A flavour of Sizergh

Sizergh as in Tizer....

We visited Sizergh Castle in mid August but it is still not to late to go there - just about an hour and a quarter from Bury so not too daunting for a day out.

The house/castle is decidedly interesting and is very 'lived in' which makes it probably more interesting than many which can be very sterile and museum-like.  There is the usual National Trust eatery and gift shop - so ice cream and cakes and a rootle round for some presents for folks is not a bad way to spend a sunny afternoon.

This is just a handful of photos to whet your appetite...

my favourite fleabane doing its thing

the reflecting lake

wonderful veggies

showing the companion planting

It is beneficial to plant flowers with vegetables if you have the space (companion planting).  There is a raft of information about it if you Google it.

I do love a stumpery - done well

Tatton Park

As part of a couple of days break for my husband's birthday we visited Tatton Park.  He and two friends were doing a Segway ride so I was able to wander the gardens at my leisure.  It was the most wonderful experience...

We arrived half an hour before the house and gardens were officially open so I, quite literally, had the estate to myself - not even a volunteer in sight let alone a member of the public.  What an incredible feeling to be able to wander through the gardens in the sunshine in high summer and have it all to myself.  Sheer joy.

I started off in the most fabulous wild flower meadow I have ever seen.  I am so sorry that none of my photos convey the glory of this area to you.  You will simply have to imagine standing waist deep in flowers either side of you on a fairly narrowly mowed path through the centre of a vast field.  Flower upon flower each seeming better than the one before.

breathtakingly lovely

It seemed impossible to top this experience but it was maybe possible to to match it.

Adjacent to the wild flower meadow is a lovely orchard with hundreds of wonderfully espaliered trees surrounding trees in grass, dotted with bee hives.  The clean lines and simplicity of all this brought me down to earth a little.

pristine orchard

I wandered from there through Charlotte's garden which offers an even more serene landscape after all that giddiness and is used by me as my route to a garden I have always loved - the Italian Garden

Charlotte's garden

This way to the Italian Garden passes the wonderful Conservatory which was only renewed in 2011 so it is looking very sharp right now.

You then arrive sort of sideways on at the Italian Garden and only when you walk to its centre and front do you grasp its magnitude.  This garden is a large formal parterre centered on the back of the house.

It drops down a couple of levels from the house, each level as interesting as the one above, finally arriving at the fountain 

and the incredible view across the estate.

Triton flanked by the wonderful symmetrical beds - in perfect harmony

Time was nearly up so I wandered back to the house to meet my companions having only just touched on the vast acres of gardens and glasshouses that you can visit at Tatton.  I did do a quick check of its wonderful vegetable garden - a real hive of production - no messing about in here - serious vegetable growing underway on a vast scale.

If you ever can get to Tatton Hall and gardens I recommend you do so.  There is so much to see I would give it at least half a day and if you are lucky enough to have a lovely sunny day and if you are fit enough you can easily spend a whole day there. 

(The house is not open on Mondays)  Here is a link to times and fees as they are a bit complicated unless you are a member of the National Trust and then it is free.  Click here:  Opening Times and Fees

Google them to read up about all the gardens I haven't mentioned like their world famous Japanese Garden.

Click here for more photos:  Tatton Park.

Arley Hall

Arley Hall is a country house in the village of Arley, Cheshire, England, about 4 miles south of Lymm and 5 miles north of Northwich. It is home to the owner, Viscount Ashbrook and his family.

The present Hall stands on the same site as the first house built by the family 1469. The Hall standing was built between 1832 and 1845 by Rowland Egerton-Warburon to the design of George Latham, a Nantwich architect. 

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So, what at first appears to be a grand Tudor House is in fact a Victorian 'homage'.  

We were visiting the hall and garden as part of (my husband's birthday) overnight  stay in a hotel in Lymm.  Being mid  August the English summer was in full flow with a warm day and thoroughly grey skies!

If you like Victorian stately piles this is certainly one to float your boat.  Being a dyed in the wool neo-classical Georgian I can't say it was my cup of tea.

That said, the ceilings in every room were remarkable and the grand hall impressive to say the least.  I can't show you the interior, of course, as usual photography is not allowed inside the house.  It is a family home (the same family for 550 years) and still used occasionally.  I was once told the ban on photos is an insurance issue (?) The fact the house is still something of a home adds some appeal as it looks to be 'lived in' rather than frozen in aspic.

The gardens don't have a feel of a grand designed landscaped but more of a collected hotchpotch of gardens that have been added in over the years by various occupants.  Again, this is all a matter of taste as to whether that makes the landscape a better or worse one .....  sadly, for me it is just not cohesive enough to flow nicely from one space to another.

Arley is especially famous for the long border.  It was one of the earliest of its kind and is said to have set the style for the English long border - simply crammed with every plant imaginable.  This is one small section ......

Turn around and there is more... and more .... and more

A little corner that I loved was the tea cottage.  Imagine having your staff setting up a dainty tea for you here on a summer afternoon.

The vegetable garden is to die for and you are overwhelmed with lettuce envy as you step inside.  It certainly beats my (ex) three six foot long raised beds.  I often wonder where the produce goes in these vast estates.

Yet again though, I still found the area odd as it has a tall hedged area and arbour at its heart - all very formal and something I though you would expect to find in a landscape with a great vista laid out in front of it to be admired from your seat.  The kitchen garden, though lovely, somehow doesn't seem to warrant it. 

The house and garden is still privately owned and it costs £10 for seniors to go in to all the areas.  I suggest you google it if planning a trip as there are various charges according to your age and where you want to go.

Click here for more photos:  Arley Hall

Botanical Garden, St John's Newfoundland, 16 July 2016

When we visited my son and family in St Johns in Newfoundland we went to visit a gem of a Botanical Garden there.

herb garden

entrance

it has a large lake and woodlands

lovely peonies

perennials

a woven arbour

this small green plant was a solid impenetrable carpet

detail of the plant

I have a passion for lichen and air plants and the like

another minute very pretty ground cover

the official plant for the province - a pitcher plant

great idea - pots threaded on a rebar and then set in concrete

pretty arrangements of plants

Wollerton Old Hall

Usually I struggle to find a favourite this or that but I do have a favourite garden and that is Wollerton Old Hall.  I have been lucky enough to see many of the major gardens and places such as Hidcote and Kiftsgate and many others and most are just overwhelmingly lovely but for some reason Wollerton has my heart.

I 'discovered' it many years ago in its 'infancy' when it was just a private garden open to the public now and then and I have seen it mature and develop further and further right down into the copse at the bottom.

This time I hadn't been for about three years and the change is palpable.  It is much 'bigger'.  The planting that is... the plants have grown and matured and have packed every little inch.  I love it only slightly less, but the doubt is there.  It had (has?) very defined rooms with glimpses long and short from one to another this seems to perform at a lower key when the planting is almost swamping you and I think that is a shame as it seemed to be the key to its particular charm.

It is now fairly busy with visitors and I am (unreasonably) greedy in wanting it to myself.  One of my very best visits there (last time) was in the rain.  The garden took on a whole new face and was almost just mine.  This time I bobbed around with others and grudgingly shared it.

Some pictures here and you can go to the album if you want to see more.  Click here:  Wollerton Old Hall

there used to be a rose and  climbing fuschia (Lady Boothby) on this wall

all about glimpses

view to the copse