Mount Pleasant Gardens

On our way to Mount Pleasant Garden and Sculpture Trail we passed Paddington Bear on his hill at Snugburys Ice Cream farm just outside Nantwich.  We waved to him as we passed by on the way to Tarporley and stopped in a layby opposite to take a photo on the way back.

Nearly every year Snugburys make a huge sculpture for the hill which can be seen for quite a distance around.   He stands fifty feet high and is made from metal, straw and woven willow.  Here is a - link - to more about the sculpture.

 

 

We'd never visited Mount Pleasant Gardens before so didn't know what to expect but we spent a delightful couple of hours there finding all the different areas of the garden and following the sculpture trail.  The garden is ten acres in size and has both garden and woodland, some areas are steeply terraced with views over the Cheshire countryside.  There are specimen trees, four ponds, a Japanese garden, bog garden, vegetable garden and a stumpery with tree ferns.  There is also a sculpture workshop, tea room and plant sales.

Above is the chariot and horses placed in the centre of the wildflower meadow.

You can stand on the chariot to have a photo taken if you want.

It look wonderful in the bright sunshine.

I took many photos so below are just some of them. Apologies in advance for the photo overload.

 

We stopped for a cup of tea and piece of cake.  The courgette and avocado cake was delicious and such a huge piece that I had to take half of it home for later.

All for now.

Bridgemere Show Gardens

On the last Friday in June we visited the Bridgemere Show Gardens.  We often visit the garden centre but hadn't been into the gardens for quite a while.

It used to be free to wander around but over the last two or three years a charge for entry has been introduced.  This is because it is now an RHS Partner Garden and many changes have been made.

Blogger has just decided to put my photos on back to front.  Never mind I can't be bother to change them.  The show gardens are set in six acres and is made up of fifteen gardens, eight of which are gold and silver award winners from RHS Chelsea, Hampton Court and Tatton Park dating from 1988 to the present.

The Japanese Garden

The Down Memory Lane garden. Designed for those who have dementia and their carers, to trigger many garden related memories.  I'll add some more photos of this garden at the end. 

The Forge Garden - inspired by the National Trust's 15th century forge in Branscombe, Devon.  It was awarded a silver medal and the best Artisan garden at RHS Chelseas 2021.

There are some lovely seating areas.

Victorian style topiary garden

The Bandstand garden.

 

There is a large pond with a water fall.

 

Shady woodland walks

 

The Cottage Garden

More from Down Memory Lane.

 

Here is a -  link - to more about the gardens.

Rode Hall Snowdrops - Part 2

In my last post I promised more about the kitchen garden and pool which are both included in the Snowdrop walk at Rode Hall.

The path down to the lake or pool had verges covered in Spring flowers, Snowdrops, of course, as well as Daffodils, crocus and cyclamen.

The path passes the Stew Pond where there were Marsh Marigolds growing around the edges.

 

The Obelisk by the pool was Grade II listed in 1967.  It's made of yellow sandstone, the lower half is older than the upper half which locally  is thought to have replaced a former carving of a woman with a basket of eggs.

 

Rode Pool

The Hall was built c 1705 to 1707 it replaced an earlier house which was probably a half timbered manor house much like Little Moreton Hall which is just a few miles away.

Back up the path towards the hall we passed through the formal gardens

 

with this statue of a Wood Nymph in the centre.  It was created by British sculptor David Williams Ellis.

 

The Courtyard which has been set out as a cafe.

I took these photos before we went on the walk by the time we came back every table was full and there was a long queue for refreshments.

Views across the walled kitchen garden.

Gardeners were out and about preparing the beds for the new season.

Inside the green house.

Lots of Spring colour

I liked the old scales.  I remember those in grandma's kitchen.

Below the rhubarb beds.  It's almost time for early forced rhubarb.

 

We are just back from a couple of days away.  We had to attend a family funeral so decided to stay overnight both before and after so we didn't have lots of travelling in one day.  We had lunch with friends on the way there and on the way back walked along the Cromford canal in Derbyshire which I will write about in my next post.