Passing by

I always stick to the same path on my morning walk, it's just long enough for me to have some healthy exercise and then get back home to start my jobs for the day. But as I walk along I'm often tempted to go off in other directions as I pass by places which look interesting, other paths which seem to be inviting me to walk along.

I love the stile at the top of the hill--I know where it goes--we've walked along there before.  It goes over the fields to the scout camp where there are beautiful views.  But that's for another day.

Down through the park and I pass by the woods.  It's always muddy there and I'm reminded of when our daughters were young and they used to play on the big rotting tree trunk.  It's rotted down completely now to feed the earth with its remains.

Further along a haze of blue catches my eye--a clump of bluebells beyond the trees enticing me in.

Then past another entrance to the woods is the wild garlic, a mass of white flowers, the subtle garlic smell will linger long after the flowers have gone over.

I continue along  and take in the pink confetti like blossom fallen from the flowering trees lining the path. It will be blown away in an instance with the first strong breeze.

Down the lane to the farm, I stand at the gate looking over the fields for a while then back home with thoughts of places to go, paths to follow on another day when there's more time.

Warton Hall

 Last week Richard and I went out to visit  Warton Hall an NGS garden  a couple of miles out of Lytham and on the edge of  the village of Warton. This is the first year it's been opened for the NGS. I'd seen it in the booklet and heard the owner being interviewed on local radio a few days earlier and thought it sounded interesting.

We entered through a little gate and followed the path through a woodland area carpeted with bluebells. It was a feast for the eyes, a haze of purple blue and creamy white flower heads and  feathery foliage of cow parsley. There was a sculpture trail through the woodland walk with pieces of art displayed by various artists. Some of the sculptures were easy to see, but others were not and we kept pointing them out to each other.  The sculptures were made of different materials.  The first ones we came across were some ceramic glass flowers arranged under trees, a big ornate metal circle structure and a group of white parasols high up in the trees.

 

 Then there were items which the owner had found on her travels, like a metal bedstead placed amongst the trees or a wooden window frame fixed between two trees to frame a view.

 

 But there were also natural sculptures made out of twigs, branches, grass etc.We had to keep our eyes open to spot some things, like the twig mobiles with hanging ceramic glass icicles, or the ceramic ladybirds fixed onto tree trunks.

 

 I loved the fairy house--the hole in the tree trunk reached by a tiny, delicate ceramic glass ladder and the 'do not disturb' sign.

We found a stick man made out of a big branch, I thought the grandchildren would have loved it. In the centre of the woods was a big tipi with straw bales inside for children to sit on at story telling times.

We came a cross a big orange metal crab which looked like it was made out of some sort of agricultural machinery, a bright blue boat, a wheelbarrow wearing wellingtons and many more strange and interesting things.

As we wandered along the path we occasionally caught a glimpse of the hall through the trees and we could see that the woods skirted the massive lawn in front of the house.  In the centre of the lawn was a huge 400 year old weeping hornbeam tree. Under the hornbeam was a life size metal horse sculpture.  On close inspection we could see that it was made out of horseshoes, spanners and all sorts of metal items--very impressive, especially the price of £11,000!

 Nearer to the house was a little garden with a pond and a vegetable garden. In the conservatory was the shop where you could buy the art work (if you could afford it!).

This garden is not a plantsman's garden and anyone going to see interesting planting would be disappointed. The gardens were very natural with the bluebells, cow parsley and  ponds in the woods.  It was the bluebells and the sculptures which made the garden so interesting. There were things which made us smile or laugh and things which took our breath away.  It was nothing like I had imagined, but much better.

 The garden is open again in July for the Lytham Arts Festival. I'm sure it will be worth another visit.