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April Showers
Apr. 8th, 2006 10:13 amI've been a bit stir crazy this last week, and was determined that we would go out today, whatever the weather (which wouldn't be that bad, surely?) This morning we woke early, and decided to treat this as an advantage rather than an irritation: I made egg sandwiches, watched by a slightly bemused overnight guest, and we packed a picnic and set off early, to benefit from the "Bright at first..." half of the forecast.
It was![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
durham_rambler's inspiration to go to Gibside, a National Trust property consisting of extensive grounds dotted with interesting buildings: a classical chapel, a ruined hall, a monument to British Liberty (Pevsner calls it "a splendid symbol of British Whiggery", as if that explained it), a stable block which could pass as a grand mansion itself, a Gothic folly of a banqueting hall with a fine view down over the Octagonal Pond (which will not be renovated, as it is the home of a colony of Great Crested Newts) - think of Mistress Masham's Repose. Broad paths loop round the estate, offering a choice of routes between any two points, so it's ideal for a walk when you might at any time decide either that you want to go further, or you want to Go Home Now.
We managed to walk all morning through the woods, up to the Column of Liberty and back to the newly renovated stable block, through constantly changing weather: bright sun, light showers, a curious horizontal rainbow spread like a shawl over the housing estate on the horizon, and heavier rain just as we reached the Stables, and a kind member of staff gave us permission to eat or picnic in the room which was set out with tables and chairs (so that visitors could be seduced into joining the Trust). One last gap in the rain allowed us to visit the Hall, where work continues to stabilise the remains, and it is now possible to come much closer than on our last visit before encountering warnings about falling masonry. Then back via what used to be known as the Orangery, but is now described as Mary Eleanor Bowes's Greenhouse; perhaps the Trust has given up all hope of growing oranges on the banks of the Derwent. And as we reached the car we realised that this shower consisted not of rain, but of hailstones.
I thought I'd spent the day taking photographs of buildings; but now I have uploaded the best of them to Flickr, I see that I was really photographing trees.
It was
durham_rambler's inspiration to go to Gibside, a National Trust property consisting of extensive grounds dotted with interesting buildings: a classical chapel, a ruined hall, a monument to British Liberty (Pevsner calls it "a splendid symbol of British Whiggery", as if that explained it), a stable block which could pass as a grand mansion itself, a Gothic folly of a banqueting hall with a fine view down over the Octagonal Pond (which will not be renovated, as it is the home of a colony of Great Crested Newts) - think of Mistress Masham's Repose. Broad paths loop round the estate, offering a choice of routes between any two points, so it's ideal for a walk when you might at any time decide either that you want to go further, or you want to Go Home Now.We managed to walk all morning through the woods, up to the Column of Liberty and back to the newly renovated stable block, through constantly changing weather: bright sun, light showers, a curious horizontal rainbow spread like a shawl over the housing estate on the horizon, and heavier rain just as we reached the Stables, and a kind member of staff gave us permission to eat or picnic in the room which was set out with tables and chairs (so that visitors could be seduced into joining the Trust). One last gap in the rain allowed us to visit the Hall, where work continues to stabilise the remains, and it is now possible to come much closer than on our last visit before encountering warnings about falling masonry. Then back via what used to be known as the Orangery, but is now described as Mary Eleanor Bowes's Greenhouse; perhaps the Trust has given up all hope of growing oranges on the banks of the Derwent. And as we reached the car we realised that this shower consisted not of rain, but of hailstones.
I thought I'd spent the day taking photographs of buildings; but now I have uploaded the best of them to Flickr, I see that I was really photographing trees.
