Summer draws to an end

Field just down the hill from Frensham Heights School, at sunrise.
This is one of the glorious views to which I'm privy as I take my early morning run each day

Greetings, all.

Those of you who know me even superficially will be aware that summer is my least favourite season. One of my oft-quoted mantras is that 'If I never have another day above 15ºC it will be too soon.' People here in the UK often marvel at our decision to leave the comparatively endless summer weather of Australia for this green and pleasant land, to which I respond that after the best part of five decades suffering through extreme heat and decade-long droughts, I've had enough sun and warm weather to see me through the rest of my life.

But I have to say that living in Surrey for many years now, summer does not inspire quite the same level of dread as it used to in Australia. With climate change we are experiencing more heat of course, and in fact it's doubly hard to cope with  heatwaves here as the buildings are simply not designed for hot weather - there are no awnings to protect walls and windows from direct sun; often windows and doors don't line up to provide cross-ventilation; air conditioning is rare, confined mainly to cinemas (remember those?), shopping malls, modern office buildings and the odd café or restaurant... although most British people don't seem to understand that you need to keep doors and windows closed for air conditioning to have any effect. 

Plus, summer days in the UK are L-O-N-G. It's geting light by 4am and twilight stretches to 10pm even down here in the south. Heatwaves tend to last at least a week and believe me, brick buildings without awnings and air conditioning store up a lot of those lengthy hours of sunshine, guaranteeing sleepless nights as the heat is released back out of the bricks.

Morning mist with horses - in a field near the school

All the same, those weeks are thankfully infrequent; we usually get only a couple of periods of really hot weather between April and September. The rest of summer is blissfully mild by Australian standards and the lush glories of an English summer are something to behold. After a lifetime of distress gazing out over a brown, dry, dusty environment and passing fields with poor cows and sheep at the mercy of the blazing sun (no shelter required under Australian law - barbaric), I will never take for granted the gobsmacking, rich green of England.

Add to this the vast array of publicly accessible gardens... the delights are endless. You could keep busy for months visiting National Trust properties, private estates, and the properties of 'ordinary folk' opening their gardens for charity as part of the National Garden Scheme. The photos below are of Stuart Cottage, one of the NGS homes recently open to the public, in nearby East Clandon (about a 30 minute drive from home). It's one of the loveliest NGS open gardens we've ever visited, and what's more they provided free tea and cake - a truly lovely afternoon tea experience!

Just one of the gorgeous sections of garden at Stuart Cottage in nearby East Clandon
(participating in the National Garden Scheme)

Dahlia 'Honka Fragile' - one of the many lovely blooms at Stuart Cottage, East Clandon

Lavender going gangbusters at Stuart Cottage, one of the NGS open gardens, in East Clandon

Spectacular hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight' in the front garden of Stuart Cottage, East Clandon

Flourishing pyracantha at the front entrance of Stuart Cottage, East Clandon

You've got to hand it to the Poms; despite the unpredictability of summer they embrace outdoor activities with gusto and a hefty dose of stoicism. Way back in April I grasped uncertainty with both hands and booked tickets for us to attend an outdoor theatre performance at nearby Chawton House, the former home of Jane Austen's brother and a place I tend to visit several times a year. It is a truly delightful village, which I have noted in several blog posts. I doubled the risk of inclement weather by inviting good friends Roy and Tracey to travel down from Buckinghamshire to join us. 

The weekend approached with a less than encouraging forecast for heavy rain on Saturday evening, but we bravely packed our picnic, drove over and spread out on Chawton House's lawn with the other hardy folk, determined to enjoy Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest even if it bucketed down. In fact the weather gods were kind to us, and after a period of threatening black skies culminating in a couple of minutes of drizzle, the skies miraculously cleared to give us a beautiful but chilly evening with a beautiful sunset.

Theatre troupe Slapstick Picnic did a fantastic and quirky performance of Oscar Wilde's
 The Importance of Being Earnest in the grounds of Chawton House, Hampshire

We dodged the heavy rain (but only just) - take a look at those black skies!

