Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: Lvandelft on December 10, 2009, 07:01:26 PM
-
When we decided to take part in the Discussion Weekend for the first time, the question came up how to get there.
We thought it a good idea to drive by car to see as much as possible of the British country.
Therefore we planned our trip driving from the south up to the north, roughly on the Eastern
side of the country and stay overnight in a more or less central place of a particular area.
I will show pictures of many places where we have been.
My wife loves to visit Castles and old Houses and not to forget churches.
But I got some opportunities to see gardens and plants too ::) ;)
We made many pictures and it will take some time to show them here and resizing and sorting out will take some time too, so the series may last for several weeks or even longer.
With lots of good tips by some Forumists before the trip :D, we started off by taking the
Ferry from Calais to Dover
-
It was a rather long drive with much traffic, but helped by our navigation system letting us drive around some traffic jams near London :D :D, we came to the nice little town Bakewell in the Peak District, where we stayed for two nights.
-
The second day we made a nice tour around a part of the Peak District and visited several nice places and drove over the Winnat Snake Pass where we alas ended up in the very low clouds and did not see much of the landscape.
Many roads on the country side are very comfortable to drive on, but you need much more time as we are used to on the Continent. This was one of the warnings enclosed in the tips before we started off ::) ::)
A very picturesque little place is Hayfield where we just could make a picture before a whole school class was coming down occupying the bridge to make drawings of the place.
Mt. Famine [nr. Hayfield] 473 m.
and Hayfield
more later
-
Luit
You are capturing the ambience of a favourite area of the UK. I look forward to many more photos :)
-
It is years since I was in the Peak District Luit, you brought back memories, thank you.
-
When did you last see the Dartford Tunnel in a travelogue!!!! ;D ;D ;D
Keep it going, Luit, I am looking forward to the rest of your trip.
-
I think this is goingto be a really great thread ..... travelling through the country likethis!
I only hope that the pretty riverside scene in Hayfield is still as charming now, after all the rain and flooding there has been.... I fear that ledge with the parasol and plants may be washed away?? :o :-X
-
Great report, Luit, and excellent photographs.
Paddy
-
Hup Holland Hup !!
Go for it Luit - we want to see it all !! ;)
-
Bakewell is famous for the eponymous tart http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3943/bakewell-tart
but the name is derived from old english "Badeca"-personal name, and "wella" meaning spring or stream. The town is equally famous for it's warm natural springs.
-
David there's also a fantastic Alpine Nursery not far away,i dont live that far away from there and every time i pass due to work i always pop in.
-
Luit
lovely pictures of a great bit of the countryside. I used to live just down the road from Hayfield.The Snake pass is nearly always covered in cloud.
-
I am totally surprised that there are so many reactions already. So I’ll have to pull my socks up when showing the next posts ;D ;D ;D
I decided to show two more pictures of Hayfield (special for Tony). I must say that we, when standing on the bridge never thought of flooding possibility. It looks really peacefully on the picture.
And Davey will hopefully be happy too, when seeing the pictures of the fantastic Alpine Nursery near Bakewell.
We made a special detour to visit Castleton where show caves could be visited and of course a Castle ::) :-X
But seeing the crowds and the overfilled parking we decided to leave as soon as possible and it was raining at the same moment so we made just one not so good picture of the castle.
Coming out of the valley the weather cleared up and after a short stop in Hope we drove on to visit the ‘must go to’ little Alpine nursery of Steve Furness.
Peak District - Peveril Castle
Peak District - Hope - St. Peter Church
Furness Nursery
-
Some more pictures of the nursery. I fell for a huge second time flowering Gentiana angustifolia and was lucky that Mr. Furness would sell me one of his stock plants in pot :D :D
The last four pictures of this day’s tour are made at Chatsworth House and the lovely rolling country side in the area.
As said before we needed too much time for driving (and visiting the nursery :))and when we arrived, the House was only open for half an hour that day, so too short to go in.
But we could look around at the stable area where the shops and restaurants are.
