Monday 6th January 2014
Right! Officially, this is not a 'Catch-Up'! Vowed that I'd keep up with the Blog in the New Year before returning to 'Catch-Ups' &, despite being slightly derailed by an unresponsive computer, this is my attempt!
So, back to the beginning of the week before our 'On Tour! - North Yorkshire' jaunt & a couple of hours' walking in the north-west corner of the Staffordshire Moorlands
Les out doing something else so I drove here in the van & Country Parks are often an issue - they seem to have a penchant for height barriers! No problems today & free parking! Wandered the gardens of Biddulph Grange first before my exploration of the Park was curtailed by the forecast heavy rain.....
So, back to the beginning of the week before our 'On Tour! - North Yorkshire' jaunt & a couple of hours' walking in the north-west corner of the Staffordshire Moorlands
Les out doing something else so I drove here in the van & Country Parks are often an issue - they seem to have a penchant for height barriers! No problems today & free parking! Wandered the gardens of Biddulph Grange first before my exploration of the Park was curtailed by the forecast heavy rain.....
The original 'Biddulph Grange' was built as a rectory.... needless to say, not this model!
James Bateman bought the Grange, which included what is now the Country Park, with money inherited from his father who had made a fortune in coal & steel
He was a horticulturist & designed the gardens to exhibit his 'collection': spent up by the 1860s, he moved to Kensington, the house burned down & this 'rebuilt' version eventually became a children's hospital!
Cheshire Cottage
One of the features of Bateman's gardens - it serves as a 'tunnel', a transition from one garden to another
The design incorporates his & his wife's initials, the date of their meeting & their marriage!
Bateman also laid out the Arboretum in Derby - England's first public park
For some reason the hospital staff couldn't find time for the upkeep of the extensive estate (!) & the whole area became neglected & overgrown
The National Trust took on the restoration of the immediate garden whilst the wider area, beyond the 'garden fence', became Biddulph Country Park
Not far from the limits of the National Trust bit & the sadly-padlocked gate, in view of Bateman's lake & boat house, I came across a 'new' Children's Woodland Trail & this splendid giant sculpted pine cone!
The whole garden is divided into interlinking areas developing different themes.... from formal layouts to apparently random stumperies!
Intrigued by this tunnel which led me from one 'garden' into a strangely-green Egypt!
And the view from 'Egypt' back to the house!
Can't help but wonder if patients & visitors to the hospital knew what was going on in the back garden!
Below the Egyptian garden steps wind around & then down through a turret to give access to 'Dahlia Walk' (below)
Best bit for me, though, was the Chinese Garden.... not least because it was so hard to find!
Having paid fancy NT prices to get in I wasn't going to fork-out for one of their official guides so made-do with their free plan of the garden!
Soon discovered some rocky paths closed because of the weather & underfoot conditions
Read about the Great Wall of China, the Joss House, the hidden entry & red dragons.... but would I ever find the elaborate tunnel system which, allegedly, led here?!
The photos prove I finally cracked it!
Loads more to see & to photograph so I've no doubt I'll be back, probably with Les when she sees these pictures, but if I was going to beat the rain I needed to be out of the garden & into the Park! There was one other feature I was determined to see today - The Himalayan Walk!
Saw it! Walked bits of it! But didn't beat the rain...which was torrential!
More details next time we visit!
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