Much binding.....

Much Binding in the Marsh may not mean anything to most of you but for those of us for whom it is an instant transport to childhood I'll just join you in a smile.  That's an awfully long preamble to sharing a recent few days away in  Much Birch (between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye).  As usual my ramblings about the visit will appear in My Clavering whenever I get to write it (!) but I wanted to show you a couple of pictures from the gardens we saw.

We stopped at Attingham Park on the way down (for lunch!) but I don't have any garden photos from there as we pretty much ate and ran.  From my memory of two previous visits I don't think it offers great gardens any way - it is decidedly a park estate. 

We were staying at The Pilgrim Hotel in Much Birch.  It had lovely borders, pots and baskets all blooming away, so the visit promised good gardens as soon as we arrived. (Thanks to Phil for the photo)

We came home via Powys Castle on my recommendation as I always like the feel of the place and the great views across the Menai Straits. Some of you may have spotted the fatal error.  I was remembering Plas Newydd!  To be precise I was correctly remembering the lovely terraced gardens at Powis but has transported it to Plas Newydd's setting.  It is very confusing being me.

Any way the gardens at Powys certainly deliver even on a showery day.  I would recommend seeing them but not if climbing up and down a very steep hillside doesn't appeal to you for whatever reason.  There are perfectly great walkways and paths but it is the epitome of a terraced garden and can be hard work if you don't take it at a steady pace, which we didn't do.

There is a Powis Castle gardens album if you want to see more.