First stop heading east - Belton Hall

 As we were heading to Norfolk for a few days, the first stop had to be Belton Hall. This National Trust property lies not far off the route to King's Lynn, and is an excellent stop for lunch and a short walk round the gardens. There's also a wonderful play area if you have children.

Belton was one of the locations used for filming Queen Charotte; a Bridgerton story, and there are now signs around the grounds pointing out what was filmed and where.

I'd spotted the scenes shot in the Orangery and by the north front but hadn't realised just how many locations had been used. I'll be watching Queen Charlotte again to see if I can spot them all. The most intriguing was oddly an open grassy area where the production company, Shondaland, had proposed building King George's observatory. In the end though they decided to keep the background and CGI the building on top of it.

For the filming of Queen Charlotte the pond in the orangery was boarded over but I think these fantastic fish should have been featured somehow.

Behind the Orangery is a quiet area with flower borders and medlar trees, but again this was altered for Queen Charlotte, becoming the king's vegetable patch, in which he worshiped Venus.

Without the TV drama Belton is a lovely place to sit quietly for a while, listen to the water falling in the fountain, watch bees and butterflies among the flowers, and just relax before the next leg of the journey.

Holiday time again - Norfolk

It took me a while to discover Norfolk (I think I was over 40) but once I did I fell in love with it. Long expanses of salt marsh, beaches stretching as far as the eye can see, and the immense (hopefully blue) sky above. So, looking for a short break, with a promise of good weather, we headed east.

I had definite ideas about where I wanted to go, and places I wanted to visit. Top of my list was King Charles' Norfolk home, Sandringham. It's now part of the RHS Partner gardens scheme, which means that as a member entrance is free for me. While I was visiting, I thought I might as well drop in next door on one side, to Houghton Hall's award winning walled garden, also part of the RHS Partner gardens scheme, and, on the other, to the ruins at Castle Rising. 

Of course, any trip to Norfolk involves a stop-over at Belton House to break the journey, a visit to the beach (Old Hunstanton), and the salt-marches, and a fish and chip supper.

Through AirBnB we found a lovely traditional cottage at Dersingham, hardly a few miles from any of these places, and spent the one really wet morning of our stay exploring the flower-filled country lanes just outside the village.


 

Calke - herbaceous borders, roses and sweetpeas

Good gardens should always have something to look at in flower, and as the wisteria fades away at Calke the hebraceous borders, roses and sweet peas start to flower.

The main walled flower garden had deep borders surrounding the central lawn with its palm trees and bedding plant display.

And among the flowers and on the walls behind are climbing roses to perfume the air.

Heading into the 'vegetable patch' the walls ar covered with sweet peas, and lavender lines the main path

This area isn't given over solely to practical veg plots but has flowers growing among them - some that were of medicinal use in the past, and others which attract pollinators. It makes it a lovely place to sit a while.

 Just outside the garden's walls I found the delightful seed pods of Sicilian Honey Garlic. I always feel they look fairy houses, with pointed roofs. 

May and June

 These two months seem to have flown past. The weather has alternated between extremes - rain that never wanted to stop giving way to a few days of sudden heat, unfortunately then resuming. It's fair to say I've spent a lot of days indoors, which is not how I envisaged spending late Spring/early Summer. 

I did manage to get away a few times, and fortunately the weather was nice. Staying in a Canopy and Stars cabin near Tintern, a visit to my daughter, a family weekend away near Prestatyn.

Locally, we visited Calke to see the wisteria. Markeaton Park, where I discovered the Walled Garden, Kedleston for a walk by the lakes, Tissington for the welldressings, and walked round our local wood. Apart from being fun in themselves these trips out are also excellent ways to build my walking capabilities.

My youngest daughter was one of those lucky enough to gt tickets for the Taylor Swift Eras tour, but unfortunately it clashed with Fathers' Day, so we moved things round and celebrated. a week later; a family get-together, and lunch out the following day at Lorentes tapas restaurant in a glorious location by the river in Darley Abbey. It didn't hurt that this was at the beginning of the short blast of warm weather. 

I'm now just hoping that there'll be more sunshine and less rain for the coming summer months.

Kedleston - a visit of two halves

Since my fall-down-the-stairs incident last year I don't walk as quickly as I once did so my explorations at Kedleston (my nearest National Trust property) have been limited. A gentle meander around the Pleasure Grounds or an extremely short walk up the Short Walk have been my limits. But I'm trying to stretch myself by going further, and this visit found me heading back to the lakes for the first time in a long while.

First, of course, was a visit to the Pleasure Grounds. The main flower beds are different this year - the wild flowers which I loved have been replaced by perennials which although flowering are taking a while to really get spreading over the bare ground.

Then, after a break for ice cream, it was time for a slightly more strenuous walk, across the parkland to the lower lakes. Although it wasn't a brilliantly sunny day it was lovely to sit by the water near the weir and relax. I could probably have walked down past the next lake to the plunge pool, which marks the limit of the parkland, but it wasn't long till closing time and I didn't want to have to rush the uphill return to the car park. I should make an effort to go earlier in the day, with time for changes of plan. 

 

Markeaton flower gardens

Markeaton Park is a large open space on the edge of Derby with a huge children's play area, craft workshops, a boating lake, and a pitch and putt course. When the children were small we frequently visited (mainly the play area) but in recent years I haven't been so frequently, so I was surprised to hear people talking about a walled garden. This used to be an area where the parks department raised bedding plants but it's now looked after by a team of volunteers, with a lovely flower garden and  productive vegetable patch.

The flower garden feels much larger than its actual small size, with  paths winding between the flower beds and excellent use being made of archways and trellises with roses climbing  up and over them. There are seats to encourage visitors to relax and take in the sights and scents, and plants and vegetables for sale.

Crossing what used to be the entrance drive to Markeaton Hall, I discovered another small garden area; this one, according to a sign was planted by dementia sufferers and their carers. 

It's another peaceful place of scented roses growing over walls and archways, and a good spot to sit for a while.