Furness Nursery
Gentiana Arctic Fanfare 1
Gentiana Arctic Fanfare 2
Chatsworth House
more later
-
Luit,
You look so perfectly at home in the last photograph - to the manor born.
Paddy
-
Go on Luit !
You're doing just fine !! ;)
Wonderful pix ... and another nursery to visit on the occasion ;D
-
I also do enjoy Your pics very much Luit! Waiting for next episodes. :)
-
Wonderful pix ... and another nursery to visit on the occasion ;D
I’m afraid we did not visit so many nurseries as would have liked Luc :(
You know, this year it’s more Castles etc…. but who knows, next year :)
I also do enjoy Your pics very much Luit! Waiting for next episodes. :)
Thanks Kata, it’s my pleasure that so many people like our trip :D
From the Peak District we drove further northwards to Northumberland, passing many places where we would like to stay longer, but alas. As it was already Thursday and on Friday we should arrive in the hotel for the D.W. in Scotland.
So we headed for Alnwick, but short before arriving there we made a little detour to Warkworth Castle which was almost on our way.
Warkworth is not far from the North Sea and the Castle was very interesting.
If you want to learn more about, here is a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warkworth_Castle
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warkworth_Castle)
Some pictures of the Castle and views:
-
Then we drove to Alnwick, where we first went to the Tourist Information and reserved our next B&B near the Scottish Border up north and then visited Alnwick Castle.
The man on the gate told us that visiting the Castle would take some two hours time and for visiting the Garden about the same. As it was already 15.00 hrs. we decided to split and meet again at the gate appr. 2½ hours later.
So I had to drive around the whole place to visit the garden. I had two cameras with me in the car and me wife had almost all the (English) money. Mmm typical ::) ::) :-X
When I came to the parking I just found £ 10 in the car for entering the garden (£9.95 !!!) and luckily, because it was rather late, there was nobody at the parking entrance otherwise :'(
I show first some pictures of the Castle, which I could make when coming out of the garden when the light still was just sufficient enough.
And I found two memory stones under a lime tree of the planting date, but I still don’t know who planted the young tree ???Well, maybe Harry Potter helped a hand, when he was filmed here ;D ;D
-
And now a few batches of the gardens at Alnwick.
For October there was still a lot to see.
The gardens are famous for their Water Plays, but when I came in I did not like it at all, a picture I made though.
After I walked around the whole garden I took a short rest (no coffee because no money!! :'( ) and was lucky to see at least the fountains in front of where I sat, but a bit disappointing too :-\
Rosa Souvenire Rose
Clematis Marie Boisselot
Anemone
-
What I like mostly in U. K. gardens are those old brick walls with the colorful borders.
-
Fortunately taking photographs was for free Luit... :-\ if not, we would have missed these !! ;)
Thanks again for sharing !
-
batch 2
Alnwick Gardens
Clematis tangutica Lambton Park
Nerine
-
batch 3
Rosa Blush Noisette
Alnwick dovecote
Passiflora
Kniphofia - Lobelia
Kniphofia Vanilla
Kniphofia Wrexham Buttercup
Later more
-
Fortunately taking photographs was for free Luit... :-\ if not, we would have missed these !! ;)
Thanks again for sharing !
Luc, you greedy Belgian ::) ::) ::)
There is nothing better than taking pictures by day and in the evening a good meal with “Old Speckled Hen “ :D :D :D
-
.......There is nothing better than taking pictures by day and in the evening a good meal with “Old Speckled Hen “ :D :D :D ..........
I'm inclined to agree Luit ;D
-
Thank you Luit you have brought back happy memories of a lovely day at Alnwick Garden. We have a Rosa Blush Noisette in the garden its probably about 8/10 years old and I wish i had a £ or a Euro for every flower it has had in that time. It really is a good doer.
-
Thank you Luit you have brought back happy memories of a lovely day at Alnwick Garden. We have a Rosa Blush Noisette in the garden its probably about 8/10 years old and I wish i had a £ or a Euro for every flower it has had in that time. It really is a good doer.