The spires of St Nicholas' Church at sunset, adjacent Chawton House

In early August we revisited National Trust property Nymans, after an absence of many years. Located just south of Crawley in West Sussex, it really is one of the nicest properties in the NT portfolio in my opinion, particularly the garden which is just magnificent - truly. This, despite losing 486 mature trees in the Great Storm of October 1987 (and I imagine some of you are now smiling in recollection at a particular episode of The Vicar of Dibley).

The house was completed in 1928, constructed in 'mellow' late Gothic / Tudor style. The building is particularly interesting in that half of it was destroyed by a fire in 1947, and was never restored - mostly due to the shortage of building materials immediately after the Second World War, but I think perhaps finances were also an issue. Thereafter the Messel family used Nymans simply as a base for enjoying the grounds. The result is that part of the house remains a ruin, and the rest is a warm and cosy dwelling that you could imagine living in without too much effort.

National Trust property Nymans, in West Sussex

Nymans is known for its many and varied plants, including spectacular hydrangeas

Massed hydrangea at the entrance to the Wall Garden

The rustic interiors of Nymans House, West Sussex

Family photos adorn the top of the Broadwood piano (1881) in The Garden Hall.
At the time of our visit a National Trust volunteer was playing the instrument for the enjoyment of visitors - 
we were fortunate enough to be there for a rendition of one of my favourite pieces, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

Historical garden catalogue in The Garden Hall

As you might know, I do love a bit of topiary!

How gorgeous is the dovecote at Nymans? Such a romantic bit of architecture

Summer's floral abundance in The Wall Garden at Nymans
(not a typo - it is The Wall Garden, not 'walled')

One of sections of the house destroyed by fire in 1947 at Nymans, West Sussex

Fabulously ornate garden bench in the courtyard outside the main entrance to Nymans

The season for visiting gardens is nearing its end so a couple of days ago, on the always reliable advice of Lesley, I booked to visit Parham near Pulborough, West Sussex, a privately owned estate which is only open four days per week as it's a family home. I particularly love the Petworth region of West Sussex (Pulborough is only about 10 minutes from Petworth itself), and Parham has cemented that appreciation.  

The estate spreads across 300 acres of ancient deer park, with today's fallow deer the descents of the original herd first recorded in 1628. Surrounded by gorgeous green hills, there are seven acres of Pleasure Gardens to explore, originally laid out in the 18th century. At this time of year the gardens are of course starting to fade, but there was still plenty to admire. And rarely have I come across grounds that have so many appealing nooks and crannies in greenhouses, follies and summer houses. 

Like many historic homes in England, the building has been extended throughout the centuries but the oldest part is Elizabethan. The interior is absolutely gorgeous with gigantically tall mullioned windows meaning it is a light-filled space. Additionally, because this is a lived-in home, there's none of that National Trust keep-the-curtains-drawn-and-make-the-visitors-stumble-around-in-the-dark malarkey. Of course I appreciate the need to conserve fabrics, wallpapers etc but when the light is so dimmed that you can barely see anything... it's disappointing, to say the least.

The upper level houses a spectacular Long Gallery (nearly 50 metres) with its hand-painted, barrel-vaulted ceiling. Plus... The paintings! The furniture! The tapestries! The superb arrangements of fresh flowers from the garden! Once again Lesley's advice proved to be sound and I will happily visit Parham again, perhaps in spring. I've tried to curate the photos but it's too difficult, so following are (probably) way too many glimpses of Parham.

Parham, near Pulborough in West Sussex

The Long Gallery with its 50-metre barrel-vaulted ceiling at Parham, West Sussex

Detail of the hand-painted, barrel-vaulted ceiling in The Long Gallery
- Parham, West Sussex

Portrait by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, at Parham in West Sussex
- unfortunately I can't find out the name of the subject!

