Yorkshire - Part Five Brimham Rocks National Trust

I have been lucky enough to visit Brimham Rocks a few years ago and remebered what a magical place it is.

The views on a clear day are just outstanding.  This was not quite the case for this years visit, but that did in no way distract from the absolute magic and amazement of the area.

This is an extract from the National Trust website.  To appreciate the incredible amount of years these rocks have been here is just mind blowing!!

The natural spectacle of Brimham Rocks, with its giant rock formations, was created by an immense river 100 million years before the first dinosaurs walked the earth, and a visit to this amazing landscape is truly a journey into pre-history.

The rocks, sculpted by 320 million years of movement of entire continents as well as hundreds of thousands of years of ice, rain and wind, have taken on weird and wonderful shapes and with a little imagination, they resemble familiar creatures.  Visitors are free to explore the site, spotting the Dancing Bear, the Gorilla, the Eagle and the Turtle, whilst the more nimble can crawl through the Smartie Tube and balance on the Rocking Stones.

Some of the most iconic rock formations can be viewed only 10 minutes’ walk from the car park, and it takes around four hours to explore all of this fascinating site, with its enduring landscape and carefully managed environment.

Brimham Rocks and its heather moorland are both Sites of Special Scientific Interest and are a magnet for geologists, naturalists, climbers and walkers, as well as families who love the freedom to explore this amazing place.

My new found other fascination is the fact that you can use your phone to scan an object, such as the mushrooms below and it gives you a huge amount of information all about them!

I have always found geology interesting and now I can add a love of mushroom appreciation to my list of things I love about being outdoors and discovering places.

Scotland - Day One

 

So it's been a while since I shared a blog post.  Sometimes life just takes over!

 

When travelling solo, I always take "Harold" the Frog! 

 

I thought it would be good to write and share my trip to Scotland I did earlier this year.

 

For me, it was the furthest I had ever driven on a solo trip. On the journey up to Scotland, I broke it up with a couple of stop-off's.

   

The first being The Lakeland Wildlife Oasis based in Cumbria.  It was a lovely place to visit as a change of scene from the motorway.

 

The zoo has over 100 species from mammals, to birds and reptiles some of which I had never seen before.

 

 

I can never fail to have a smile on my face when I see Meerkats. 

This Mouse is soooo small, yet so adhorable.

The absolute highlight for me had to be seeing the incredible Snow Leopard.  

Being a cat owner myself seeing this incredibly huge, yet majestic animal was just amazing.

I then travelled just seven miles up the road to Sizergh National Trust.   

If you follow my blogs quite often, you will know I do love to visit many National Trust properties around the country.

Sizergh is based on the edge of the Lake District near Kendall owned by the Strickland family for more than 800 years.

In the future, when reaching retirement age I would love to volunteer at a gardens.  

Being outdoors in nature just perfect.

The lake was so big.  It would be so impressive to see the pond full of lilly pad flowers just reminds me Beatrice Potter - Jeremy Fisher story.

So if your in the area I highly recommend visiting both places.

My next installement will be all about my drive on up and into Scotland. 

Tynesfield National Trust - The Gardens

 

I was kindly invited by my two friends to join them on a walk to Tyntesfield National Trust recently.

The journey is nice and straight forward from home, literally getting on at junction 11 of the M5 and off at junction 19 and Tynesfield is then a short 15 minute drive from there.

 

My friends own there cute dog Molly the minature Schnauzer.  A very much loved and well travelled dog as they two own a campervan so head off on many adventures with Molly.

 

I shall be posting this blog in two parts as I felt the gardens themselves deserved it's own post and a seperate one for the house, which has a very fascinating story to it.

 

 

The gardens were in glourious full flower.  

 

The Rose Garden which was originally by William and Blanche Gibbs in 1860 the owners then of the property and it's grounds.

 

The garden had some glourious flowers and colour combinations of plants next to each other.

 

 

In the summer pink American pillar roses grow in a cascade from the arbour. This heritage variety dates from the mid-19th century.

 

The upper level forms a terrace built to enjoy the far-reaching views of the Mendip hills and Bristol Channel beyond. 

 

When I have previously visited I had not been down to the Kitchen garden area.

 

Goodness what a fascinating treat it was.  The area is bigger than any kitchen garden I had ever visited before.  My friend did make a very valid point though, that the location of the garden was a long way from the house, so the staff would have certainly got some excercise if they needed to get produce. 

 

Another vegetable I remeber seeing Monty harvesting when he was going around his own garden were Elephant garlic, which by all accounts can be stored for long periods, but you need to keep the roots intacked.

 

I have not seen tomatoes grown in individual containers which each variety having it's own raised bed.  

 

By planting Marigolds with tomatoes because they act as a natural pest deterrent and attract beneficial insects. 

 

Marigolds, particularly French Marigolds, release a strong scent that repels various tomato pests like whiteflies, aphids, and nematodes. Additionally, the bright colors of marigolds attract pollinators like bees, which are beneficial for tomato plants 

 

I loved the very delicate edging to this flower.

 

 

 

When I watched Monty Don on Gardener's World recently he had bought a Pelagonium "Lemon Kiss".  

 

He said the nursery who sold the plant recommended pinching off some of the leaves and putting it in the sugar that you would use if you were baking a cake as the lemon flavour would transfer to the plant and when he did a taste test it did!!  

 

So I am going to look out for this plant, not necessarily for baking but when you rubbed the leaves they had the most beautiful fresh lemon smell! 

There were so many varieties of vegetables growing in the garden.

Some was already starting to go over and I was surprised that they did not have any of the produce on sale.

There was a huge abundance of cherries, apricots, rubharb, lettuce just so much all looking so tasty. 

 

 

I loved that they showed the origianl Head Gardener's "office", how I would so love to have an office like this! 

 

When I am near retirement (which is not for a few year's yet!) I shall definately look into voluteering at a National Trust gardens if a position becomes available.  

 

For me being outdoors in nature is my favourite place to be. 

I treated myself to a glourious smelling bar of soap for home aswell!