Category: NT and EH

National Trust, English Heritage, museums etc.

Hidcote

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography1 Comment

A warm Wednesday afternoon at the National Trust’s north Cotswold garden. Its style is described as “Arts and Crafts”, with “colourful and intricately designed outdoor ‘rooms’”. It’s deservedly popular – and clearly on the Cotswold tourist trail (between Stratford, Chipping Campden and Broadway), evidenced by the hundreds of visitors, many from distant corners of the world. They’re not all visible at the same time, of course – it’s easy to lose most of them – and oneself – in the intricate landscape.

Hidcote NT

 

The pipeworks

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography2 Comments

The first time I found the tiny bottle kiln, abandoned and apparently forgotten, in a quiet corner of Broseley, I was amazed. It had been used for firing the clay tobacco pipes made in the small factory alongside. With the industry in decline, it was closed and left to decay nearly 60 years ago. It’s now part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum, one of their lesser-known sites. Other than necessary safety measures, the factory is preserved as found – a real “time capsule”. Well worth an hour’s exploration.

Broseley Pipeworks IGMT

 

Dudmaston and the Dower House

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Two pleasant and lazy afternoons after Saturday’s leg stretch. The Dower House garden is at Morville, and is open to the public on Sunday and Wednesday afternoons. The house adjoins Morville Hall, which, though a National Trust property, is not open to the general public. Dudmaston is on the other side of Bridgnorth, and at the other end of the scale – a pleasant spot for a wander around the lake. It was too warm for anything more energetic.

Dower House garden, Morville
Dudmaston Estate

Wenlock Priory: dodging the showers

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography1 Comment

More than half the abbey has gone, but what remains is a pleasant spot for a brief exploration on an afternoon when heavy showers threatened between bursts of sunshine. The threat was not followed through, apart from a few spots in the wind, but the sunshine did its best to confound. There are some nice little details in the stonework, and the topiary is wonderful!

Wenlock Priory EH

 

Walking from Wenlock to Broseley

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Tea and cake at Benthall Hall…

We’ve done it before, but last time, the Hall was only open at weekends. Now, it’s open (March to October – closed in the winter) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays too. There’s a tea room, with some tables and seats outside – and it’s just nicely half-way on this walk – perfect!

There are only four buses each day, but the Arriva no. 88 service is ideal for this one (and there’s entertainment value in the negotiation of some of Broseley’s narrower streets, where “anywhere” is the rule for car parking).

There are several possible routes from Benthall Hall to Broseley; most involve field paths and tracks before walking through the streets. On this occasion, we walked down surfaced lanes, to enter Broseley by the “Fiery Fields”.

NOTE for tea drinkers: the tea room is inside the hall, which would require payment of an admission charge; the outside area is not accessible though the hall, but whether one should pay, I’m not sure – we’re members anyway. The Hall is well worth a visit – but muddy feet (and ours were) would not be appreciated…

Bus timetable | Benthall Hall NT

Bring me sunshine

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography, Walks1 Comment

Two bright, sunny afternoons – too good to waste…

Monday: a walk from Linley to Bridgnorth. I had a lift to the starting point, for a walk which should be well-timed for a lift home again. Down in the valley, out of the wind, I began to wonder if I should have left my jacket behind. The old railway track would provide a reasonable surface if the river-bank path was too sticky – in the event, it wasn’t bad at all.

Tuesday: A walk to Benthall Hall – an old favourite. The tea-room at the hall was a bonus – hadn’t realised it was open mid-week, so early in the season…

Benthall Hall NT

 

Border Castles

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography1 Comment

Goodrich, the White Castle, Grosmont – three impressive ruins with similarities and differences. Goodrich is in England, beside the Wye near Ross, in the care of English Heritage. There’s lots to see and explore here – spiralling ways up to the heights, dark dungeons and passageways. A walk around the dry moat reveals the rocky foundations.

Goodrich Castle EH

Further west, in Wales, are the “Three Castles”, from 1201 the property of one Hubert de Burgh. We’ve been to Skenfrith before – let’s look at the White Castle. It really was white once, apparently. Its deep moat is still water-filled, and the ruins are extensive, but there’s only the one tower which can be climbed for a fine (but today hazy) view to the west, where the Skirrid – “Ysgyryd Fawr” –  and the Black Mountains are prominent.

Grosmont Castle, third of the “Three Castles” would be on our way home, and there’s still plenty of time. Once again, there’s an entrance across a bridge (which originally would have been a drawbridge), and there’s one way up onto the walls for a good overall view. That chimney is amazing!

White Castle and Grosmont Castle CADW

Sunshine, showers and snowdrops

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A short wander around Attingham park, near Shrewsbury, on an afternoon of bright sunshine (too good to stay at home) and sharp showers. We managed to avoid the latter, apart from one which had us scuttling into the bothy for shelter. The “Woodland Walk” is still closed after the recent high winds – there were numerous casualties of the storms in those parts of the park that remain open – and the website warns of mud, though the paths didn’t seem too bad. Perhaps we’re getting used to it…

Attingham Park (NT)