Shelagh, glad that my taste for good plants is still o.k. :)
When I saw those many buds I had the feeling of being a very good rose for our garden, because plants which such long flowering time are so important, instead of all the offered mass produced rubbish nowadays in garden centers ::)
-
From Alnwick we headed north along the coast, where we made short visits to a few very lovely villages. As it was already after 5 o’clock we just made some pictures and hope to come back once.
The first ones are made in Craster, which is really a scenic little place.
There is no direct road along the coast, so these villages are only reachable in one way leaving the main road. Driving on the main road we arrived in Embleton where a picturesque little church forced us to stop for a picture.
The next village on the coast was Low Newton-by-the-Sea, from where the view over the North Sea coastline is breathtaking too.
Craster
Embleton The Church
Low Newton-by-the-Sea
-
Back on the main road, the last village of the day was Bamburgh, with a castle we already saw from the villages we visited before.
This is really an enormous castle near the coast.
Driving out of the village, St. Aidan’s Church was of course worth seeing and on St. Aidan’s Churchyard there was a monument for a heroic woman, called Grace Darling., who during a heavy gale, together with her father saved several people from a steamship wreck in 1838.
You may read the whole story here:
http://www.bamburgh.org.uk/index.htm (http://www.bamburgh.org.uk/index.htm)
Leaving Bamburgh we had to find our B&B, near the Scottish Borders, just before it was really dark.
And we missed many places again, due by lack of time :( :(
Bamburgh
Bamburgh St. Aidan's Church
Bamburgh St. Aidan's Churchyard
B&B
-
After a hearty breakfast, the landlord persuaded me to try the special smoked haddock from Eyemouth for breakfast. They were indeed very good, but not really healthy for a heart patient (too much salted!) ::) ::) ::)
But when we are traveling in other countries we always try to eat like the locals do and don’t take anything from home, like many people do :o
B&B smoked haddock
B&B breakfast
-
We drove into Scotland while it was raining and because it was only a driving time of three hours to the hotel, we decided to visit first Floors Castle in Kelso.
(There were some interesting nurseries in the area too, but alas ;))
Because of the rain only a few pictures.
Kelso - Floors Castle
Kelso - Abbey
-
From Kelso we took a route through the Lammermuir Hills. Half way there was a road block and we were lead via another road which obviously brought us almost (5 miles) :o :o :-X back to Kelso.
So from there we tried another road which was just broad enough for one vehicle and this, obviously seldom used road, lead us about half an hour through woods and just here an there a farm or a house and let us really feel lost in an endless landscape in the rain.
So we lost very much time and when we came to the main road we decided to use our navigation system and find Polmont near Falkirk. When I typed Polmont, the system asked in which part of the Lothians and I had no idea, so typed the first on the list (When I am right there are three different Lothians) Obviously I typed the wrong one because after an hour we arrived at Polbeth in West Lothians. Almost one hour in the wrong direction ::) ::) ::)
But at last, after 7 hours driving time (instead of three!!) we arrived safely in the Hotel where the Discussion Weekend took place.
Lammermuir Hills 2
Lammermuir Hills 1
SRGC Discussion Weekend Hotel
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2552.msg112729#msg112729 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2552.msg112729#msg112729) etc.
more later
-
So we lost very much time and when we came to the main road we decided to use our navigation system and find Polmont near Falkirk.
Shame on you Luit - your Dutch ancestors navigated around the globe without Satnav.... and you are complaining about different Lothians... ;D ;D ;D
How about a good old roadmap ?? ;) ;)
Enough jokes !
You seem to have had a great time Luit - so much nice scenery !
Thanks for showing !
:D
-
So nice places!
Until now all my friends which had been travelled through Scotland have shown only rainy pics. :'( ;D I think I have seen sunshine in Scotland only on Ian Young's pics...
-
And what a breakfast, mmm...
-
After the Discussions Weekend we visited Edinburgh and decided to find a railway station for taking the train to avoid parking problems in the city. A station was easy to find but parking the car near the station is the same as in our country and almost impossible because short of parking places ::) ::) ::)
When we arrived in Edinburgh we were shocked to find the famous Princess Street broken up because they want to re-introduce a Tramway through the city. So we made our way to the Castle and made some pictures, which I show below:
Edinburgh
-
Some more pictures of Edinburgh.
