Autumn Cottage Diarist

Life in Leaps and Bounds - and a 'Stay-cation'

2016 leaps and bounds forward - after a wet spring, we have had some beautiful summer days during the last couple of months. My health has not been 100%, (nothing serious) so what energy I have had has been spent in making further progress in the garden, and in working on development of the therapeutic writing workshops that I provide in the community and to other health-based organisations.

But there was also time for a holiday - this year in the form of a 'stay-cation', when we enjoyed visits to some of the most beautiful gardens and other places of interest within 90 minute drive from Autumn Cottage. Maybe not the adventure of visiting far-flung places, but with the definite bonus of being able to sleep in your own bed and feed the cat every evening! (Pip very much approved of that part of the plan...)

We also chose to take the week here in the UK that saw the arrival of a heatwave (they usually occur the week before or after our vacation times!) - so I was also blessed with the brightest of conditions in which to take some photographs. Here are just a few from some of our visits, starting with a wander around Hidcote Manor and garden in the Cotswolds

Hidcote Manor - home, from 1907, of the independently wealthy American gentleman gardener and plant collector Lawrence Johnston

The White Garden - one of the many 'garden rooms' at Hidcote

 

The Gazebo (one of a pair) at the end of the Hot Border

Pot arrangement of Mediterranean plants outside the second gazebo

The 'Fuschia Garden' - at this point without any fuschias. This was the bathing pool for the house, used during social gatherings of the 1920's & 30's

The Yellow Garden, provided by Johnston for his daunting Mother, Mrs. Gertrude Winthrop

A Trio of bums, contemplating the Yellow Garden!

A simple arrangement of terracotta pots, foliage and one brilliant colour - works so well, I think.

One of the beautiful gateways at Hidcote

Silver-leaved plants for dry conditions at the base of the Alpine Walk

The lovely Lily Pond, surrounded by Mediterranean planting

No garden without water!

Related articles

'Where Have You Been and What Have You Been Doing?'

Pots of Inspiration

Why Herefordshire?

The soaring spire of the church of St Mary the Virgin, Ross on Wye

So many present day reasons to visit one of the quieter, gentler shires of England - but I fell in love with Herefordshire many years ago, when I attended a term of evening classes on brass rubbing run by Arthur Peplow, a passionate enthusiast of Herefordshire Churches, their architecture and the art contained within them. That man ingrained the same passion in me, which has been burning ever since. Each parish church in this country has at least one notable work of art - whether it is created in wood or stone carving, painted glass, wall paintings or memorial monuments.

The accurate depiction of Tudor costume on the effigies of William (died 1530) and Anne Rudhall in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Ross on Wye

They are the People's Galleries - repositories of so many expressions of what gave communities their identities - their beliefs, their customs, their day to day lives, their rites of passage - and in Herefordshire, there are numerous examples of some of the most evocative and accomplished of these works of art still in existence. I am endlessly grateful that they are accessible at all and not locked away in national museums - though in some cases, accessibility is an issue, with security requirements needing to be finely balanced with the right of entry to a place of worship.

Here are just a few examples of some of the treasures I was able to enjoy back in October. (Friends - I've just found this post languishing on my desk-top, when I thought I had posted it weeks ago! My apologies - I hope you are not too confused !!)

More fine detail on the recumbent figures of John (decd. 1636) and Mary Rudhall - their hands clasped together in matrimonial affection for all eternity.

A deceased daughter of John and Mary Rudhall

Another deceased babe - this time shown as a chrysom - wrapped in baptismal robes as its shroud, having died within a month of birth

The fine costume detail of one of the female 'weepers' - a still-living daughter mourning the parents memorialised above (much historical dress research has depended on monuments such as this)

The Annunciation - a beautifully carved scene on the  marble Tudor tomb of William and Anne Rudhall (shown above)

Madley Church

A fine example of a parish hearse or coffin cart

Fragments of glass gathered and re-leaded, sadly in jumbled order, but gladly that they were gathered together at all

In the crypt - a strikingly colourful painting by Edward Kelly

More works by Edward Kelly - here the consecration of St Dubricius as Bishop and below, more scenes from his life

The East window of fine 13th century glass in the church of Eaton Bishop

An utterly charming depiction of Mary and the Christ Child

St Michael weighing a tiny little Soul

The external Volka Chantry Chapel at Kingsland

Notice the 'body shaped' interior of the stone coffin in the Chantry chapel

Tobias and the Angel at Kingsland

One Hundred miles - Six Hundred Years

Many of you who may have visited the Weald and Downland open air museum at Singleton, or watched 'The Tudor Monastery Farm' on TV will understand our curiosity; what would it be like to actually live in one of these timber framed houses, the most luxurious of which might still have been a challenge to our 21st century sensibilities?

