If you live in the UK, you won't have failed to notice the recent sunshine - particularly notable because the sun showed its face on a bank holiday! We decided on an afternoon out (I worked through the morning) and we discovered something we didn't know existed!
It was behind this rather lovely gate...
Would you like a little peek?
It's
Grappenhall Heys walled garden. It's only open from 1-4pm and we arrived at noon. It was worth the walk around the outside of the walled garden too, because there's gorgeous woodland to explore.
The walled garden itself was like a little oasis - in the middle of a (rather nice) housing estate, it was calm and tranquil, with ponds and trees
and a separate formal walled vegetable and fruit garden. Isn't this box hedging just so well kept?
the soil in the background is full of seedlings
The garden is maintained by one full-time gardener and a team of volunteers.
espaliered apple trees with lots of blossom
I take my camera everywhere with me these days - photos aren't just good for memories or illustrating my blogs, they're perfect for design inspiration and I think I captured plenty of that - but I've discovered that you don't need to look far for inspiration!
inspiration under your feet
look - even the grid covers are pretty!
We'll be going back to the walled garden, there's no doubt at all. It's the perfect place for a picnic (they have closed the cafe until the greenhouses and other buildings are refurbished) and to gently while away a warm sunny afternoon.
they sell the honey, fruit and vegetables
OK, back to reality now. The sky is grey, today is much cooler and the rain is... well, doing what rain does best. The perfect weather for a little crafting, I think...
9 comments:
What a lovely post. It sounds like you had a wonderful day out, especially as you got to have a peek behind that lovely door. The garden does look really peaceful and I wish all our grid covers looked so pretty. Thanks for sharing.
Ali x
It looks a really pretty garden, I love walled gardens,they always seem so peaceful. I love the door/gate too. I love doors, I have so many photo's of doors that I've done a draft post to pop on my blog soon :)
The iron work on the gate is really beautiful.
Jan x
PS I removed the last comment because I made a mistake... note to self, read before clicking 'publish' :)
Yes, there's something very peaceful about a walled garden. This one is quite unusual historically as it contained a pleasure garden along with a kitchen garden (separated by a hedge so the owners didn't need to be offended by the veg plots!)
I have a thing about doors and gates too - Pinterest is a really good place for collecting images of them!!
Wow, really great to see your photos of this hidden gem. My son is doing his Duke of Edinburgh volunteering at this garden :)
One of the wonderful things about living in a country with lots of history is that this sort of a place has a fighting chance to keep existing...here in Canada, so much of our short history gets bulldozed in the name of progress, and we lose the sense of place and peace that such a beautiful spot could afford us..thanks for sharing this, I would love to be there right now....
Mizdarlin - oh wow. You forget when you are blogging that you reach out to people all over the world. Lots of our Victorian walled gardens have been lost or are in private ownership, so this seems like quite a special place, even over here. The old house it belonged to was bulldozed, which is how the housing estate got built :-/
Sharon - wow again! Such a small world!
What lovely photos, I do love walled gardens. Great inspirations :)
That sounds a lovely place for a peaceful picnic! I will have to visit it!
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