Pages

Wednesday 26 April 2017

Felley Priory - gardens, cake and bluebells


I grew up not many miles from Felley Priory but it's one of those 'on the doorstep' places that somehow I've never visited. However, this year I'm 'staycationing', getting out and about to places I can visit from home, and having heard about Felley's splendid bluebells via social media, I decided it was time to remedy things.




The house itself isn't open to the public but its gardens, which we visited first, are. In front of the house are a series of garden 'rooms' divided by topiary hedges, and leading down to a pond.














Colour at the moment is mainly from tulips but the summer borders are already starting to fill, and I think I may return to see them in flower.








This gateway leads through to the rose garden, another thing to lure me back in summer.





Beyond the formal areas , the garden opened up to meadows filled with late daffodils and snakes-head fritillaries.





We'd intended this to be a short morning visit but decided to fortify ourselves with tea and cake before the walk to the bluebell wood.



It's a fifteen minute uphill walk away but SO worth the effort.






















I don't think I've ever seen such a dense carpet of bluebells.


 It's something that's often said, but these really did look like water running round the tree trunks.




As ever, the feel of the place proved difficult to capture on camera - it appears misty which it wasn't, though clouds blocked the sun much of the day and the light was hazy.






Like so many places I'm discovering near to home, I wonder why I'd never visited before. It's certainly a place I'll be back to!








8 comments:

  1. I was so excited to see this pop up. You got there and what lovely pictures. Such a beautiful sight seeing the bluebells. There is nothing quite like it is there. And for your next trip? Thanks for sharing with #tweensteensbeyond

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for dropping by. Yes, we seized the day,and went out! We've been out looking for more bluebells since but not found any as spectacular. Maybe this weekend ... #tweensteensbeyond

      Delete
  2. This looks like my kind of day out! The cake looks fantastic and the gardens and bluebell wood are really stunning. Thanks for joining us. #TweensTeensBeyond

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting. The bluebells really were stunning - certainly the most densely packed I've seen. I've decided cake is an important feature of a day out, and after all there was some exercise to help burn the calories off :) #tweensteensbeyond

      Delete
  3. Yes you finally got there! And wow it was worth it. What a gorgeous place. Thanks so much for sharing with us at #TeensTweensBeyond

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we decided we should stop dithering and go out! And I'm so glad we did. Thanks for dropping by #TweensTeensBeyond

      Delete
  4. the closer i live to a place, the less likely i am to visit until after i've moved away from the area and then wonder why i don't visit more #TweensTeensBeyond

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for dropping by. It's strange isn't it, how we ignore somewhere interesting on our doorsteps? I'm so glad I made the effort to visit. #tweensteensbeyond

      Delete