What would it be like to wake up to no heating, the need to swathe oneself in a fleece or light a fire to achieve some warmth before making breakfast? But also - what would it be like to hear the flock of sheep rubbing against the walls of the house at night, to see the white tail of a rabbit bob from a few feet away as you look out through the window in the morning - to pick apples and damsons from the trees in the cottage garden?

I had the good fortune to experience just a glimpse of Medieval life last week, when we stayed for just five days at Hacton Cruck, a restored early 15th century Hall house in the depths of the Herefordshire countryside. Of course, as we were well aware, we were only 'playing at it' -  it was *just* a mere glimpse, a tiny glance through the mists of time, giving only an inkling of what it might have been like to live that life. We were also aware of the luxury of both access to the comfortable 'mod cons' of running hot water and working 21st century kitchen facilities which the medieval housewife could not even imagine, and the knowledge that we were able to return to our own, familiar way of life at the end of the week.

We gasped when we walked into the house, and spent the first two days just sitting back in the velvety quiet, absorbing the abundant textural beauty of wood, stone and rough lime plaster everywhere, not infrequently muttering 'wow' as we noticed another piece of spliced repair, a smoke-blackened beam, the nuances of the hand-carved staircase or a glint of warm autumn light on the honey-coloured oak. I spent several moments on one afternoon actually nuzzling up to and inhaling the staircase, which had clearly been recently beeswaxed and was emanating the most wonderful odour in the heat of the sun. We did indeed feel as if we had been given permission for a 'lock-in' at the Museum and revelled in the hours of peace and sense of time-travel that we experienced there.

It was a sensual as well as a historical experience - here are some images to give just a little idea of the pleasures that Hacton Cruck held in store for us in the balmy golden days of late September here in England.

(The cottage is situated in Preston-on-Wye, about 10 miles west of Hereford on the Hereford to Hay on Wye road)

Down a little country track...

...past the log store

Surrounded by apple trees, we glimpsed the the cruck frame...

...of Hacton Cruck, the restored, early 15th century hall house that was our home for five days

The log fire was blazing when we arrived - part of the warmest of welcomes from Dilys, the kindly house-keeper

I parked my suitcase in the cosiest of bedrooms...

...from where I could hear the munching of the sheep outside the window

The delicious atmosphere was enhanced by the tapestries adorning the walls

The hand-cut 'scented staircase' led up to...

...the 'Reading Gallery' - late afternoon sun streaming through the window - a box-bed in the background

...an enchanting place for children to sleep!

...and for adults to drink tea, read and chat

A panoramic view of the hall - food prep mod-cons all set in one bank at the back, in a 'high-table' position

Also from the gallery, a close-up view of the beautiful ancient beams...

...and already, some charity-shop Blue and White treasures acquired on the way!

 

 

 

 

Teas at the Lock Keepers Cottage

Another visit to another garden in the National Gardens Scheme on Sunday last. You never know quite what you are going to get, as the gardens range from those belonging to grand mansions, to more modest gardens who may well have teamed up with another one close by to give the NGS stipulated 'Three quarters of an hour of interest'. We had some idea of what the location may be like this time - the name gives it away! The venue was an old canal lock keepers cottage on the Kennet and Avon Canal, (close to the Crofton Pumping Station and Wilton Windmill), where the owners live a self sufficient life 'off the grid'.

On the towpath to the Lock Keepers cottage

We entered the gate in the high hedge (useful to stop passers-by on the canal boats peering into windows nowadays I guess - they would probably not have been there when the lock-keeper was active in operating the locks on the working canal). Walking to our right we found a very pretty and colourful cottage garden - which we did, however, walk around in about ten minutes.

