In the UK summer is a fickle mistress at the best of times, so scheduling an open air event can mean you’re living a bit dangerously but it’s something we natives have just got used to. All of that said, this weekend past I went along to the fifth annual Chorley flower show, held as always in the grounds of the delightful Astley Hall, a large manor house dating from […]
High on the sometimes bleak West Pennine Moors in between the Lancashire towns of Horwich and Chorley there’s a hilltop rich in trees, with here and there the remains of buildings showing through. These are the Terraced Gardens, the creation of local businessman William Lever, later 1st Viscount Leverhulme. I’ve been visiting the gardens since my childhood and have seen the ebb and flow of their condition over time. The […]
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, is another of my favourite destinations, I travel; there by train from Manchester, the route goes through the Hope Valley in the beautiful Peak District passing through the villages of Edale, a stopping off point for the Pennine Way and Castleton a village dominated by Peveril Castle. Grindleford, also popular with hillwalkers, the station sitting at the mouth of the 3.5 mile Totley Rail Tunnel through which you leave the […]
I was at a garden centre in Ambleside, the town is at the top of Lake Windermere and after a walk around the plants, gardening accessories I decided to have a break. The was a cafe with a roof terrace and I had just started enjoying a coffee and and slice of very good carrot cake when this character hopped onto the back of the chair opposite me. Mr Jackdaw, […]
