Anglesey Abbey - The Dahlias

                                                                                                                                     

Earlier in the year I photographed the wonderful show of snowdrops at Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge. I was back there recently to admire the dahlias. Miserable grey weather was forecast but fortunately they couldn't have been more wrong!

There's a lot more to see besides dahlias of course and more posts will follow.....

Take care.

The Gardens Of Anglesey Abbey

The dahlias which I showed you yesterday were but a brief, beautiful but wholly inadequate introduction to the gardens of Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire.

The gardens are surely one of the most successful blends of formal and informal design to be seen anywhere in England and, even more surprisingly, were created within the last eighty years out of a flat acreage of fenland. They were the work of one Urban Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Baron Fairhaven of Lode in the County of Cambridgeshire. 

Lord Fairhaven bought Anglesey Abbey in 1930 and set about his dream of living the traditional life of an English aristocrat and gentleman. This was a strange ambition perhaps for a man who was born an American!

His father's family had become wealthy through engineering and his mother's even richer from oil. They sent their son to Harrow School where presumably his dreams of becoming more English than the English were first born. And more importantly perhaps he had the funds to fulfil his wish.

At a time, the 1930s, when because of the Depression many of the owners of large houses and estates were financially embarrassed, Lord Fairhaven was able to acquire many statues at knock-down prices. There are over 100 pieces of sculpture within the gardens and their presence, in both the formal and informal parts of the garden, holds the whole concept together.

Around the house he made several small formal gardens - the dahlia beds, a semi-circular lawn with a wide border of flowers around the curved edge (and, of course, a statue) is just one. Right next to the house is an attractive rose garden.

The statues in these formal beds are always placed symmetrically with often a central piece adding to the strict design. The effect is not however immune to informal and unexpected interventions.....

I really wish that I could tell you more about the individual statues but as yet my enquiries have only unearthed such statements as "most of the statues have a Biblical or mythological theme".

So for now I'll just have to enjoy their beauty without knowing their origin or name - same as I do with many of the plants in the garden!

Away from the flower-beds there are more statues alongside broad grassy tree-lined avenues and acres of grass for children to run, which makes it a popular destination with families.

Woodland paths, a wildlife discovery area, a riverside path, the winter garden which we looked at when we searched for snowdrops back in February and of course the watermill which we also explored in another post.

And there are plenty of places to stop for your picnic too....

....before going in to explore the house itself to see what Huttleston Broughton made of that!

Take care.

Komanditer!

Komanditer!

On Sunday morning I was poking about taking photos in the vicinity of our parish church when a woman unexpectedly approached me. I feared that she was going to ask me if I was going to attend the morning service (which I was not), but instead she enquired if I was taking photographs (which I admitted I was).

"Wonderful", she said, "and will you be visiting the Open Gardens this afternoon?".  I said that I hoped to. At this the good lady invited me to take some pictures for her to include on the village website - "just one of each garden". And that's how I became the "official photographer" for the day.

So here's what I came up with:

Jim and Jane's garden in Bell Close

Just a small plot which I walk or cycle by almost every day and invariably get a friendly wave from Jane or Jim. Always best to keep an eye on what Jim's doing if you want to be successful growing vegetables, but he also finds time (and space) to grow some lovely flowers.

 Tricia and John's garden in Chiswick End

A really tiny garden which is full of interest despite only having been started from scratch in 2014. In such a tight space all the visitors soon get involved in conversation with each other and with the owners.

 In Flambards Close, Jim and Margaret's garden

Another garden which I pass by regularly, though I had no idea that there was such an extensive and beautiful garden hidden away behind the house.

 Julie and Peter at The Dumb Flea

The Dumb Flea used to be a pub many years ago, hence the weird and wonderful name of the house. This is where the lady I met at the church earlier in the day resides. When I arrived she was busy taking her grandchildren for hair-raising rides around the garden on her mobility scooter! 

"The Limes", Frances and Richard's garden

A large spacious garden, all beautifully manicured and full of interesting plants. Having walked around once, very slowly, I then walked around again and found plenty more to photograph.

"The Court", a garden tended by Annemarie and Nick,

but, I suspect, mainly owned and occupied by their children!

A huge and rambling garden where one would like to be five years old on an endless summer's day. Besides having all those boring adult things like flowers, lawns and trees, this garden has a slide, swings, a Nelly-The-Elephant water-fountain and loads of awesome places to hide! 

Take care.

All In A Day's Work

I've been at work all day today. In case you haven't read the sidebar I work in a special school for young people with cerebral palsy. The school has extensive grounds and that was where I was this morning; taking photos with one of the young men I help. So this is what we found on our walk:

Take care.

Meldreth Open Gardens

On Sunday some of the good people of Meldreth opened their gardens to the public in order to raise money for the village church. You-know-who went along to take a few photos, but ended up taking quite a lot. Here are some of them:

Take care.

Spring Gardens (1)

Meldreth Open Gardens

We're enjoying some proper Spring weather and some of the good people of Meldreth opened their gardens to the public. What better way to spend a fine afternoon than to wander from one garden to the next and enjoy the fruits of someone else's labour. And there must certainly have been a lot of hard graft to produce the beautiful displays on show. 

Tulips always look great with the sun shining through.

Some people garden....

(like a lot of people don't.)

A place to relax!

Take care.

Spring Gardens 2

Anglesey Abbey

When asked where she'd like to go at the weekend Mum opted for the gardens of Anglesey Abbey, the National Trust property a few miles east of Cambridge. Mum has to use a wheelchair these days so we have to think about accessibility - you don't notice steps and uneven ground unless you're using a chair - but there are no such difficulties at Anglesey Abbey. Even so we managed to find our own problem; when we got there we discovered that the wheelchair had a puncture. More in hope than expectation my brother, Les, went to ask if they might have a wheelchair that we could borrow - certainly, sir, no trouble at all.

The birch grove

We made our way along a winding path amongst daffodils and shrubbery till we reached the birch grove which glowed with the reflected light of "Little Beauty" tulips. The path led us to Lode Mill, a fully restored watermill which I really must explore further some day. Along the little millstream the swans and moorhens drifted lazily on the gentle current. Further along drifts of daffodils swept down to endless lawns.

Hyacinth beds

 As we approached the house the gardens became more formal, with many classical sculptures. The house and grounds were purchased by one Huttleston Rogers Broughton, who later became Lord Fairhaven, in 1926. He set about renovating the whole place according to his own taste. When he eventually gave Anglesey Abbey to the National Trust he stipulated that it should be preserved to represent an age that was quickly passing. We made our way back by a magical woodland walk, passing beneath some magnificent old trees.

A monument to times past

Take care.