A tumble of Hollyhocks, Clematis, daisies and sunflowers in the cottage garden

Teas under the trees

Cardoons and Cow-parsley - looking out to the surrounding fields

I surmised there must have been more - and indeed there was, at the other side of the house, where we found veggie beds, a tinkling pond (fountain solar powered), water butts, huge solar panels, a shepherd's hut, piles of 'useful stuff' stacked up 'around the back' (who could not live without a carved wooden mermaid in their life?).

Practicality - compost bins and solar panels tucked away at the top of the garden

'Useful stuff' stacked up, along with a dear old rocking horse that had seen better days

A wanton Mermaid, basking in the sun

Toys, puppets and seedheads - inspirational items in the Artists studio

Clematis on the studio wall

We also discovered the gallery of the artist owner (I love how many NGS gardens have artist-owners, who come complete with a gallery for me to browse) and the most delightful and happy bunch of chickens; we spent the rest of our visit drinking tea, eating cake (a most important 'NGS afternoon out' tradition) and talking to the hens - who were far too busy drinking, scratching and pecking to talk to us.

At the shepherd's hut; drink tea - eat cake - watch hens - (check iPhone!)

Happy hens scratching about - stacked logs forming ledges for chooky-apples in the background

We're used to watching but being ignored by the local creatures, though; with flowers, paintings tea and cake to also occupy us, it's still a blissfully happy way to spend an afternoon.

 

Pots of Inspiration

The First of June - already - though outside the clouds are grey and the wind is rising. O, our British weather!! We are warned of winds of 60 miles an hour this evening - but also given the promise of rising temperatures and the arrival of 'proper' summer by the end of the week. Something to look forward to in sybaritic terms - I look forward to basking in the warmth on the 'Mediterranean terrace' at the back of the house (my fanciful description of 'the hot bit' where I keep my more tender plants) - but also a reminder to get as many plants in the ground as I can before the soil becomes hardened and unworkable and wilting is more of a problem than waterlogging!

Five weeks lost to being medically poked and prodded (outcome positive, with some provisos) at a time when the most work needed to be done in the garden was frustrating, but priorities change when health issues call; I am just happy to now be in the position of being able to get digging, planting, propagating and harvesting with full enthusiasm once again.

For a break from all the gardening work, however, we made a journey last week to a place I have been longing to visit for twenty years. Whichford pottery is not at all far away (about an hour), situated in a very pretty little village on the edge of the Cotswolds and has been making high quality terracotta garden pots for nearly 40 years. I bought the book -written by owner Jim Keeling - on the subject of terracotta container gardening twenty years ago and since then I have only developed further my passion for growing things in pots; the more varied the pots, the better.

A feast of possibilities - gallery in the background

Whichford's website will tell you all about the process and their history - what I can tell you is just what an immensely friendly place it is to visit. I was positively encouraged to wander through the potting sheds and past the kiln, to see the various stages in the creation of some of the most beautiful pots I have seen, all very subtly different as is to be expected from hand thrown pottery, but all of the very highest quality. Not cheap, but you very much get what you pay for here; in these pots I feel I am getting something which will in time become loved family heirlooms.

There is an attached art gallery, displaying other potters' work (though I got so excited at buying our own particular pots that I did not even make it around the gallery!), whilst outside there are several different areas of garden, each with planted-up pots inspiring you to have a go at making your own little pieces of Paradise. That is the joy of 'pot gardening' - even the smallest spaces can be enhanced and made into little havens of pleasure, which can be easily changed around as the seasons pass.

Enjoy the photographs, which will give you just a flavour of our day - centred on the pottery, but also enhanced by our ramble around the lanes of a particularly beautiful part of the English countryside, at one of the loveliest times of the year.

Inside the Pottery - one of the workrooms, used for storing moulds

Loading the kiln by throwing pots down to the loader from above; much confidence, co-operation and knowledge needed here!

One of five different 'Shakespeare' pots,  all bearing quotes from The Master

On the left, 'Acorn' pots - one of which  came home as a gift to Autumn Cottage

Even the smallest garden could find room for a corner like this?

In the village - Whichford church

So many textures - old tombs and gravestones, a dry-stone wall and burgeoning flora

Much scratching and scraping could be heard as I entered the church...

This was the reason - restoration of 14th century painted glass

...the skilled craftsman placing the precious glass back in place

A wisteria in full, glorious flourish on a barn conversion gable end, opposite the church

A reminder of my childhood - overflowing hedgerows of Queen Anne's Lace, Campion - and a newer addition -escaped rapeseed

Back at Autumn Cottage - two more pots which came home with me.

