Calke - wisteria and (almost) wildlife

Calke's walled garden always has a lovely display of wisteria but this year it seemed more wonderful than ever - maybe due to the weather this spring, maybe I just caught it at its best, but it was gorgeous.

There are three different colours of wisteria in the gardens -  a white (or very pale lilac) as you walk through the gateway, a dark variety on a nearby wall, and an inbetween pale lilac along the walls lining the approach to the gardeners' offices.

For colour I prefer the darker variety, but stretching the full length of both walls the mid-lilac one is superb. 

I couldn't choose which pictures to include - so I've posted most of them.

Of course there's lots more to see in the gardens - formal bedding around the palm trees, the later blossoming apple trees, the wildflower beds coming into flower - but for me they rather pale at the side of the wisteria.

What really delighted me though on this occasion were the deer - the almost wildlife. They roam their own separate parkland, kept from visitors (and plants) by high fences but seem happy to come quite close as if investigating what people on the other side are up to.

This first guy was standing about ten feet away! 

This older stag was further away, surrounded by this year's fawns while the does rested at a distance. Remarkably he was allowing a couple of crows/rooks to stand on his back; maybe they were picking off fleas? Hopping on to his antlers was NOT allowed though, as any attempt at this resulted in a sharp shake of the head.

 

Elvaston rhododendrons

I'm trying at the moment to make a deliberate effort to get out and about and take more exercise - preferably somewhere among natural surroundings rather than along the pavements near home, and preferably somewhere I know will have  good paths and not involve too much up and down hill walking (post-Covid fatigue has left me bad at the first, my strained ankles are bad at the second).

Anyway, long story short, I decided to head to Elvaston Country Park just south of Derby, and picked a really good time as the rhododendrons and azaleas were all in flower. 

From the car park there's an easy walk alongside the lake, through the azalea garden, to the castle itself, and then a variety of routes heading back to complete the circular route.

There are glimpses of the castle (more of a stately home really) across the lake, gothic mock-ruins along the water's edge,  swans and geese swimming, and gnarled old tree roots to see, and of course the rhododendrons.

The castle itself isn't open to the public other than on special occasions and there's a long-standing debate about whether the city council who currently own it should sell it. There's an information point though in the old stable block, and a tea room where we had cake.

An amble through the listed knot garden and woodland on this side of the lake brought us back to the car.

Not a long walk (and we could have extended it considerably without leaving the grounds) but enough for me at the moment, and a nice way to increase my general step count.

 

Early bluebells at Calke

Bluebell time is always something special when woodlands are carpeted by a blue haze. I always like to get out and about and see as many as possible, but with rain and things that had to be done getting in the way I only managed one trip out. 

I thought that at Calke there was a short, flat, easy walk, parking by the children's playarea and avoiding the up and downhill sections from the main carpark. I wasn't quite right - it was more uphill than I remembered, longer, and, in places, slippery underfoot (the latter particularly worrying with my dodgy ankles).

The bluebells were definitely worth making a bit of effort for though, despite me having to turn round sooner than I'd expected. Downhill proved to be harder than up, due to tiredness and the strain put on my ankles, but hopefuly everylittle bit of exercise makes me stronger.

 

Burghley House - short walk in the Park

The few days of our stay in an idyllic bolt-hole by the river Nene had been gloriously sunny but the day we left was wet which altered our plans slightly. I'd been intending to visit the gardens at Burghley House but to be honest didn't want to pay the admission charge if rain was going to curtail our visit, so, as both car parking and access to the wider parkland is free (how excellent is that?) we settled for a walk there instead. 

 At first I thought our only glimpse of the house would be through the ornate gates, but as we followed the line of the haha round towards the lake more of it came into view. 

The house stands on the top of a slight rise, so must be visible from quite a distance, especially when the sun strikes the pale stone.

This is where we were heading - to the Lion Bridge,  only a short distance from the House.

From here. under the watchful eyes of the lions, there's a view back up the lake to the house, and downstream in the opposite direction 

It hadn't been a long walk, and the rain had started to clear now, but it had been a fairly active few days for me so it was time to return to the car. We weren't heading straight home, which would have taken only an hour or so, but back to Belton where the weather promised to be fairer for a second visit in three days. Burghley is somewhere I have to go back to in better weather though, and visit the gardens at least, though there's also a lot more of parkland to be explored.

 

Another very short walk - to Elton village

Despite being on a supposedly do-nothing break in a riverside cabin, in the late afternoon we decided to head out on a short walk to the village. Now, I know some people who talk of a short walk as being 5 or 6 miles, but I know my limits (or thought I did) and this was about a mile and a half. Should have been easy... 

Picking up a footpath which ran literally outside our door, we headed over a footbridge and a tricky (for me) stile onto the island created by an ox-bow lake which gave the property we were staying on its name. 

Another, larger, metallic, bridge took us over the river Nene, to join the Nene Valley Way which led us south towards Elton.

It was a pretty amble along the riverside. The sun was shining. The path was flat. All good so far.

It wasn't long before we caught sight of where we were staying on the opposite bank

A bridge took a road over us, and although it would have been possible to return at this point, we continued to follow the path by the river with glimpses of the village ahead of us. I was beginning to wonder if I'd bitten off more than I could manage.

The Nene runs beside Elton, rather than through it, but after strolling beside a quite river, there was suddenly a lot of activity. Another bridge! I like encountering bridges on walks; somehow they make everything seem more of an adventure.

A weir, and a lock to raise and lower boats.

And an old abandoned mill from times when Elton and the river would have been busy and bustling.

I'd been dragging my feet for a while and at this point I realised how much I'd over-exerted myself. 

Fortunately there was a seat by the village green, and I just sat for a while and tried to regain some energy. Approaching from the river we'd seen very little of the village and I would have liked to explore more but there was no way I could. There were also footpaths carrying on in various directions - following the Nene way across the parkland of Elton Hall or heading west across field to Fotheringay and the remains of the castle where Mary Queen of Scots was executed. These would have to be plans for a return visit, as for now it was tiring enough to get back to our cabin. 

Slowly, very slowly, we headed back, looking at flowers in the roadside gardens, watching a red kite circling overhead. Fortunately the distance back was slightly shorter than the 'out' route but two kilometers in all but I was absolutely shattered. Some of this is due to lack of exercise following my fall at New Year; some is post-covid exhaustion. Whatever the cause, I hope I improve soon