Connections

Little things that connect, that send your mind drifting back into the past. Memories weaving here and there some of them as clear as if it were yesterday.

On Wednesday morning we went up to Leek to look around the shops there.  The museum, for some reason was closed but we ventured into the Foxlowe Arts Centre to look at a local art exhibition.  On the same floor was a book case of second hand books for sale, the title of the one below caught my eye and the memories flooded in.

 

It was 1980 and we were staying in Lyme Regis, a place we both love.  Paul had an appointment with the curator of the Philpot Museum to look at and photograph Pterosaur specimens and I was just fascinated with the story of Mary Anning who spent days on the Undercliffe searching for fossils.  We stayed at a small hotel called the Old Monmouth where creaking floor boards and suddenly opening doors led the other people at breakfast to delcare that they were sure that they had heard 'Old Monmouth' during the night.  The owners had a cat called Cleopatra who more often than not visited the bedrooms, luckily we liked cats, as once or twice we found her curled up in the sink in the corner of our room.  I remember the hotel was across the road from the church and the church clock could be heard ringing each hour.

A very fuzzy and discoloured old photo of me outside the Old Monmouth. Below the Philpott museum both taken in 1980.

 

The day of the appointment arrived and we went in to meet the curator who at that time was the eminent writer John Fowles.  He was interested in why we were visiting and what we were interested in and happy for Paul to identify a fossil for him. He referred us to Dorchester Museum to find another fossil there.  A few weeks after we returned home we had a thank you letter from him.  We still have it somewhere, most probably in a file, in a plastic box in the back of the garage.  Perhaps one day we will come across it again.

The book is full of illustrations by an artist called Elaine Franks with a foreward by John Fowles.

John Fowles of course is no longer with us but - here - is an article about Elaine Franks.

A Visit to Lyme Park - Part Two

The Garden which surrounds the house at Lyme was constructed in the 19th century and is around seventeen acres in size.

The house and gardens are in turn surrounded by a one thousand three hundred and fifty nine acre deer park. 

After lunch we wandered into the garden past the lake and down into the formal garden.

We passed some lovely features and plants along the gentle slope down into the garden.

Apparently Lyme is the second highest garden owned and maintained by the National Trust.

We crossed the little bridge and made our way down the slope.

This was just part of a long Hebe hedge buzzing with insects enjoying the warm sunshine.

A view of the house from the formal Italian garden.

Looking down on the garden from the slope back up to the house.

The air was filled with the beautiful scent of orange as we walked by one of my favourite plants the Philadelphus or Mock Orange.

We didn't see Mr Darcy but Miss Bennet was strolling gently through the garden.

We strolled around the lake taking in the grandeur of the house and enjoying the reflections in the water.

Above and below the Edwardian rose garden.

Over here the scent of roses.  I've a feeling that this was part of the garden that suffered in the recent floods along with the formal garden and some of the woodland walks.  More information about the damage - here.

 We visited the Orangery which is at the side of the house

Inside the Orangery 

There were many unusual plants growing inside

And lovely seating areas not many people were inside on such a warm day.

More from the Orangery

'Willows whisper as the breeze blows through their branches.  Listen carefully, what can you hear? Can you whisper through the willow and share a secret with someone on the other side?'

One of the words from the Lost Words exhibition inspired by the book by Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris. 

A Visit to Lyme Park - Part One

Early in July we visited Lyme Park in Cheshire.  We'd first visited in the 1990s and it felt like time to  return. We  made the journey just a few weeks before the recent flooding caused so much damage. According to the National Trust website the property will remain closed until August 9th at the earliest. We also passed through the village of Whaley Bridge on the way which is at present threatened by the collapse of part of the dam wall which contains the water in the Toddbrook reservoir which was built in 1838 to feed the Peak Forest Canal. The village has been evacuated. It's awful to think of what might happen if the dam bursts and I hope that something can be done soon to make it secure and allow people to return to their homes. 

It was warm and sunny when we arrived but we decided to go into the house first whilst it was still fairly early and have lunch before venturing into the garden.The present house dates from the 16th century with many alterations done in both the 18th and 19th centuries.  It is the largest stately home in Cheshire.

I'd forgotten what most of the rooms looked like so it was interesting to see them all again.  The house was owned and occupied by the Legh family until it was passed to the National Trust in 1946.

 Library

 Dining Room

 I loved the way the table was set for a sumptuous banquet.

 Everything placed with precision.

The guide in the drawing room told us that the stained glass was taken in the 19th century by the then owner of Lyme Park Thomas Legh from the church in the nearby village of Disley.

More of the medieval stained glass in the drawing room window.

The State bedroom, also known as the yellow bedroom, was created for the visit of King James II. The Legh family were later supporters of his grandson Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite cause.

The small settee above is covered in French embroidered wool and is dated c1690.

One of the many passages in the upstairs rooms.

Above and below a couple of the intricate wood carvings in the Salon which have been attributed to Grinling Gibbons but some experts think they were done by a carver in the style of Gibbons.

The two I photographed show artists materials and musical instruments.

Also in the Salon was an exhibition about the Sarum Missal.  It was printed by William Caxton in Paris in 1487.  It was owned by the Legh family from 1508 when it was purchased by Sir Piers Legh. It stayed with the family when they left in 1946 until it was bought by the National Trust in 2008 and returned to the house. Apparently the book had been on display in the library but this year it the centrepiece of a new exhibition.

The Nursery

The Long Gallery

The Knight's Bedroom - the guide told us that this room was supposed to be haunted.

but I can't remember now whom it was supposed to be haunted by!  If I remember or can find out elsewhere I'll add it here.

Two more sections of stained glass which were in a window at the bottom of a staircase just by the exit.

It was time to make our way to the cafe for lunch before we went outside to look at the garden.