Chatsworth again

Again?
Weren't we there a fortnight ago?
Well, yes we were, but we're back for two reasons. Most importantly, it's a good place for a not too strenuous walk; 105 acres to roam around from manicured lawns to wilder woodland, and booked timed entry slots keep the number of visitors down. And, we have annual 'friends' passes, so an extra visit only costs fuel and the car parking charge.

Entrance to the garden is only at the top 'stables' entrance at the moment but I walked to walk round in the opposite direction to the one we took last visit - this way we wouldn't spend half of our visit in the kitchen garden!

So we headed downhill to the house and canal pond with the huge Emperor Fountain.






Walking down by the pond you can spot glimpses of the wider park, and sometimes spot the deer grazing there.

Staying on the outer fringes of the garden, where there are always less people, we followed one of the many streams uphill up to the Grotto Pond, stopping frequently along the way because in this area the paths are quite steep.

























From the Grotto, again avoiding the more popular paths, we headed into the Pinetum, an area of specimen pine trees, which, this year with grasses and wild flowers being left to grow under the trees, feels quite like a wild woodland.

We'd now reached the highest point of the garden where following a winding path you discover more ponds, which feed the many water features and fountains lower down.
















Then downhill again, through newly planted glades with flowers in a pallet of white, purple and lime. It already begins to look like a wildflower meadow accidentally occurring in the spaces between high trees, so I imagine in future years it will look fabulous.





Steps then led us down to the formal bedding at the end of the maze. The maze itself isn't open (I don't suppose there's any hope of social distancing in its tight twists and turns) so we had no chance to test if we remembered the way to the centre.
Also, we'd reached that time of day when the ice cream vans switch off their generators, the fountains stop playing, and, just as we walked past, the water ceases flowing down the steps of the cascade. Time to be thinking of heading home. Expect me to be back before long though.