Our Garden - Late April/May 2019

A few photos  to show the Garden waking up (and the Gnomes appearing for the Spring Bank Holiday).

NT x 2 - Chartwell and Standen

We visited a couple of local National Trust Properties in the Spring.

In March we went for a walk in the grounds at Chartwell

Chartwell is near Westerham in Kent. For over forty years it was the home of Winston Churchill. He bought the property in September 1922 and lived there until shortly before his death in January 1965.

 The gardens were only just coming to life but the views across  the lakes, garden and Weald of Kent were still quite special.

The statue of Sir Winston and Lady Churchill over looking one of the lakes is a great representation of them. The sculptor is Oscar Nemon; it was unveiled by the Queen Mother in November 1990.

In April we went to Standen to see the tulips and other flowers - we were not disappointed. Standen House is a Grade 1 listed Arts and Crafts building near East Grinstead in West Sussex. It was built in the 1890's -  the surrounding garden was begun at the same time.

Mudlarks

We went mud-larking on the Thames on Sue's birthday in April (although it was actually a Christmas present!).

We joined up with a Group at the Brunel Museum at Rotherhithe

Weather wasn't wonderful but it was dry.

As always views on the river in London are great no matter where you are;

Looking downstream

and upstream (The Shard in the distance)

Sue looking for treasure - we found animal bones, a lot of clay pipe stems, loads of old nails and pottery from early 20th Century, some Victorian and a few bits of Tudor brick.

It was quite a fascinating morning

Gnomes , a phone box and Lavender

This is mainly about Lavender and the wonderful Mayfield Lavender Field in Banstead.

Two sites actually, the 25 acres of lavender at Carshalton Road and the nursery on Reigate Road in Ewell.

The fields are very impressive - at the moment the  English Lavender 'Folgate' is in flower:

Lots of people there - many taking photos -

- one of the quirky attractions is a phone box:

There is also a Café in the middle of the field where lavender based drinks and snacks can be purchased:

And yes I had to have my photo taken

We then went on to the second site - the plant shop and nursery -

equally quirky -

 - with a wonderful set of Gnomes!

Well worth a visit.

Bluebells and Skye

Matthew and I went for a walk in the National Trust's Hornecourt Wood at Outwood on Saturday. The path to the wood is through a field of oil seed rape in full flower - 

The main attraction is the bluebells - possibly just past their best but still a real showstopper - 

The view south from the wood towards Horne - again another bright yellow field -

 On the way home Skye spotted the Dog and Duck and insisted we stopped for a drink!

Skye at Easter

Cute dog from a few days ago (wondering if anything will fall into her bowl)..

and a few pictures from Park Hill, Reigate on Good Friday:

Sizewell

Sizewell - mainly known for the Power Stations but on a February morning (9am) the beach had a special charm unique to the Suffolk coast.

Turnaround and you do see the Sizewell Power Stations