Some of those gigantic mullioned windows in The Great Hall at Parham

Inside The Great Hall at Parham, West Sussex.
The Victorians apparently painted or dark-waxed all the original oak panelling, but when the Pearson Family
acquired the house in the 1920s, they painstakingly stripped it back to its original 16th century form

Every room in Parham is adorned with beautiful arrangements from the extensive gardens

The Three Arched Summer House at Parham, West Sussex

Detail of a sculpture by Ivan Meštrović, inside the Three Arched Summer House at Parham, West Sussex

An atmospheric little corner at Parham - at the entrance to The Greenhouse

The Wendy House at Parham, West Sussex
(for non-British readers, a wendy house is a cubby-house, ie a small-scale house for children to play in)

Helianthus annuus 'Goldy' double sunflower - inside the walled garden at Parham

Raindrops look like diamonds on the leaves of continus 'Royal Purple' - in the walled garden at Parham

A cosy nook at the entrance to the greenhouse, Parham 

The Dovecote, Parham in West Sussex

Fig tree outside The Mower Shed café at Parham, West Sussex

The Courtyard and carriage arch, opposite the house at Parham, West Sussex

Some of you might recall that in May I blogged about the 15th anniversary of my mother's passing. In that post I lamented the fact that two kitchen hand towels made by Mum were nearing the end of their usefulness, almost transparent through 17 years of constant use and laundering. That post was read by one of Mum's oldest and dearest friends, a woman I was named after - Maree Abbott. I met Maree a few times throughout my life and after Mum's death we struck up a correspondence. She is another of that generation's amazingly clever and handy women, still creating patchwork quilts and other handcrafts in her eighties. 

A couple of months after I published that blog I received a parcel in the mail from Maree, containing two kitchen hand towels that had been lovingly sewn by her, to replace the ones from Mum. A short note said how much Maree had enjoyed my blog, and she had created the hand towels in remembrance of Mum. I confess to being moved to tears, and will treasure Maree's gift as I treasured the towels given to me by Mum all those years ago.

A beautiful handmade gift from one of Mum's dearest friends, Maree Abbott

The two photos immediately below are of our neighbour in her garden, Miss Pickle, whom we have been delighted and privileged to look after a few times over the summer, when her humans had to travel away. 

The third shot is of this year's clutch of baby pheasants learning to peck for seed on our terrace - all ten of them!

Miss Pickle in one of her favourite sports in her garden

Miss Pickle assisting me with my reading

One of the Mrs P's, with her brood of TEN newly-hatched chicks

This has been a fairly mild summer, with just a couple of periods of really hot weather and during August I was lulled into a false sense of security - temps mainly in the low 20s, and quite grey and humid. *Blam!* The first week of September had us in a mini heat wave, with three days of 30ºC. I'm hoping that's summer's last hurrah.

Early morning light on the lane at the bottom of the hill below our house

Sunrise over the lawn - Frensham Heights School

I have one last 'summer' garden visit booked for next weekend - National Trust property Woolbeding Gardens, again in West Sussex. And of course then I have the delights of autumn to look forward to - already the leaves are starting to turn, we have picked a couple of kilos of blackberries (which are superb this year - plump and juicy), and the days are drawing in. Hip, hip, hooray! Onwards towards winter...

Until next time,

- Maree  xo

A bit of Herefordshire (and Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire)

Church Street, Ledbury - looking towards St Michael & All Angels Church

Hello Readers!

Sadly, still no adventures in exotic foreign locations to share - we remain confined to the UK. 

We have been unwilling to risk travelling abroad for a second year due to Covid risk, the huge expense of additional testing and, potentially, hotel quarantine on return to the UK. As such, my blog posts have been few and far between throughout 2020 and 2021, though there are so many beautiful places in the UK to see and I hope that content - intermittent though it might be - fills the gap somewhat.

I took a few days off work in the middle of August, looking to avoid anywhere too crowded with summer holidaymakers so the coast was obviously not an option. We embraced the opportunity to explore more of Herefordshire, a county just this side of the Welsh border. We have briefly visited bits of Herefordshire in the past, but the majority of the area was hitherto unfamiliar to us. In addition to sharing a border with Wales, Herefordshire bumps up against Gloucestershire (ie Cotswolds), Worcestershire and Shropshire.