And then we took the train back to our car and stayed overnight in West Linton on our way south.
West Linton is a quiet picturesque village with an old church, which dates from 1781.
West Linton St. Andrews Church
-
From here we wanted to reach the Lake District early in the afternoon, but made first a stop in the city of Lancaster.
We did not visit the Castle, because the biggest part of it is in use as a prison, but adjacent to the castle is the Church of St. Mary, dated from the 11th century.
Most of the building now is 15th century. It was just sunny at the moment so the windows were beautiful to see.
After a short walk through the city we left and drove to the Lake District while it was raining again.
Lancaster
more later
-
Nice to see the pics of Lancaster Luit. My mum was born in Lancaster and was christened in St Mary's and a lot of childhood holidays were spent in that area.
-
Nice to see the pics of Lancaster Luit. My mum was born in Lancaster and was christened in St Mary's and a lot of childhood holidays were spent in that area.
Glad, I showed them David. Did not make so many pictures there.
Your roots seem to come from a great part of Britain, don't they? ;D ;D
-
Leaving Lancaster it started to rain again and as we wanted
to stay some nights in the area of Keswick, Cumbria we and rain did not stop
we tried some addresses for B&B.
This was not so easy as expected during this time of the year.
Seemingly many people traveled like us in the quiet time for tourists,
so many rooms were already occupied.
But at the Tourist Information in Keswick we found a suitable place near
the city center with a good view over Derwentwater.
The good thing of sleeping near the center is that there are many restaurants
close by, but the whole place is sooo touristic and not the place we really
liked.
I show some pictures below:
One is in the city center with the Tour. Inf. office and one is of a street
nearby with only B&B.
The 3rd picture is a look from our B&B window early in the (next) morning.
-
Because it was raining in a steady way we left Keswick for a short drive to Windermere and
make a visit to Holehird Gardens.
We were told at the Discussion Weekend not to miss this garden and Holehird
is one of the nicest gardens I ever visited. Everything is so clean and tidy
and all the work is done by volunteers.
Despite the rain we stayed there more than two hours which resulted in a
lot of pictures
I show several batches of a selection below:
Holehird
Colletia armata 1
Colletia armata 2
The next pic. shows how wet it was
Alstroemeria 1
Alstroemeria 2
Schisostylis cocc. Mollie Gould
Gladiolus (probably G. tristis?
Can somebody confirm this?
-
Holehird Garden
Prostanthera cuneata
Alpine house Water Feature
Gentiana
Meconopsis
-
Luit I am glad you liked Holehird it is a wonderful garden at any time of year in beautiful surroundings.
I should give up on the SatNav if it took you to the Lake District via Lancaster from Scotland but then you would have missed a lovely city
-
Holehird looks to be a lovely garden..... lots of colour for October, too.
But: all that rain! What a wet holiday you had!
-
Lovely garden, now down on my list of places to go.
-
Luit,
I've missed out on reading your posts for a few days and have just caught up, from the kippers onwards. You have had a lovely journey and seen some lovely places.
Many thanks for sharing, Paddy
-
Luit I am glad you liked Holehird it is a wonderful garden at any time of year in beautiful surroundings.
I should give up on the SatNav if it took you to the Lake District via Lancaster from Scotland but then you would have missed a lovely city
Tony, we used the Motorway to save some time, but normally I would have used another (and nicer) road to drive to Cumbria from Scotland and so we came to Lancaster on the Motorway. I mostly used SatNav to find the quickest road.
I remember when we were in the Peak District we left Hayfield and wanted to drive over the Snake Pass, which started just outside the village!! ::) ::) ::) the SatNav told us to turn back and take a route which was at least an hour longer, so I ignored the SatNav.
I find SatNav very useful when finding the right way out of cities and when I lost somehow my way caused by roadblocks etc., which happened several times ??? ??? ::)
-
Holehird looks to be a lovely garden..... lots of colour for October, too.
