Lyme - rhododendrons

A trip up north to see my daughter gave me chance to stop off at Lyme again.

This time the rhododendrons were in full flower - around the sides of the Italian garden and on the far side of the lake.

It was a very hot day, so ice cream was needed, and a walk in the shelter of trees much appreciated.

Lyme Park

Having finished our short break with an overnight stay in Manchester, we had a wonderful sunny day to complete our trip home, so we stopped at Lyme Park.

As it turned out the afternoon was a little TOO hot, with us scuttling from one area of shade to another - and I refused to go into the Orangery at all!

The walk round the lake was lovely and shaded though - but still no sign of Mr Darcy.

 

Back to Lyme

First stop of our weekend away (after a very short break for bacon butties at Parsley Hay) was Lyme Park, just outside Manchester. We were last there in March and obviously a lot has changed in the garden.

The sky was blue, the lake looking inviting, but the highlight of this visit was the stunning dislay of rhododendrons in almost every colour.

The herbaceous borders aren't in full flower yet (a reason to call back again) but these poppies looked wonderful.
 

Another reason to revisit is to actually walk down into the Italian garden instead of just looking at it from above. 

A long weekend in Conwy

The weather turned sunny just in time for me to head off for a long weekend - first to my daughter's in Manchester, then on to Conwy in North Wales.

I have a million (maybe not quite) photos to sort through so here's just a snippet of where we went ...

starting with the marvelous cow parsley and hawthorn lined roads of the Peak District

An afternoon at Lyme Park

Dunham Massey

Conwy castle as seen from our AirBnB. I decided against walking up all the steps, and took a cruise along the river instead.

 Bodnant Garden with its wonderful laburnum arch (above) and stunning rose-covered pergola (below)

Llandudno in the evening for fish and chips

Pensarn, Abergele

Erddig near Wrexham

 And last stop, Attingham Park near Shrewsbury. 

Lots more photos on the links below ...

 Lyme Park 

Dunham Massey

Conwy 

Bodnant Garden

Llandudno 

Erddig  

Attingham Park

Gardens at Lyme

Despite frequently driving past on our way to and from Manchester, we've only once stopped long enough to explore the hall and gardens at Lyme. That was a dampish February day, and we spent most of our time inside the building. I've wanted for a while to go back and explore the garden, and last week I eventually got there.

First stop was the cafe for sausage rolls and cake (orange and poppy seed), then, because the drive is rather steep and a little far for my 'in recovery' ankles, we caught the shuttle bus up to the hall entrance.

The way to the garden leads through the cloistered inner courtyard, but this time we decided to skip the house tour, and head straight outside.

The garden isn't absolutely flat (something I've become concerned about after my falling over accident) but the small flights of steps were manageable with care. I decided to not go down into the Italian garden though as the path to it is sloped (actually trickier with sprained ankles than steps), so just admired it from above.

From here a path leads round the far side of the lake. We didn't spot Mr Darcy swimming but to be fair it was rather cold (6 degrees!), understandably as Lyme is the second highest garden looked after by the National Trust. The walk does afford lovely views back to the hall though, with snowdrops, daffodils, and crocus starting to appear alongside the path.

A variety of paths lead onwards and upwards towards the 'top lawn', where the herbaceous borders and rose garden are waiting for warmer months. Again I found myself thinking 'I must come back at a warmer time of year'.

The last stop on our tour was the orangery - it was certainly several degrees warmer inside and a good place to take a few minutes and rest my ankles.

This is one aspect of our visit that we certainly timed right - on the wall beyond the fountain is a wonderful ceiling-height camellia, and, at this time of year, it's absolutely covered in flowers. 

The garden and house aren't all there is to explore at Lyme - a huge deer park surrounds them, and now offers walks of a variety of lengths - but they have to wait for another day.