Now about that return visit...

And Springtime Goes Galloping by...

Froxfield Church (12th century) on the A4 London to Bath Road

Well, my friends - where has the last month disappeared to? Already March has been and almost gone - leaving us going out in a lion-like manner of gales and hail-storms, with promises from the weather forecasters of yet more high winds and rain to look forward to for the Easter weekend.

Dear readers - I have been gathering experiences for you - but - blown hither and yon in my own life/time management I have not found a space to record them here; so before more time gallops away - in the garden, the house or out-and-about, here - at least - is a little photo tour of the lovely town of Marlborough, one of my favourite 'running away' places well within an hour's drive from my house. Not many words - just enjoy these old buildings while you sit back with a cup of tea and piece of cake.

St Peter's Church (15th century) - now a craft market, restaurant and meeting place

Exterior of St Peter's Church - (roots of 'Wolf Hall' here!)

Interior - St Peter's Church - Victorian renovations

A rustic 19th C village bier, on loan from Minal in Wiltshire

A fine and elaborate 17th C wall tomb to members of the Hyde family

One of the charming little courtyards now given over to boutique shopping

Tudor houses near St Peter's Church

Simple but elegant Georgian architecture

More sophisticated windows on this beautiful town house

Residential 'Militia Court'

Lloyds Bank

The Merchants House

The Town Hall

Catherine House Art Gallery and Antiquarian book shop

Always my final port of call - upstairs in the gallery of the converted chapel that is now the Marlborough Parade Antiques Centre

 

 

 

 

Everywhere, I Find a Garden!

The 'backside' of St Paul's Cathedral from Foster Lane

Off to the City of London last night, to attend the Ladies Dinner of the Worshipful Company of Dyers, which was held this year in the magnificent Goldsmith's Hall.

Summoned for 6.30 pm., we arrived half an hour early (London traffic is temperamental at 5.30pm and I had over-compensated). So we headed (already feeling sticky and somewhat stressed from a disrupted train journey) for one of the City pubs, to see if we could find a cold drink.

The 'Red Herring' pub on Gresham Street,(formerly Cateaton Street, the first London address of my ancestor Joseph Amici!) with the church of St Lawrence Jewry in the background

One look inside the broiling interior of the 'Red Herring', with shoals of slick City workers overflowing onto the street  and we decided that a stroll would be a more pleasurable thing to do. So we wandered off into some of the little lanes and alleyways that still reticulate this area - mostly amongst modern buildings now, but still with their old, evocative names…'Oat Lane' - 'Gutter Alley' - 'Staining Lane' - 'Milk Street'.

Amongst the steel, glass and concrete of these modern buildings are others - perhaps only remnants - of those buildings that were here before; before the Great Fire of 1666, or before the visits of the Luftwaffe, sent by Mr. Hitler.

All that is left after WW2 of St Alban - the lonely Wren tower on the site of a medieval church

But thanks to foresight and good intentions, many of these places and spaces have been turned into small, sometimes tiny gardens, providing oases of greenery, a breath of fresh air and the opportunity for working people to touch the natural world for a few moments in their otherwise sterile days. I have heard these sorts of spaces referred to as 'the lungs of a city' and experienced just how true that was last night.

Here are some images of just a couple of these hidden gems so you may see just what I mean. The grand dinner was lovely; the surroundings, the food, wine and good company could not but capture my attention - but it was the tiny gardens of the City of London that really  captured my heart.

The garden at St Mary Aldermanbury

A shady oasis

Topiary Knot Garden (ready for clipping now!) - resplendant Magnolia grandiflora (?) in the background

A monument to the publishers of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays

The entrance to the garden at St John Zachary - the Goldsmiths Garden

The gilded gateway, depicting the Leopard's Head - assay mark for London.

The Goldsmiths Garden - Wax-Chandlers Hall in the background

Beautiful Georgian fanlight over the doorway

 'Let Evening Come'

You can find out about many more of these 'little lungs' through London Gardens Online and the City of London's City Gardens site

The sumptuous interior of Goldsmiths Hall - including the glittering chandeliers, which last night were lit by real candlelight - can be viewed interactively on their website

Just Another Day in Paradise - 4 - Sir Harold Hillier Arboretum and Gardens

Do you ever feel that bloggers sometimes struggle to produce eloquence in words, when the most eloquent thing that they could do would be to shut up and just let the pictures speak for themselves? I'm going to do just that, as I invite you to walk with me around these gardens in all their glorious early autumn beauty. I hope the images inspire you to go out and take your own walk in the beautiful and ever changing natural world, if you are able to do so.




