A Garden Visit

 On Friday we met up with friends at Wollerton Old Hall Garden which is near Market Drayton in Shropshire.  It's about a forty minute journey from home.  We'd visited a couple of times before but not recently.  

It was a birthday celebration for one of our friends so as we arrived close to noon it was time for refreshment before the small tea room got too crowded.  Lunch was lovely.  We had Hummus and pitta bread with a couple of different salads. Friends had Gardener's platter.  All very fresh and well presented.  Sorry no photos as we were too busy chatting and catching up on news.

After lunch we had a wander around the gardens. 

 'When Lesley Jenkins moved back to her former childhood home of Wollerton Old Hall in 1983 with her husband John, she quickly discovered that the great age of the site demanded formality in the gardens design. She created three north-south and three east-west vistas. The resulting linearity of these vistas together with the hedges, walls and paths resulted in a collection of separate gardens, with each one having its own style and ethos.'

I've copied the above from the website (link at the top) to explain the history and layout of the garden.  It was very sunny so I didn't take too many photos as the light was too bright in places.  Just few photos below of those I did manage to take with my little camera.

The scents and sounds were wonderful - especially the Wisteria.  In the wilder area at the bottom of the garden there were butterflies and damselflies flitting around under the trees amongst the cow parsley.

There were plenty of seating areas in quiet places.

After that it was time for tea and cake before heading home.

Boscobel House and the Royal Oak

 

Carrying on from my last post.

When we reached Boscobel House it was time for a late lunch before we explored the house and grounds.  We had sandwiches served with a small side salad in the barn before moving on to the garden.  As rain was forecast we decided to visit the outside areas first.

Boscobel House is a farmhouse, at one time turned hunting lodge, with a connection to national history and turbulent times.  It was from here in 1651 that Charles II escaped to France after being defeated by Cromwell's troops at the battle of Worcester.  He found safety for a while in the house which was owned by the Giffard family from nearby Whiteladies Priory.  The house was lived in and cared for by the Penderel brothers.  The first night of his stay, disguised as a countryman, he and his companion Major William Careless hid in an oak tree to escape being captured by Parliamentarian soldiers.  The second night he hid in the priest's hole until the Penderel brothers could move him to nearby Moseley Old Hall, from there disguised as the servant of a local gentlewoman called Jane Lane he managed to get to Shoreham on Sea and from there to France.  Here is a -link- to more information.

The gardens were lovely.  Set out in a 17th century parterre design with plants typical of the era.

This photo was taken through an upstairs window.

 

From the garden we wandered into the meadow to walk to the Oak Tree, it's not the original tree that sheltered a king as parliamentarian troops scoured the woods below but  a descendant of the original.  

The person who greeted us at the reception told us that the  larger one was struck by lightening a few years ago so another smaller one now grows at its side 'just in case'.

A willow tunnel for children to explore.  There are lots of interactive displays and play areas to keep them occupied and inspired.

The site is now presented as a Victorian farm with animals and chickens.  Above one of the Ryland sheep.

 

A contented Tamworth pig - I'm sure it was smiling.

Time to go inside.

From 1812 until 1888 the house and estate, including nearby Whiteladies - now a ruin and not visited this time - was owned by the Evans sisters.  Their main home was Darley Abbey House near Derby but they did visit Boscobel for a month each year and being fascinated with the house's history, encouraged tourists to visit the house and the Royal Oak.  Inside the house is now presented as a Victorian residence with a romanticised view of the 17th century.

The first thing you do on entry is to pick up a candlestick.  In each room is a pile of books, if you place the candle on top of the books an animated figure appears.  

Figures appear from the 17th century in a 19th century setting.

Quite ghostly at times.

The downstairs living area was very dark so photographs were impossible. It's kept so dark to protect some of the objects in the room and in particular a very special contemporary account of the escape. Upstairs there are two open bedrooms and an attic area.  Also the priest's hole where Charles II may have hidden.  More photos below.

The way out is through the dairy, where cheese and butter were made and meat was salted.  Across in one of the barns was an area for brewing cider.

The Dairy

 

Butter Making

 

Below the salting area

 

Below cider making 

 

Below a collage of a few more random photos.  

 

Apologies for the photo overload.   I have bedding hanging outside to dry so I'm keeping an eye out for rain, it has gone a bit dull so I must go and check.

All for now.

 

 

Planes and Roses

On Wednesday we had a day out and about.  The weather stayed dry until we were driving home when it absolutely cascaded down and the windscreen wipers were on overdrive most of the way.  

Firstly we visited the RAF Museum at Cosford.  There were lots of changes since our last visit.  I didn't take many photos this time.

Hawker Hind Trainer 

 

 

Boulton and Paul Defiant

 Wellington Bomber

Bomber Crew, the crew member with the dog was a rear gunner.

Spitfire PRXIX 1945

We then moved on just a mile or so to David Autstin Roses. It's really just behind Cosford's air field but you have to drive round to get there. 

  It was very busy so we didn't stay too long. 

I took photos of some of the roses that caught my eye.  It was hard to take general views as there were lots of visitors and no space in the cafe or garden for lunch.  It's a very popular place.

The Lion Garden although I didn't take a photo of the lion statue that gives the garden its name.

Renaissance Garden

 

 One of the avenues in the long garden.

I love all the different names of the Roses - Port Sunlight where we visited a few years ago when we stayed on the Wirral.

 

These smell of orange blossom.
 

The Poet's Wife has a lemon scent.

Tottering-by-Gently.  I really liked this one especially the name.  I feel I'm just tottering by lots of things at the moment.  Named after a cartoon by Annie Tempest which is apparently in the Country Life magazine.

Shropshire Lass - well we were in Shropshire- is a rose from 1968, the blooms fade gently from pale blush to pure white.

 

Gertrude Jekyll - a firm favourite with many including me.
 

Emily Bronte - such a delicate colour.

Sir John Betjeman - such a lovely colour.  I share a birthday with him.  Day and month not year of course.

Boscobel - had to include this as that's where we were off to next - it's just a few miles down a long and narrow but straight road.  We often call them Roman roads, perhaps they were.

Boscobel House

I think it deserves a separate post.