Fruit and nut

On 07 May 201709 May 2017 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, PhotographyLeave a comment

Mon 24 April: we’re heading north, towards an overnight stay in Glen Devon. We’re slightly ahead of schedule – let’s have a look at this pineapple thing… It’s quite startling, and definitely strange – a huge carved stone pineapple, at the head of a walled garden not far from the south bank of the Forth, a few miles east of Stirling. Other than the pineapple, and the walls (three of them), and a little pool, there’s nothing else and no-one else there. (There are further grounds to explore, but on this day of sunshine and snow showers, it’s too cold to hang around for long)

The Pineapple NT Scotland

Shugborough snaps

On 02 Apr 201713 May 2022 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, PhotographyLeave a comment

A first visit to the Staffordshire estate, former residence of a certain late well-known photographer. I’d better do my best today, but they’re only snapshots of a brief visit. There’s too much to see in a single afternoon – we’ll have to return, perhaps mid-week when it might be quieter…

Shugborough Estate NT

Walled garden, snowdrops, deer

On 15 Feb 2017 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography1 Comment

Attingham Park, in other words – walking out through the walled garden and the snowdrop woods, then around the perimeter of the park, along the path which passes through the deer sanctuary. Those in charge are keeping a wary eye on us, though they don’t seem worried.

Attingham Park NT

Monty

On 27 Dec 2016 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, PhotographyLeave a comment

The sun was already low in the sky as we walked along the short path to Montgomery castle. It’s a good place for a cold afternoon – there’s no wind but it will be frosty when the sun gets lower. We’re soon warmed up again in the Ivy House – tea and Welsh cakes. An enjoyable outing!

Montgomery Castle CADW

Pumpkin time

On 18 Oct 2016 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, PhotographyLeave a comment

We’re having a wander around Attingham Park. It’s dry and bright this afternoon (though breezy and chilly), and there’s a wonderful crop of pumpkins (some of them bearing messages) in the walled garden. There’s a rather fine colony of little pale toadstools on a stump in the woods, not to mention a large wooden frog.

Attingham Park NT

Acorn Bank

On 29 Aug 2016 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, PhotographyLeave a comment

22 August: we’re heading north, and need a lunch break. Instead of motorway services, we take the Appleby road at Tebay, then the A66 to Temple Sowerby, for Acorn Bank gardens – and a light lunch, well away from the M6. Acorn Bank was home to poet Dorothy Una Ratcliffe, whose name is familiar to me – though I’ve no idea why.

Acorn Bank NT

The Walled Garden

On 15 Aug 2016 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, PhotographyLeave a comment

Too warm for anything very energetic… A wander around Attingham Park, focusing on the colour in the walled garden.

Attingham Park NT

Buildwas and Cressage

On 14 Aug 2016 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, PhotographyLeave a comment

Beside the Severn in Shropshire: a brief visit to Buildwas abbey, and a stroll along the river bank near Cressage.

Buildwas Abbey EH

Wilderhope

On 10 Aug 2016 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography, Shropshire hillsLeave a comment

This Elizabethan manor house in the Wenlock Edge’s Hope Dale, is a National Trust property – and a youth hostel. The steel-framed bunk beds may look incongruous in these timber-framed rooms, but it must be a great place to stay. We’re just passing, however – an hour is sufficient to explore the rambling and disorientating building, truly a 3D maze. Outside the house, Hope Dale is unbelievably quiet, and very green.

Wilderhope Manor YHA
Wilderhope Manor NT

Beside the Skell

On 19 Jun 2016 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, PhotographyLeave a comment

The river Skell is perhaps best known (if at all) for flowing through the valley of Fountains Abbey and the Studley Royal water gardens (a world heritage site, on account of the latter). It rises on the moors east of Nidderdale, and joins the Ure on the eastern edge of the city of Ripon (which is half the size of Beverley, the third-smallest city in England). We’ll start at the latter, for lunch down by the cathedral, followed by a visit to the restored canal basin. The canal, which takes its feed water from the Skell, closed in 1956 – forty years later, it had been re-connected to the inland waterways network.

It’s only a short drive to Fountains. The ruins need little introduction – the abbey is one of the largest and best-preserved of its kind, and particularly photogenic, even on a dull grey afternoon. There’s plenty to explore, and afterwards we walk the length of the water gardens, a very pleasant stroll which is concluded by fine views as we approach the abbey once more. Little more needs to be said – visit the NT site (below) for more.

Fountains Abbey (NT)