Beech leaves falling to carpet the ground

The abstract whorls of a Picea glauca 'Alberta Blue'

The last few days of 'Art in the Park' - the annual summer long exhibition

Not your average wall! Very beautiful...

...and very interesting

The lily pond

 

Lilies still flowering

Woven artworks, inspired by the natural surroundings

Pathway up through the year-old Himalayan garden.... and behind the wall...

The splashing of a Sparrowhawk enjoying a bath!

Wonderful, soft colours as the Hydrangeas age

The Centenary Border - again, just a couple of years planted yet looking very abundant and established

My favourite flowers at this time of the year - Echinaceas.

Just Another Day in Paradise - 3 - Longstock Park Water Gardens

I discovered the plant nursery attached to Longstock Park just a few weeks ago, when a dear gardening friend was visiting. I had taken her to Houghton Lodge - which she had never visited...she took me to the nursery, which was new to me.

The nursery itself posesses a beautiful herbaceous border, which is filled at the moment with an abundance of early autumn colour - so a revisit was in order while the weather was still warm and golden.

What I was not expecting was that our visit would coincide with the twice-monthly Sunday opening of Longstock Park Water Gardens, part of the Leckford Estate owned by the John Lewis Partnership. I have heard other friends enthuse about it and was not disappointed with the lakes, islands and burgeoning planting. I was a little disappointed that my camera batteries were not actually charged as much as they should have been - but emergency technology - aka my mobile phone, came to the rescue! I hope you enjoy the visit as much as I did (the cream tea after a visit to the nursery was rather good as well :-) )

On the way to the water gardens - Longstock parish church

The Holy Family

The Victorian church replaced an earlier church on the site - I suspect these carved angels may have been salvaged from that earlier building - though who made the crass decision to place a heater in such close poximity?!

A small ceramic plaque, hidden behind an ugly notice screen

The manicured south side of the churchyard - with the Rectory in the background

A home for lowlier creatures - the unkempt, but more appealing graves on the north side of the church

 

...and just across the road

The main lake at Longstock Park water gardens

Echinaceas in front of a cloud of Verbena bonariensis

Gunnera leaves

A bridge between two of the fifteen little islands on one side of  the lake

Tall mounds of Ligularia dentata

All entrance fees are donated to charitable causes. This day's worthy recipients of the collected fees - Guide Dogs for the Blind

Glorious Gaillardias glowing with the colours of Autumn

Longstock Park Water Gardens are open on the first and third Sunday afternoons of the month, from April to September.

 

Just Another Day in Paradise - Part 2: Mottisfont Abbey

It's *hot* here in the UK - we are in the middle of a (long-awaited) heatwave, and the roses are just loving it. Roses here in Autumn Cottage garden are really flourishing this year - and I've just called in at the garden centre across the road, where there are roses in abundance scenting the air.

But to see the total, overwhelming glory of the rose, the National Collection of old roses at Mottisfont Abbey is unbeatable. It is particularly glorious this year - so much so, that as I walked into the walled garden where it is situated, my eyes welled up with tears at the sheer beauty of the experience.

I'm not going to list all the names of the roses - I just want to talk you on a walk around the garden there with me, to enjoy, as I did, the feeling of being totally swallowed up on a perfumed garland. Enjoy this loveliness - ephemeral but oh, so wonderful - and if you live close, go in person - you won't regret it.

Travelling in style - age is no barrier to a perambulation of the garden

Hands up anyone who has ever longed for a walled garden

A peaceful spot to sit and think

Arch covered with  Rosa 'Adelaide d'Orleans'

The perfect colour combination - roses, foxgloves & campanulas

An enticingly shady spot for a hot afternoon

Important activity by a Very Important Creature on Phlomis russeliana

Sisirhynchiums surrounded by Stachys lanata - great plants for hot gravel beds or dry soil

One of the Lavender Walks - another week or so to full bloom but already looking spectacular

Forty winks in Paradise for two elders - the perfect end to a perfect day...