Cerney House Open Gardens

I discovered Cerney House Gardens back in 2022.  

It is one of my favourite local gardens to visit as it is just a twenty-minute drive from home, and it's like being transported to such a tranquil place.

Originally built in 1675, it has changed hands six times.  From Sir Thomas Rich, to Thomas Tindall in 1765.  Then 1806 John Hooper Holder, a friend of Jane Austen, followed by the Croome family 1814.  1953 De Courcy family owned it, before it's current owners since 1983 being the Angus family. 

Today there are six families living at the house, made up of which has three two-bedroom apartments.  The middle floor has seven bedrooms and the ground floor a mix of reception rooms and a large kitchen where they make the delicious cakes that they sell at The Bothy.   

When I visited, I did not realise they were also open as part of the National Garden Scheme, which raises thousands of pounds for charity.

The garden is made up of different area's.  From a medicinal herb garden, Rose walk, vegetables, scented garden and woodland area.  So there is something for everyone.
 

I visited in the afternoon and sat and waited for a shower to pass through.  I am so glad I did, as I saw the raindrops of the petals and leaves of the flowers looked so lovely.

I can honestly say, that for me personally, in what was my tenth visit, I think this was the best the garden had looked.

There were so many different flowers in bloom, and Rose's. 

It's a shame you can't "smell" the flowers, as honestly this Rose was just perfect, not just from the flower, but the perfume.

I loved this area with the ground cover of various flowers that just look so perfect with the subtle colours against the green leaves.

Isn't this Rose just stunning, I have not seen one like it before and again with the water droplets on it, I think it makes it even more special.

There was also an abundance of butterflies and insects, which is so good to see.

I'm afraid I won't be auditioning for Gardener's World to be able to name all the flowers, but I do still love to take pictures and share them with you.

I also found the perfect spot for some crochet and people and nature watching.

I shall definitely be back as the garden is open 7 days a week except Christmas Day, which is amazing.

You can buy an annual pass as a single person for £20, or a couple £35, or a day ticket is £7.  So I think this is great value for money.

Trip to the Forest of Dean

 

 

 

So I live in quite a central location in England, so it is easy to access places.

 

One of the places I have not visited for many years is Puzzlewood in the Forest of Dean. 

 

It has been used for filming many things, from Doctor Who, Jack the Giant Slayer, Star Wars and recently The Secret Garden.

 

Dotted around the woods, there were interesting facts such as

• Roman forts used nails forged in the Forest of Dean
• To extract the iron, iron ore was heated to 1150 degrees by burning charcoal made from trees
• Iron Ore was mined in the area by the Romans and the local people before them
• Iron is magnetic, but hematite (the iron ore found in the Forest of Dean) is not
• In 1849, 3000 Roman coins from 3rd century AD were found in these woods

It was a very overcast day, so the images do look rather "flat", but I think it still depicts the variety of trees, roots and moss that are in the Forest.

I do always enjoy looking up when in amongst tall trees, sometimes they just seem to go on and on.

I did like this branch, which had many other small branches growing from it that looked like an American skyline!

Whilst walking around met this lady who is incredibly solo travelling from Australia around not only the UK but also some of Europe.

I found that incredibly brave as she was only 25 to be solo travelling!  But what an adventure. 

After the woods, before heading home, I stopped off at Mallards Pike.  A walk I used to do many times in a former life, when I used to own dogs.

The weather forecast was a bit amiss as there were showers, but nothing that standing under a tree to shelter wouldn't solve for a few minutes. 

So if you're ever in need of a "tree" fix, head over to the Forest of Dean, you will certainly get it there!

RSPB Arne

 

For various reasons I suffer at times badly with anxiety, which is massively heightened in environments

with a lot of people.

Yet stood at the welcome desk of RSPB Arne where Juliet created me welcoming me to the site, 

she had an incredible ability to put me at ease.

She asked about my trusty crochet bag that I made and be so interested to learn about the blogs I write. 

I found myself happily chatting away and sharing the information on the mindful TikTok I create of me 

crafting in as many places as I can and sharing my passion for the outdoors.

 

So thank you Juliet for making the trip a much more relaxed and great day out with all the tips you gave me

of  area's to go. Although I did not even manage half of where I wanted to go, so shall have to have a revisit.

 

Part of my reason for wanting to visit was due to watching BBC Springwatch 2024 Everything you need to know for many years.

 

They chose RSPB Arne as a base for a year and it just looked incredible. 

 

 

I do love to have a variety of pictures not just all colour as sometimes seeing things in black and white I find just highlights the details more.

 

I loved the moss growing on this tree stump.  To me it just looked like a minature forest somewhere in Canada!

 

Foxglove's are such elequant flowers I think. 

One of the routes Juliet suggested was going to the Shoreline.  

I am so glad I did as what a place.Round Island Cottages I love the names of the three cottages.  Pier, Curlew or Sandpiper Cottage.

 
Brownsea island National Trust ferry to the island is from Poole harbour booking information, at time of me writing this Adults £14.50 and child £6.

 

This is where I sat and ate my packed lunch I had made.  It would have been lovely to just sit for a couple of hours and soak up the location.

However I had an hour's drive back to campsite and the site shut at 4.  So I  made my way round past the dragonfly pond.  

Oh my goodness aren't dragonflies just the most incredible insects to watch.

 

 Then it was on through the Big Wood which was welcome shade.

All around the site I used the Merlin bird identifying app.  

Such a brilliant free app, I can not rate it highly enough to just listen to the birds and watch it identify them. 

 

I of course had to stop off again at Hive beach, but this time turned right to just sit and enjoy the beach.

 

It was eye opening to see the recent erosion that had happened to the cliff face and more worrying that not 50 yards from the cliff face two people where just lying sun bathing and if the cliff face eroded, they may have been in real danger. 

 

I wanted to try and give a sense of scale so show how high the cliff is.   

 

Although the beach is almost all shingle, there are a few bigger rocks and I just loved this one that looked like a heart. 

 

One of the things I love about the sea apart from the rythmical sound is just watching as the waves crash in.  If you look closely at the gap before the wave breaks you can see the calmness of the water beneath.  

 

I also love to look on Google maps to get a bearing of what the area is in the distance and save the image to compare to what I am looking at.

So before heading back, just a few more rounds on the sock!