Creswell Crags and the Harley Gallery - Part Two

I can't remember how long it has been since we visited The Harley Gallery which is sited on part of the Welbeck Estate.  The area is next to a Notcutts Garden Centre where often when we travelled home we would take my Mum and Dad  for lunch.  This was way before The Harley Gallery opened.  The last time we were there we met up with a friend I have known since we were about five or six years old at school.  It's funny, we rarely see each other now but when we do meet up it's as if we only saw each other the day before.

When the gallery first opened it was a show case for artists and crafts people with a display of paintings and silverware which belonged to the various Dukes and Earls of Portland.  Since 2016 these items and more are now housed in the The Portland Collection Museum which is in the courtyard next to the gallery alongside the Welbeck farm shop and cafe.

Below - inside the Harley Gallery

Some family  names associated with Welbeck Abbey. Cavendish, Harley and Bentinck. I believe the present Earl of Portland is the actor Tim Bentinck.

Inside was an exhibition of fruit and flowers made from glass by Neil Wilkin and Rachel Woodman. 

 

The Portland Collection houses unseen treasures from Welbeck Abbey.

Above 'Lit a la Polonaisse' or the Talleyrand Bed c. 1700 bought by the 6th Duke of Portland last century.

Enamel portraits by Jean Petitot including portraits of both Charles I and Charles II (as a young boy) Queen Henrietta Maria and the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham.

Above Margaret Stuart, Countess of Nottingham by Paul van Somer

 Above Madme de La Valliere c. 1665 by Casper Netscher.

 Back outside in the heat of the day we walked a little way along the Art Trail which runs between the Harley Couryard and Creswell Crags (see my post of 4 June) it wasn't a long walk just 0.6 miles.

 Good paths along the way and shelter under the trees.

Tree Sculptures along the way.

 Halfway along there is a busy road to cross.

I think you can see from the photos how hot the day was.

All for now.  

 

Around Home

Just popping in to share a few garden photos. Some of the flowers in the garden are looking lovely at the moment.

Above sweet peas and foxgloves

 

Astilbe

Astrantia

Bistort

More foxgloves in the no mow area at the top of the garden

Flag Iris in the pond

Lupin

Rose

Damselfly - I see from Ragged Robin's Nature Notes this morning that it is probably a Large Red Damselfly.

A small posy from the garden - washing drying on the rotary dryer through the window.

The first strawberries.

 

 Last night, around midnight we heard the most unearthy sound and then loads of yelps and squeals from the garden.  I'd heard that noise just once before so we thought it might be a hedgehog.  A badger had cornered it just near the greenhouse.  As we opened the back door the badger ran off but the poor hedgehog was still groaning and squealing.  

 

Paul gathered it up in a towel and placed it in a small trolly type wheelbarrow with some bird nibbles and water.  We left it in the greenhouse with the windows open.  At about 5.30a.m. we went out to see if it was okay.  It had eaten the nibbles and drunk some of the water so we wheeled it to the top of the garden and put it under the shelter of a shrub.  We left it until about 9a.m. to go and check - it had moved on.  I do hope it will survive as there are lots of badgers around here in the early hours and I know they are partial to a hedgehog.  Sometimes nature seems cruel.

All for now.

Creswell Crags and the Harley Gallery - Part One

'Walk in Footsteps 50,000 years old' the leaflet for Creswell Crags says on it's front cover.  When we were children I don't think we realised that is what we were doing.  I grew up in a village close by. In fact there was one village in between Scarcliffe and Creswell and that was Elmton.  We passed through it again on the way to Creswell driving down the narrow lanes, verges white with Cow parsley and May blossom and fields yellow with Buttercups.  A group of us children from our village used to cycle as far as Elmton and back, Creswell was just that bit too far.  My Dad used to take our car to a garage in Creswell ( I still remember the number plate RTU 498) and in those days you could drive straight past the crags.  All is very different now.

The last time we visited Creswell Crags was in August 2021 when we took a car full of Paul's stone age tools and other artifacts to donate to their education department. It was pleasing to see that some of the items had been placed on display whilst others were used for children's activities.

We spent a couple of hours looking around the indoor displays and walking across the meadow and around the lake in the gorge.  I didn't take too many photos this time.

Well, I say I didn't take too many photos but I was enthralled, not by the lake or the caves but the wildflowers we saw along the way.  On both side of the lake were swathes of both Cow Parsley and Comfrey.  There was also Wood Avens (we have a lot of that in our garden here and it is quite invasive) here it was perfect.  On the grass banks there was loads of Yellow Rattle.

Next time in the returning to childhood places trip posts - Part Two - the Harley Gallery and Portland Museum on the Welbeck Estate.

Today's Walk

 Just a few photos taken on today's walk at Tittesworth Reservoir.

It's not very often you see a wild rabbit.

Let alone two - what a joy!

Woodland Walk down to the stream.

It was cool under the trees.

Lots and lots of Yellow Rattle.

In the distance and hazy in the sunshine The Roaches.

Sightings from the hide include the Heron and Coot below.   We also saw four Lapwing, a Cormorant, five Oystercatchers, a Great Crested Grebe and a Buzzard soaring overhead.

The Heron was as still as a statue, patiently waiting for his lunch to swim by.

Pink Hawthorne Blossom

Delicate webs close to the hide.  Spiders?  The webs were covered in fluffy seeds.

All for now.  Next time back to last weeks visit to Creswell Crags.