May Day at Crook Hall
May. 2nd, 2023 05:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustIt's been a showery weekend, but yesterday morning was brighter, and the last chance for a Bank Holiday outing: we didn't go far, to Crook Hall on the outskirts of Durham:
The house and gardens are old friends - here's an account of a visit in 2007 - which have recently passed into the care of the National Trust. Only the gardens and the medieval Great Hall are open, but there's plenty to see -
I remember the maze being planted; the last time I walked it, the bushes were maybe waist high - certainly easy to see over. Yesterday they were taller than I am, and a challenge to navigate. In the outer reaches we had to squeeze past several family groups, but as we approached the centre - a circle of beech trees within the rings of cotoneaster - we met only one duo of mother and child. The centre itself we had to ourselves:
If there had been anywhere to sit, we would gladly have sat there for a while, and savoured our success. Since there wasn't (and seeing how much seating there is elsewhere in the gardens, this must surely be deliberate) we found our way out, and sat where we could enjoy a view of the bug hotel:
We had timed our visit well for the tulips. I like this juxtaposition of hot red with pink -
And here, in contrast, an entirely green corner of the garden:
Someone has been having fun in the vegetable garden:
And more fun: nothing goes to waste:
This is where the rain began, and by the time we got back down to the café we were soaked. We had thought of lunching there, but of course everyone in the gardens had crammed inside, so we came home instead.
The house and gardens are old friends - here's an account of a visit in 2007 - which have recently passed into the care of the National Trust. Only the gardens and the medieval Great Hall are open, but there's plenty to see -
I remember the maze being planted; the last time I walked it, the bushes were maybe waist high - certainly easy to see over. Yesterday they were taller than I am, and a challenge to navigate. In the outer reaches we had to squeeze past several family groups, but as we approached the centre - a circle of beech trees within the rings of cotoneaster - we met only one duo of mother and child. The centre itself we had to ourselves:
If there had been anywhere to sit, we would gladly have sat there for a while, and savoured our success. Since there wasn't (and seeing how much seating there is elsewhere in the gardens, this must surely be deliberate) we found our way out, and sat where we could enjoy a view of the bug hotel:
We had timed our visit well for the tulips. I like this juxtaposition of hot red with pink -
And here, in contrast, an entirely green corner of the garden:
Someone has been having fun in the vegetable garden:
And more fun: nothing goes to waste:
This is where the rain began, and by the time we got back down to the café we were soaked. We had thought of lunching there, but of course everyone in the gardens had crammed inside, so we came home instead.