But: all that rain! What a wet holiday you had!
Maggi, we didn't complain, because most of the days were dry, but the first day
in the Lake District, made us think being in the LEAK District ;D ;D ;D
-
some more from Holehird:
Holehird Garden
Trough area
Troughs
-
Holehird Garden
Sorbus aff. Koehneana Harry Smith
Tropaeolum speciosum
Pittosporum garnettii
Prunus serrula var. tibetica
Cedrus deodara
-
Holehird Garden
Cotoneaster 1
Cotoneaster 2
Wollemia nobilis
Hydrangea heteromalla 1
Hydrangea heteromalla 2
Abies procera Glauca Prostrata
-
and the last few:
Sorbus 1
Sorbus 2
Holehird Garden
more later
-
Holehird is a truly lovely garden and immaculately kept..... I was interested to learn a little more .... here is a link: http://www.holehirdgardens.org.uk/
and
http://www.holehirdgardens.org.uk/?the-gardens,4
-
Glad, I showed them David. Did not make so many pictures there.
Your roots seem to come from a great part of Britain, don't they? ;D ;D
Luit, I am like a good mulch-well spread around!!
-
;D ;D
-
Luit
You have a excellent eye for great pictures and your visit to Holehird provided lots of opportunities. In the depths of winter with a forecast of more cold weather and snow this was just the treat we needed.
I hope there are more places to come.
-
Luit
I hope there are more places to come.
Yes Arthur and the weather is getting always better southwards :) :)
-
From Holehird we drove the narrow and steep Kirkstone Pass back to Keswick.
Before Keswick it was just dry enough to visit the Stone Circle of Castlerigg,
but it was nearly to dark for good pictures.
Kirkstone Pass
Castlerigg - Stonecircle
The next day started rather sunny and we decided to drive into the mountains.
In a small village called Lamplugh we made a short stop near the church.
St. Michael's Church Lamplugh
Parking for church visitors only
-
Then we drove via Eskdale up the Hardknott Pass and down again to the Wrynose Pass,
from where we came to Windermere.
Hardknott Pass
River Duddon
Wrynose Pass down
The most beautiful place was for us Buttermere (last picture)
more later
-
Interesting to see those wild looking places in the Lake District, Luit. Lovely to see the Herdwick sheep. They are a rare breed and a large number were slaughtered during the last foot and mouth epidemic further reducing the genetic pool.
-
Luit, I have rarely seen the Lake District photographed so beautifully.
-
Luit, I have rarely seen the Lake District photographed so beautifully.
Every time.... (except once, when it was a white-out blizzard)... every time that I have been in the Lake Distrit it has been pouring with torrential rain.... so I have rarely seen the Lake District at all. Thanks for the lovely photos, Luit!
-
Interesting to see those wild looking places in the Lake District, Luit. Lovely to see the Herdwick sheep. They are a rare breed and a large number were slaughtered during the last foot and mouth epidemic further reducing the genetic pool.
That is interesting Roma. Now I can put a name to the picture, we never saw these sheep before.
Vroni made the pictures of the sheep because her brother in Austria is a hobby farmer with some sheep.
So she made pictures of several sheep on tour. Mostly there was no parking place on the narrow roads and I waited in the car farther up the road when
she made pictures.
When we drove from Edinburgh southwards we saw a sort of "yellow" sheep. Here is a picture:
-
Thanks for the compliments David, but I admit that not all pictures were made by myself (see posting above) :-X :-X
Luit, I have rarely seen the Lake District photographed so beautifully.
Every time.... (except once, when it was a white-out blizzard)... every time that I have been in the Lake Distrit it has been pouring with torrential rain.... so I have rarely seen the Lake District at all. Thanks for the lovely photos, Luit!
