Super Moon Super Eclipse

super moon arrives over Howard Street

Full Lunar Eclipse

The Birthday Continues ...

At the end of a week that saw Marilyn's birthday, together again with Marion, we all went out and celebrated...

 ... starting with a pre performance meal at the Bistro in Malvern Theatre:

... then on to Terrence Rattigan's 'Flair Path'

Next day, Sunday, was a fine and slightly autumnal day so Marilyn and I set off down a hither to untrodden walk round a section of the Severn Path and Sharpness Canal , a circular route round Riversmead Farm.

autumn colours abound

beats a 'Keep Out' sign :)

the Edward Elgar on a canal cruise
from Gloucester Docks

Sharpness tow path

a posing damsel

The hedge rows were laden with brambles n wild apples so should be OK for home made bramble jelly well into winter :-p

Old Colwall Garden

Another of the Malverns hidden gems. Old Colwall occupies a site that was owned by the Church until the Reformation. A ‘William de Oldecolewall' was identified as a tenant of the Bishop of Hereford in a record dating from 1250, and in 1354 an ‘Adam of Old Collewall’ held land here. The present house was built for William Brydges in 1704.

The garden contains elements that span this entire period. An enormous yew tree overlooks the garden from the south-west. in 1856 its girth was recorded as 25 feet. lt is the oldest tree in the garden. The walled gardens to the north of the house, with their unusual tricorn capping bricks, date largely from the early 1700s. The lower walls in front of the east elevation are the result of early 1800s

The yew walk, which forms the heart of the garden planted in the early 1700s. ln 1856 there was a record of the hedge being 180ft long, two and a half foot wide, and fourteen foot high. lt has grown considerably since then. The hedge is trimmed once a year, using a cherry-picker, and takes the best part of two weeks to complete.

  

There was still colour and variety in the garden though, like everywhere, turning autumnal.

Daisy chain

The Picton Garden  sits on the western slopes of the Malvern Hills. Laid out by Paul Picton in the 1980's it has featured on Gardners World. As well as a variety of planting Picton contains the National Plant Collection of over 400 varieties of Michaelmas Daisy.

the garden was awash with colour from late flowering blooms

and the garden walks led you to discover a number of hidden artefacts

Serles House and the Secret Garden

Alan Titchmarsh described this amusingly creative and bizarre house and garden as ‘one of the best 10 private gardens in Britain’. The ingenious use of unusual plants complements the imaginative treasure trove of house and garden objects d’art. A feeling of a by gone age accompanies your tour as you step into a world of whimsical fantasy that is theatrical and unique.

This seemingly traditional semi is marked out by a large NGS flag in the front garden. You enter through the house that is a cornucopia of collected artefacts, quirky interior design and filled with the music of Scott Joplin provided by the pianist on the upright.

Through into the garden room containing an amazing ginger lilly:

then into the garden itself with its various crooks and nannies 

its various oddities

and glorious planting

finishing with the traditional tea n cake in a luxuriously decorated garden shed :)

In search of Thomas Hardy, T. E. Lawrence and Anthony Ettricke

One of the most renowned poets and novelists in English literary history, Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 in the English village of Higher Bockhampton in the county of Dorset. Though he was an architectural apprentice in London, and spent time there each year until his late 70s, Dorset provided Hardy with material for his fiction and poetry. One of the poorest and most backward of the counties, rural life in Dorset had changed little in hundreds of years, which Hardy explored through the rustic characters in many of his novels. Strongly identifying himself and his work with Dorset.

T. E. Lawrence was a British scholar, writer and soldier who mobilised the Arab Revolt in World War One and became famous as 'Lawrence of Arabia'. In 1917, T.E. Lawrence was captured at Dar'a and tortured and sexually abused, leaving emotional scars that never healed. By 1918, Lawrence had been promoted to lieutenant colonel and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Order of Bath by King George V, but politely refused the medals in support of Arab independence.

Lawrence fell from his Brough Superior motorcycle, one of many he owned, when he was in collision with two boys on bicycles on the road between Bovington Camp and Clouds Hill. He never regained consciousness. Lawrence died on 19^th May 1935  as a result of his injuries and was buried  at Moreton, Dorset.

Wimbourne Minster is famous for a number of reasons - 

its anatomical clock c1320 

... its amazing organ loft with 3,000 pipes + trumpets.

   The West Tower housing 13 bells.

Its amazing ceilings

its charity chest and keys 

         



... and ancient relic chest

but the most bizarre is The Man in the Wall. Anthony Ettericke (the man in the wall) would not be burried inside the Minster, nor outside the Minster. Neither in the ground or above the ground. His coffin, made during his lifetime, was placed in the wall.

Highfield Garden Centre and Beyond

Highfield @ Whiteleaf is our favourite garden centre but until recently we hadn't ventured beyond into the village. There is to be found a, very well camouflaged, church

Walks through fields of gold, green and brown

Also came across this oddity, an overgrown pill box from wartime days, presumably standing sentry against a German invasion up the Sharpness Canal.








The run-off canal is now disused

 but it's amazing to see how nature has reclaimed the banks