I hoped that the small market town of Ledbury would be a good base to visit that part of the country. It was indeed. 

The Feathers Hotel, one of the many black-and-white buildings in Ledbury

Ledbury's high street:
St Katherine's Hospital & Almshouses (left),
the Barrett Browning Institute with its striking clocktower (excuse the pun),
and the War Memorial (right)

Ledbury Market House, built in 1617

Ledbury was founded in about 690AD and is mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Liedeberge. The town is situated on the edge of the Malvern Hills and has a plentiful supply of ancient buildings, many of them of the black-and-white Tudor variety. There are lots of independent shops, including a very nice Scandinavian boutique. Off the high street are narrow lanes that invite you to explore their nooks and crannies. 

The poet Elizabeth Barrrett Browning moved to Ledbury with her family as a small child in 1809 and lived in the town until her late twenties. Aside from that there's a dearth of really famous people attached to this location, although the composer Elgar was born in nearby Worcester and apparently drew much of his inspiration from the Malvern Hills.

Our two-storey Air B&B apartment was right in the centre of town, a renovated dwelling inside an historic building, such that we had all the character of ancient beams but the comforts of modern living too.

One of the many lanes off Ledbury's high street

The living room of our Air B&B apartment in the centre of Ledbury

Our Air B&B bedroom, inside the pitched roof of the building, with ancient beams exposed.
Care had to be taken not to smack one's head on the sloping ceiling when rising...

We found plenty of interesting attractions within easy distance of Ledbury, including the historic property of Hellens Manor in the pleasingly, alliteratively named village of Much Marcle. The house is very old, with Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian sections and although the entire estate is now owned and managed by a charitable trust, descendants of the original owners still reside there. The grounds are lovely and varied and include a physic garden, a labyrinth, a knot garden, various ponds and orchards and even some standing stones in the field outside the formal part of the grounds (though they're not of the ancient kind; they're essentially modern sculptures with literary quotes carved into them).

At the time of planning our visit the guided tours of the house were all booked out, but a pleading enquiry at the café desk saw us being squeezed in to join another ten people for an hour-long, very fascinating journey into Hellens' history. The tour was led by one of the resident family and I was very gratified to see that although face masks are no longer enforceable in England, every single person on the tour voluntarily wore a mask while we were inside the house. 

We had perfect weather - as the shots below confirm - and we took the opportunity to indulge in a cream tea, sitting outside in the courtyard in the company of half a dozen very friendly chickens who roamed freely and hovered around the tables, hoping to score a crumb or two from our scones.

The main section of the house (and dovecote in the right of the photo)
- Hellens in Much Marcle, Herefordshire

A very nice cast sculpture on the Cedar Lawn at Hellens, Much Marcle

Yours Truly testing the swing for comfort

View from the house towards The Labyrinth, The Knot Garden and The Standing Stones (just visible in the distance)
  

The house has been added to over the centuries
- our tour commenced through this doorway, in the oldest part of the house

We also visited an historic estate, Croome Park, some of which has only been in the National Trust portfolio since 2007. It's just over the county border in Worcestershire.

The Neo-Palladian house - Croome Court - was completed in 1752, and is a rare example of Capability Brown's architectural work; it was his first major architectural project and his first-ever landscape design. 

In 1948 Croome and most of its contents were sold due to the Coventry family falling on hard times, becoming firstly a school for disadvantaged boys and then a Hare Krishna retreat (!), before being purchased by property developers. For more than ten years the estate was in decline because the developers could not keep up with the cost of maintaining it, and eventually in 1996 the National Trust acquired the parkland but was unable to purchase the house, stables and walled gardens due to the extensive repair costs.

In 2007 The Croome Heritage Trust purchased Croome Court and leased it to the National Trust. It's now been open to the public since 2009 but although the house has been made watertight and structurally sound, it's yet to be properly restored and the rooms are empty of furniture and furnishings.

It was a nice enough way to spend a couple of hours but we wouldn't recommend going out of your way to visit Croome - at least until the house is properly restored.

