For our 'day out' this week we were heading to Youlgreave to see the well-dressings but, deciding to make a full day, we called in at Hopton Hall on the way there. The gardens there are open at two periods of the year - spring for snowdrops (which we've visited before) and summer when the roses are in bloom (which somehow I've never got round to, till this week)
The rose garden sits on the highest of a series of terraces, boxed around with low hedging, and interspersed with slim, columnar trees, which give the garden year-round interest (even when we visited in spring this area looked charming)
We started our visit with lunch - if tea and cake can be called lunch - and it was a beautiful day to just sit, relax and admire the garden from the highest point.
It's a wonderfully relaxing spot, and I could possibly have sat there all day, lulled by sunshine and the scent of the roses, but eventually we forced ourselves to explore further.
The outer wall of the garden is a curving, crinkle-crankle wall with fruit trees trained up it, and herbaceous borders in front.
Judging by my own garden roses and those seen at Locko Hall last weekend, I'd expected all the beds to be in bloom, perhaps even past their best, but they weren't. Flowering seasons are always unpredictable but another year I'll time things a little later just to try to catch the later blooms.
From the rose garden, a path leads to a lower terrace with a broad walk with more mixed borders and roses, then leads through a wooded area to the lake.
Again, a lovely spot to sit, relax, and enjoy the tranquility. I just wish I could buy a season ticket or similar, and return every week.
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