The Distancing Diaries - Day 156 & 157

On Sunday the lads decided that Jon should get up first. He saw to their needs, made mugs of tea, brought them upstairs and we read in bed till gone 8am. We had toast for breakfast and watched Beechgrove, Scotland's answer to Gardener's World. Next week's weather forecast from Tuesday onwards was abysmal with severe weather warnings for gales & torrential rain so I went online and, as luck would have it, the National Trust garden we'd booked to visit on Tuesday still had a couple of spaces left for Monday so I cancelled my original booking and brought our trip forward a day.

Jon set to work sorting out Gilbert but Frank decided it would be a nice place to have a sleep so, not wanting to disturb him, he decided to reorganise one of the sheds instead as he'd mislaid the box with the gas bottle & wanted all our camping gear in one place. I pruned the hedge that borders the pathway that leads to the pond, them swept up the leaves and cleaned out the pond. 

After popping inside for noodles, Jon continued with his shed clearing while I potted up four more French dwarf beans and positioned them on the lawn for guaranteed daylight. The others I've planted have grown but the crops haven't been as abundant as I'd hoped, we're a long way off self-sufficiency. Anyone who says growing your own is easy has never lived in a garden with twenty-seven trees!

The rain arrived and left us stranded in The Egg for half an hour. I took it as my cue to go indoors, wash my hair & catch up with Blogland while Jon finished up, still unable to locate the gas bottle (too many sheds, that's his problem).

Tea was a quarter of a caramelised onion tart & a Greek Feta and sun dried tomato one, along with oven chips and a salad (with Lollo Rosso lettuce, Oriental leaves, rocket & basil from the garden).

The previous evening we watched an absorbing film on the BBC i-player about the Norwegian royal family during the Nazi invasion of Norway in WW2 (HERE) and never got around the watching the final installment of The Lawyer. We caught up & also watched the new series of lovely George Clarke visiting National Trust properties, including Hidcote, the stunning garden we'd visited last week.

Hidcote Gardens

On Monday (day 157) I popped outside just before my Wii Fit session and was delighted to discover that the irrigation system had turned itself on and was busy watering all my pots. After our fruit & yogurt breakfast Jon made sandwiches, filled the flask and we jumped in the van and headed to Gloucestershire (an hour and a quarter's drive away).

Westbury Court Garden is the only surviving 17th-century Dutch water garden in the UK. It was created between 1696 and 1705 by Maynard Colchester I, who created the long canal, tall pavilion, circular pond & framework of walls.

Johannes Kip's engraving of Westbury House and water gardens (1712)

The garden was designed to be productive as well as pleasant. Tulips, irises, crocuses and hyacinths were planted alongside vegetables and fruit trees. The canals were stocked with fish for the table, and there was a warren to supply rabbit meat.

By the late 18th century, formal gardens had fallen out of fashion, replaced by the ‘natural’ landscape introduced by Capability Brown. In 1805 the Colchester family demolished their house at Westbury and moved to another residence in the Forest of Dean, but kept the garden maintained. A hundred years later, the family moved back after building what was to be their last house at Westbury. The water gardens enjoyed a revival and admiring articles appeared in Country Life magazine in both 1903 and 1908.

The garden faced destruction in 1960 when developers planned to build houses on it but the local council stepped in and purchased the land and in 1967, aided by an anonymous donation, the National Trust were able to buy the garden from them. It was in a poor state – the canals were silted up and the flower beds needed replanting, the tall pavilion had decayed and needed to be completely rebuilt.  

The National Trust began restoring Westbury Court to its original design, the first major garden renovation project of its kind. The garden is now restored to how it would have appeared at its best in 1720. Many of the plants are authentic to the period and style of the garden.

I'm not a fan of formal gardens and, still in awe of the beautiful Hidcote Manor Garden, wasn't sure if I was going to like Westbury but its tranquility & elegance won me over.

 Again, thanks to the National Trust's one way system, we didn't encounter anyone else on our visit other than the friendly team of lady gardeners tending to the beds.

Westbury is a plant enthusiast's dream with every single specimen clearly labelled and, in many cases, dated. 

At over three hundred years old, the holm oak at Westbury is the oldest in the UK.

Neither of us were keen on the parterre but we'll forgive them for that. I'm sure it appeals to some people, just not us.

The abundance of ripening fruit - apples, pears, peaches, medlars and grapes and the profusion of squash, chard and onions - along with the overcast sky and nip in the air, it felt almost Autumnal.

WEARING: Vintage 1960s Hilary Floyd, London psychedelic maxi dress (found by a friend in a chazza shop, 2018), orange fedora (retail buy, 2019), vintage tooled leather bag & Doc Martens (both eBay)

However, by the time we'd eaten our sandwiches and driven back home, the sun had come out. I changed into a strappy sundress and spent the rest of the day repotting plants, tying things back & pruning and generally pottering around. It could be a while before we can get back in the garden if the weather forecast for the next few days is to be believed.

Stay safe, thanks for reading & see you soon!