Croome Hall, near Upton-upon-Severn in Worcestershire

Although the rooms are now empty, some vestiges of Croome Hall's former opulence remain 

The National Trust has managed to buy back some of Croome's vast collection of Sèvres, Meissen and Worcester porcelain 

Twin Coade stone sphinxes decorate the main entrance to Croome Hall

Despite not being a natural body of water (it was created as part of Capability Brown's landscape design),
the Croome River is now home to wildlife such as otters (not that we saw any...)

The Rotunda in the grounds of Croome Park

Of course whilst staying in Ledbury we took advantage of being on the edge of the beautiful Malvern Hills to do some walking, notably a loop walk from the road below British Camp / Herefordshire Beacon (one of the highest peaks in the Malvern Hills at 338 metres), on to Swinyard Hill and then back again. British Camp is an Iron Age hill fort which held a settlement between the 4th century BC and 1st century BC. 
(Fun fact: I have discovered that the term 'BC' is being replaced with 'BCE' or even just 'CE' - ie, Before Common Era / Common Era. You can read more about this here.)

There were some fairly steep hill sections to climb but these were well worth our labours, rewarding us with glorious 360-degree views across three counties - Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. 

A patchwork quilt of countryside across three counties - the view from Herefordshire Beacon

Kevin and Yours Truly, happy to be at the top of Herefordshire Beacon

The hillsides were dotted with clumps of purple heather

And, lastly, the churches. Thanks to my personal researcher and Fount of All Knowledge, Lesley Williams, we sought out two historic churches just south of Ledbury.

The first was All Saints Church in Brockhampton, not far from Ross-on-Wye. Designed by W R Lethaby and completed in 1902, this glorious Arts and Crafts gem is considered one of the most important church examples of the Modern Movement. On either side of the altar are two tapestries made by the William Morris Workshops from designs by Edward Burne-Jones, but otherwise there's a real sense of simplicity, particularly in the internal architectural features. 

Its location is just about perfection, nestling within the Brockhampton Court Estate.

A few years ago this little church was visited by four members of a Japanese property group, purely by chance. They promptly fell in love with it and embarked on a plan to replicate the building on the 21st and 22nd floors of the skyscraper Monterey Grasmere Hotel in Osaka in Japan. The replica is used as a western-style wedding venue.

The sublime All Saints Church in Brockhampton, not far from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire

Rambling rose on one of the exterior walls, All Saints Church in Brockhampton

Quatrefoil mullioned windows in All Saints Church, Brockhampton

The simplicity of the interior of All Saints Church in Brockhampton

One of the two William Morris Workshops tapestries designed by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones

... and this is the view, just across the street from All Saints Church in Brockhampton

Service building at the main gate of Brockhampton Court, now a private care home
(across the road from the church)

The second church recommended to us by Lesley was equally as impressive, but for different reasons.

St Mary's at Kempley, just over the border in Gloucestershire, is one of those buildings that really inspires awe. This church has been standing for almost 900 years - yep, NINE HUNDRED (since 1130). 

Not only that, the interior is covered with some of the most significant Romanesque wall paintings in England, dating from the same period. It is truly incredible that they have not been destroyed throughout all those centuries, although following the reformation and its hostility towards religious art (16th century), the paintings were covered by whitewash and only rediscovered in 1872. English Heritage describes these paintings as 'a vivid reminder of a time when church interiors were covered in such decoration.'

You want more? Additionally this church has what is believed to be one of the earliest existing roof structures in all of Britain and Europe.

We were agog, contemplating the centuries of history contained in this little country church.

The pretty pink exterior of St Mary's in Kempley, Gloucestershire

Example of the Romanesque wall paintings of St Mary's in Kempley - inspiring worshippers for nearly 900 years.
The chequerboard pattern is designed to draw the eye towards the narrow opening

Further examples of the ancient wall paintings inside St Mary's in Kempley

So there you have it - just one small corner of Herefordshire kept us richly entertained and I think you'll agree we crammed in a lot over just four days! 

I remain impressed at the vast wealth of fascinating places in this relatively small, beautiful country.

Until next time,
- Maree  xo