotic and unusual plant specimens for the owners of many of the large estates.

Inside the geology gallery the fossils are now replaced and the display nearly complete and looking as it would have been when Mr Bateman built it as his grand entrance to the gardens.

Up the steps to the Wellingtonia Walk

We made a little diversion to the pond

It was looking very lush and green.

A view from the top of the Wellingtonia Walk across the garden to the countryside beyond.

Dahlias from Mrs Bateman's garden and the Dahlia Walk.

 

I know I've taken you to visit Biddulph Grange many times before but things change there all the time over the seasons and are also changing at the moment as there are building works to provide better visitor facilities and the second hand book shop had been refurbished too.  There is a large group of gardening volunteers who were out in force keeping the garden neat and tidy.

It was a lovely visit and a gentle way to say goodbye to Summer and move us towards the new season.