Spring flowers and blossom at Dunham Massey

I'd heard of Dunham Massey's winter garden and planning a trip to Manchester I wanted to include it. Maybe I was a little late for winter as such but as an 'early Spring' garden it was wonderful.

There are lots of photos here but really there's little to say beyond 'wow'.

The garden lies to the side of the house and entering through its gates the visitor is met with the smell of hyacinths and a carpet of daffodils spreading in front under trees just coming into flower.

I'm not sure my photos have captured how truly magical it was but hopefully they can give an idea.

It seemed that every way I turned yet another path wandered through an amazing carpet of flowers - mainly daffodils but other spring bulbs too such as fritillaries and snowflakes. 

To the sides of the paths were camellias in every shade of white through pink to deep red

There was scent too - this I think is an early viburnum, and below is a white flowering currant.

I certainly needed the label to tell me what this - stachyurus praecox which looks far more amazing than here, with its catkins moving in the breeze.

Walking under cherry blossoms and magnolias made everything seem enchanting.

Passing over the stream to the more formal side of the garden I expected there to be less of interest, but there were tulips, magnolias, fritillaries, and more daffodils.

As I said this was my first early Spring visit I'm determined now to come back each year.

 

Daffodils at Shipley

Having failed to find masses of daffodils on my trip to the Lake District, I decided to search for them nearer to home - at Shipley Country Park just north of Derby.

Daffodils are spread all around under the trees which once surrounded the (now demolished) hall. Obviously they were once laboriously planted but have now naturalised covering a huge area.

I don't think this is the best display I've seen there - possibly due to weather conditions last summer or over winter, or it could just be that the bulbs were in one of their 'rest periods' - but even so they're lovely

On the slope of Horsepool Hill, something white caught my eye, so I slipped and slid across the slope to find a wonderful patch of wood anemones.

 

Cromford

Making the most of some Spring sunshine, I decided it was time to try the Cromford to High Peak Workshops walk. It's not far - just over 2 miles there and back - it's flat, and I'd hoped for tea at the midway point , but last time I tried it I was left exhausted. 

It's a pretty walk especially on a sunny Spring day (on a hot Summer afternoon there can be pesky flies) with geese and ducks bobbing on the water, celandines coming into flower beside the towpath, and blue sky above.

The first half to High Peak Junction proved quite easy but unfortunately the snack kiosk wasn't open so I had to survive without refreshment. 

Returning was slower and involved more sitting down but it was a nice day so there wasn't any hurry.

I was starting to get hungry by now so very relieved to find that the cafe at the Wharf was still open and serving 'lunch' despite it being after 3 o'clock.

Re-fuelled, I felt I had the energy for a little more meandering so headed across the road to Arkwright's Mills - mainly for the purpose of seeing the newly refurbished water wheel that will provide hydro-electricity for the shops and visitor centre