The Valley Gardens 11 March 2017

Time for some exercise - enough of being cooped up indoors because of the weather. It's supposedly spring and Windsor Great Park have been trumpeting the fact that there are flowers. I thought I'd go and have a look for myself.

After doing some chores I headed over to the other side of Windsor. This map will give you an idea of how big the park is.

But first of all, breakfast. I parked at the Wick Road gate, first time I've entered the park from this angle, and what a good idea it was.

Bacon roll and tea at The Bailiwick. Perfect. And served with style. I would recommend this pub.

Then into the park. Grey and gloomy, as usual.

First up, the Totem Pole.  A gift from the people of Canada in 1958. 100 feet tall and weighing 12 tonnes, it was carved from a single log cut from a 600 year old Western Red Cedar. Apparently, the carver - Chief Mungo Martin - placed a curse on the pole as he hadn't been invited to the presentation party. Fortunately this was lifted when a local (to Windsor) historian heard the story, raised funds and invited him across - crisis averted. It's pretty impressive, though quite a strange sight in the middle of the english countryside.

Heading into the Valley I came across a giant Sequoia - planted in 1860, it's 39.8 metres tall as of January this year. There really are some awesome trees here.

Bursts of colour started showing up in the gloom now.

This is an Acer Griseum, native to China - how beautiful is the bark?

 

 It's Azalea and Rhododendron season .. the fragrance in this area was astonishing.

A memorial to the great storm of 1987. This must have been a period of natural disasters around the globe - my twins were born on the 20th of October that year in Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu Natal and there were huge storms and floods the week beforehand, so much so that I was worried about getting across the Duzi river which was in flood. It subsided luckily, but there was great damage.

Magnificant Magnolias, I've never seen anything like these trees.

This furry little object is actually the outer coating of the flower.

Happy bee

 

Cyanobateria - very toxic

 

Definitely time for tea, nearby the Obelix is a tea truck.

Then a stroll around the lake back to the parking area.

Nymans 4 March 2017

10 days! Until Kate and Kean arrive. But in the meantime, getting out there.

A quick drive down to Sussex because, amazingly, traffic on the M25 flowed. The M25, a ring road around London with at least 4 and sometimes 6 lanes in each direction. Always busy, often at a complete standstill. Aptly described in Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Hell on earth.

Collect Dayne and head over to Nymans which is really close to Haywards Heath.  National Trust, of course, since 1953. Originally owned and developed by the Messel family.

A fire destroyed much of the building in 1947. The house was partially rebuilt and lived in by the stylish and fashionable Anne Messel, one of the 'Bright Young Things' of the 20's and 30's. Her son  Antony Armstrong-Jones, was married for a time to Princess Margaret.

This weekend is officially the start of spring - someone needs to tell the weather -  the opening weekend for the house. I don't think it's been a particularly long or arduous winter, it just feels like it.

Somebody's shoe cupboard was raided for this idea ...

The gardens are in 600 acres overlooking the High Weald of Sussex.

Yew topiaries and hedges all around the garden.

The Toblerone hedge.

Android topiary.

Birds everywhere. You don't really notice until you close your eyes and listen - a chirping, chirruping, whistling chorus which goes on in the background all the daylight hours.

After snowdrops, the next flower in the spring queue is the Crocus - just purple and white here, but elsewhere all colours, with a lovely fragrance.

Through the ruins ...

 

 

Into the restored part of the house. 

A bouquet filled with pincushion proteas and leucadendron - a bit of a surprise to see such familiar blooms in the midst of the UK spring.

These flagstone floors must be freezing in winter.

Isn't this door lovely?

This lightshade was a surprising delight in a passageway. So modern, yet it fits right in.

There is an interesting new art installation at Nymans. The artist John Newling was commissioned to develop a language for the garden.

These plaques are part of the alphabet trail. In the house is a folio of works on display. There is also a downloadable font available - at this link http://www.john-newling.com/nymans-typeface/.


Rather lovely (rather lovely)

Back out into the cold.

 

Lots of colour and flowers

The fragrance of these pink flowers - wafting around the garden.

Daffodils, everywhere you look.

 Spring has sprung - thank goodness!