Maggi, just tell me what you want to see in Britain and we will make the pictures for you when we visit the D.W. next time ;D ;D ;D
-
That's very kind of you, Luit.... I'd like to see Cornnwall and the West Country... it's a bit out of your way though, isn't it?!! ;)
-
Luit, I think your 'yellow sheep' would be Swaledale, a north of England breed or maybe Scottish Blackfaces. They look quite similar to me though not to a sheep expert. Some sheep are dipped in a coloured dip to pretty them up for show or sale. I think different breeds use a different colour, usually some shade of yellow or dark brown. From pictures I see of champion sheep at shows or sales I think it is commoner now than it used to be.
-
That's very kind of you, Luit.... I'd like to see Cornnwall and the West Country... it's a bit out of your way though, isn't it?!! ;)
Cornwall is already on our wish list for many years, Maggi. So who knows what happens....?
Some sheep are dipped in a coloured dip to pretty them up for show or sale.
Roma, of course we asked around and we were told that these yellow sheep were probably dipped with some disinfection stuff.
Well, whatever it is, we were very surprised when we saw them on the field and had to make some pictures, because we almost did not believe what our eyes were seeing ::) ;D
-
Did anyone see the pink sheep whilst driving alng the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh? Here is a picture and in case you do not believe me here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6521149.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6521149.stm) is the link to the BBC news story and it is NOT dated 1st April, even though it is close !
-
Now that's a real stunner, Richard. ;D ;D 8)
-
From the Lake District we we drove southwards to Cheshire, where visited a
former trainee at our nursery. We wanted to stay for one night there and then
go to Wales for some days.
After we left the village Heswall next morning we noticed that something was not
o.k with the car and decided to search for a garage, but we had to fill up the
cooling system first. Well, we didn't come far and were lucky to pass a very
small garage just in time.
While we waited till the garage owner we could visit next door a small railway
museum, where we made some pictures.
Autopech Willaston - Hadlow Road
Railway Station - Hadlow Road - Willaston
Railway Station - Hadlow Road
Railway Station - Hadlow Road 2
Railway Station - Hadlow Road 3
When we knew what was wrong with the car we called our friend if she had time to
collect us at the garage, because the broken part had to be delivered first.
We were lucky that we drive an Opel and the Vauxhall factory was not far away :D
and we could get the car back late afternoon.
So back to Heswall for another night....
Heswall Kerk
-
Our friend had several hours time to spend with us before the children came from
school and we decided to visit nearby Ness Gardens.
This is a very nice garden to visit, so we were lucky with our misfortune. :D :D
I made a lot of pictures too and here are some following below:
BTW, my car was repaired for less than £ 100.- and I am sure that I would have paid
in Holland between £300 and £400. I love GB! ;D ;D ;D
Ness Gardens
Viburnum plicatum Mariesii
Nerine
Sorbus rosea
Acer rubrum October Glory
-
Rock garden
Gentiana sino-ornata
Heather garden
Fuchsia corallina
-
Heather garden
Fuchsia corallina
connection broke down
will try more later
-
Luit,
excellent impressions from your travel. 8) Thanks for showing.
-
Luit, thanks for these lovely pictures which bring back some very happy memories. In the mid/late 80s we lived in Liverpool & used to visit Ness regularly.
-
Fascicularia bicolor
Correa reflexa 2
Amicia zygomeris
Eucryphia lucida Pink Cloud
Rhodochiton atrosanguineus 1
Rhodochiton atrosanguineus 2
-
Dianella longifolia
Colchicum - Crocus
Alpine House
Cyclamen africanum
Cyclamen graecum
Cyclamen mirabile
In the alpine house we saw a poster of the AGS Wirral Group
with the announcement that our Forum Dr. Rock gave a lecture
nearby that evening. So I could attend a AGS Group evening
for the first time in my life :) 8)
lecture poster
David Milward [AGS Burton]
-
The next day we went then at last to Wales, where we first made a visit to Bodnant Gardens.
At Bodnant I saw some very interesting plants and trees.
Here some pictures of garden and plants
Bodnant Garden
Verbascum roripifolium 1
Verbascum roripifolium 2
Kniphofia rooperi
Arbutus andrachnoides
Rosa Pretty Lady
-
Impatiens tinctoria
Prunus shirotae
Cornus kousa Chinensis
Cornus kousa China Girl
-
After Bodnant we went to Caernarfon for a visit to the enormous Castle
Wales
Wales Caernarfon - Castle
later more
-
Luit,
thanks a lot for the pictures of Bodnant Garden. Hope to see this wonderful garden in this decade, one of my dreams.
