On Monday we visited Ilam (pronounced eye-lamb) Park, in the Staffordshire Village of Ilam. It is a 158 acre site which sits on either side of the River Manifold. It's managed by the National Trust.
It seems ages since we last walked there. I'd have to search back through my photos to see when it was. I searched on here and came up with a post of November 2021, so possibly that was the last time.
Ilam Hall, which was re-built and re-designed in the 1820s by the Watts-Russell family, was donated to the National Trust in 1934. The main hall is leased to The Youth Hostel Association.
How the hall used to look before part of it was demolished in the 1930s.
Above The Church of the Holy Cross.
The remains of a Saxon Cross on Paradise Walk. It was found in the foundations of a cottage in the village of Ilam in the 1840s.
Morning Coffee at the tea rooms and a visit to the bookshop before a quick photograph of another wallaby.
This one is Walla-B Fierce painted and illustrated by Ella Kasperowicz in collaboration with Pride in the Moorlands.
It was a lovely morning for a walk, dry and not too warm. There were lots of families enjoying themselves on the Mole Trail.
It was time to move on to our next destination for lunch and another wallaby. I'll save that for a later post.
Happy memories of Ilam staying at the youth hostel in the early eighties with a school group. So much beautiful scenery to enjoy in that corner. B x
ReplyDeleteThank you B, yes the scenery is stunning in places including Dovedale too. It was good to visit again:)
DeleteWhat a super property and I love the idea of a mole trail. The Saxon cross is very interesting and it is lovely to see another wallaby. Great photos Rosie.
ReplyDeleteThank you Caroline. Three more Wallabies to post about, we've seen them all now. There is another Saxon Cross in the churchyard too, the mole trail looked good, we didn't see all of the boards but the children seemed to love them, also a 'space hopper' hopping track. I just love the view of the church and hills behind:)
DeleteA lovely place to visit, It could be a set for a Father Brown episode.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thank you Amalia, I can just see him dashing around the corner of the church looking for his bicycle:)
DeleteIlam Hall looks like a peaceful place to visit. And I love the Pride wallaby. Xx
ReplyDeleteThank you Jules, even though busy it was still very peaceful and we had some of the walks to ourselves. It is a special place:)
DeleteI spent a night at Ilam Hall youth hostel, back in the late 70’’s. The grounds were full of daffodils at quite the wrong time of year. They were plastic, left behind by the TV company that had just filmed an adaptation of Catherine Cookson’s ‘The Mallen Streak’, on location at the Hall.
ReplyDeleteJayne.
Thank you Jayne. How interesting, I remember that series on TV. They also used the church for an adaptation of Jane Eyre a few years ago. The same sort of thing happened to us in the early 80s in Lyme Regis, the shop fronts had been aged and false cobbles down the main street for the filming of The French Lieutenant's Woman:)
DeleteYou are doing an amazing job with your wallaby hunt, it's a good reason to get out and about somewhere new. I think I've been to Ilam maybe 30 years ago - no wallabies to be seen though! 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you CK. There might still have been some real ones not too far away then. We have seen all the Wallaby sculptures now. Just three more to post about:)
DeleteThanks for sharing Ilam Hall and it's story. Ooooh..............more wallabies! Take care & hugs.
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DeleteThank you Susan, there is a lot of history in Ilam it's fascinating and beautiful place, three more to go on finding the ten wallabies:)
Quite a grand old hall. The National Trust certainly does valuable work.
ReplyDeleteThank you Granny Sue, lots of it was demolished but the buildings that still stand are very grand. The 19th century house replaced a much earlier mansion house. The NT do have the courtyard, stables and garden where there is a bookshop and tea rooms and of course the parkland around:)
DeleteThanks for the tip on pronouncing Ilam. The Wallaby sculpture hunt sounds like it's been a lot of fun for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lorrie, I remember being asked once how to pronounce the village name so thought I would add that. We have enjoyed being out and about this summer walking and finding the Wallabies:)
DeleteI have never been to Ilam but now you have made me aware of this lovely place, hubby and will look at visiting next year when we have more time to enjoy at our leisure .
ReplyDeleteIt is a lovely place with lots of walks and also not far from Dovedale, nice tea shop too:)
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