Hopton Hall's gardens are only open for two short periods of the year - now for snowdrops and in summer for the rose garden.
As my previous visit to the snowdrops was some while ago
some while ago it seemed like time to check them out again, especially as last Wednesday offered such a wonderful sunny, though cool, day.
The walk is about a mile in total, and leads past drifts of snowdrops then through the sleeping rose gardens and past a large pond before returning past the hall to the car park.
If there is a problem with snowdrop walks, it's the season, and the likelihood of getting cold. In summer it's nice to sit leisurely among flowers, admire their beauty, soak in the sun. This early in the year, you need to keep moving.
So we ambled on, following a bark and gravel path twisting back and forth through a small area of woodland carpeted with snowdrops.
Out into the rose garden. Warmed by the sun and sheltered by an old crinkle-crankle wall, it was warm enough to sit for a minute or two and think of how it looks in summer, full of scent and colour. Right now though, it's still an attractive garden but in a very different way, with the serene but severe geometry of topiary.
From this point the garden descends in a series of terraces - one lined with statues of very chilly-looking Greek nymphs; warmer layers of clothing are called for in a Derbyshire winter!
At the lowest point is a large pond (or maybe a small lake).
The paths here were wetter after the torrential rain of weekend, but the bark chippings prevented a horrible muddy mess.
Upwards again, nearing the end of the walk, but still more snowdrops to be seen. Even with lots of pausing to look here and admire something there it didn't take much over an hour, but it was now late afternoon, and gradually dropping colder, so time to head home.
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