-
Luit you have had such a good trip visiting all those places and taking a brilliant photo diary.
-
What a fantastic trip Luit, just amazing how much you did and saw. I have long wanted to visit Bodnant, like Uli, and love this part of Wales. Thanks to you and your wife for the wonderfully descriptive text and superb photos from GB - you're right it's a wonderful place and your guide shows the incredible variety of landscape 8)
-
Just catching up with this thread that I seem to have missed. Luit, your photos of the Lake District bring back happy memories of many visits there exploring the geology - and watching how the tourists coped with the twisting steep bends of the single-track roads of Wrynose and Hard Knott passes. ;D ;D ;D
It was a huge surprise and great pleasure to meet you at the Wirral Group meeting. Hope you enjoyed your first AGS group talk...... :-X
-
What a fantastic trip Luit, just amazing how much you did and saw. I have long wanted to visit Bodnant, like Uli, and love this part of Wales. Thanks to you and your wife for the wonderfully descriptive text and superb photos from GB - you're right it's a wonderful place and your guide shows the incredible variety of landscape 8)
Thank you for the compliments Robin, et all.
We really saw some beautiful gardens despite the (late) time of year on our trip and such different landscapes.
We hope to travel again to Britain and then enjoy some places with some more time.
-
Just catching up with this thread that I seem to have missed. Luit, your photos of the Lake District bring back happy memories of many visits there exploring the geology - and watching how the tourists coped with the twisting steep bends of the single-track roads of Wrynose and Hard Knott passes. ;D ;D ;D
It was a huge surprise and great pleasure to meet you at the Wirral Group meeting. Hope you enjoyed your first AGS group talk...... :-X
David, those steep passes were really a special experience to drive.
There were too many "blind summits" and we had often the feeling of flying instead of driving ??? ??? 8)
Picture:
-
Luit, did you see the Lewisia cotyledon wall at Bodnant?
-
Luit, did you see the Lewisia cotyledon wall at Bodnant?
David, we walked through the whole garden, but if it wasn't at a very prominent place then there was no wall with specifically Lewisia.
Maybe there were a few but of course not in flower.
I saw that the same question raised in late 2008 and there was no answer. So probably it's only history?
-
HiLuit !
I visited Bodnant some 10 years ago - the Lewisia wall was in flower then - you couldn't miss it.
Don't recall exactly where it was located in the garden ?? ??? ::)
By the way : super pictures Luit - I'm enjoying your report tremendously and making notes for future visits... ;)
Before I forget it, any chance we see you in Utrecht next Saturday ??
-
Continuing took some longer because I was occupied with more important things,
but when I received and saw the new program for the next Discussion Weekend
I realized that I have to hurry to finish the last year’s trip pictures, before we start off for the next trip to Scotland this year.
And hopefully many of you will be cheered up by these pictures during this rather long cold and snowy winter?
Before leaving Wales we made a visit at Powys Castle.
I was there once in younger days and never forgot such impressive castle and gardens.
Powis Castle
Tropaeolum
Alyogyne huegelii
Solanum sisymbriifolium
Salvia concolor
-
Salvia leucantha Purple Velvet
Aster schreberi 2
Tetrapanax papyrifer
Mimulus aurantiacus Puniceus
Hibiscus trionum
-
Eryngium pandanifolium 1
Eryngium pandanifolium cl
Watsonia pillansii [Syn. W. beatricis]
Aster Little Carlow
-
Datisca cannabina
Lavatera maritima
Convolvulus althaeoides
-
Powis Castle last batch
-
Luit,
I have really enjoyed your account of your trip to the UK - almost makes me feel homesick :)
The photos of Powis Castle are quite wonderful. The (very unrock-gardenish) yew walls are stunning, as always!
The programme for the discussion weekend is tempting indeed ...