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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 3073 |
13th September 2019 Hiking - Walking: National Trust Six Wells and The Court Gardens Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: wall to wall sunshine. Max Speed: Distance Covered: Friday 13th September – walks ***** National Trust Six Wells and The Court Gardens – wall to wall sunshine. Not a bad night all alone in our little car park at the National Trusts Six Wells which is part of the Stourhead Estate despite more rain during the night, I will never get my wetsuit dry at this rate! Woke to wall to wall sunshine but it was too wet on the ground to do our exercises so after breakfast we decided to go for a walk to explore the pretty tree lined valleys. We took the left-hand path and hope to return by St Peter pump, the source of the Stour apparently, a route we had seen a couple of dog walkers do last evening. It was a lovely grassy avenue set off to a tea by the crystal blue sky:) We passed a few more walkers heading the opposite way and a flock of cool sheep before coming out by the huge Obelisk near Stourhead Mansion, so we had succeeded in entering the NT site free by the back door! We headed down to the lake, much quieter than yesterday prettier too and the highlight being some angry swans having a stand-off! Just past the Pantheon we turned up into the large woods along a muddy forest track hoping to get to the pump. It was beautiful as we climbed up above the lake and were not sure we were going the right way when we came across a friendly local dog walker who showed us the way to go which was down a steep set of steps and a slippery slope! Once back at the end of the lake we turned left and started the long slight climb up to the pump. After a quick stop for some timer pics it was only a short distance to the van. We had been out for two hours and had covered over 4 miles and with the van sorted we headed off in search of the Kennet and Avon Canal! Mag navigated mainly by minor roads, stopping quickly at the folly of Alfred’s tower and again at Nunney to walk around a lovely little moated ruined castle with a very French feel! We hope to bike into Bath tomorrow along the canal so headed to Bradford-on-Avon for a place to park. We found a large Canals and River Trust long stay car park right by the canal but I was not satisfied with that so went in search of a more remote, quieter spot. We soon ended up in Trowbridge but found nowhere suitable only a Lidl for more cake and then I got a bit lost and ended up at Holt, home of The Courts a NT garden. The car park was full so we started back to Bradford but changed our minds and returned to visit the gardens and were glad we did because although small it was perfectly formed:) It is a classic early 20th Century garden, laid out in a series of yew hedged ‘rooms’ with neo-Georgian temple and conservatory, a tranquil arboretum, lily ponds, sunken and kitchen gardens, orchard with several varieties of apple and yes I did a bit of scrumping and pinched one apple for Mag! Also, local Somerset artist was displaying 23 pieces of stainless-steel sculpture with prices ranging from £300 to £4720, I think we will pass on that and much preferred the real flora to his metal ones! It was another £18 off our membership, a little pricy for a small garden however pretty but we really did enjoy the hour or tow wandering around especially through the water gardens where we watched the water snails for ages and the reflections in the water were amazing. Then it was back to Bradford-on-Avon to park up, we came in by another route of got held up in traffic but managed to see the River Avon and eventually found the car park where Mag paid £10 for 72 hours on her phone and got a spot with a canal view. After a well-deserved cuppa and cake, we had a quick walk down to the canal busy with narrow boats trying to get through the lock before dark. Tomorrow we hope to bike the ten miles into Bath, the picnic lunch is already packed and we plan to leave early to beat the weekend crowds, weathers supposed to be good too:) Photo Gallery Here NT – Stourhead NT - The Courts Garden |
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