The Distancing Diaries - 8th & 9th July, 2021

On Thursday morning I woke up with a clear head, despite the excitement of England beating Denmark the previous evening and getting through to the finals of Euro 2020, the furthest we've got in an international football tournament since 1966 (and in both our lifetimes!) With a dry day forecast, I did a load of washing, pegged it out on the line and after my Wii Fit workout wrapped the flurry of overnight eBay sales before Jon got up and joined me for breakfast. After he'd made sandwiches we sent off for this week's National Trust trip, the marvellously theatrical Biddulph Grange Gardens in Staffordshire.

Regular readers will recognise these spectacular gardens, we've been visiting regularly ever since we joined the National Trust five years ago. When I was researching my family history I discovered my 12 x great-grandfather, Richard Edge (1512 - 1592) was the owner of Knypersley Hall in Biddulph in Staffordshire which was eventually sold to the noted horticulturalist, Richard Bateman, in 1809. He lived here until he bought the neighbouring property of Biddulph Grange in 1840 where he and his son, James, created one of the country's greatest gardens. Last week's venue, the incredible Tudor era Benthall Hall in Shropshire (HERE), also had its garden designed by the Batemans.

The gardens are an absolute delight, with a multitude of themed areas accessed through dramatic passageways, stone staircases and subterranean tunnels. Visitors first feast their eyes upon a formal Italianate garden that leads down to a lush, lilly-filled duck pond.

Like all great gardens, each path you follow leads to something interesting.

A formal English pathway leads to a Himalayan glen complete with bubbling waterfalls and lush, tropical planting.

Pass through a tunnel so dark you wonder if you'll ever see the light of day again and you'll enter the Dahlia Walk which, after seeing it in all its glory last summer inspired us to grow our own this year.

A narrow path leads you to Mrs Bateman's rose garden, filled with rare Victorian blooms.

From the English country garden, through another passageway, you emerge in a red and gold Chinese pagoda, with shrines, ornamental bridges and water alive with spawning koi carp. 

Continue past the oldest Acer in England and you'll find yourself back in Blighty, with an ivy-covered sandstone arch leading to colourful cottage garden planting and a friendly robin, more than happy to pose for photos.

Thank goodness we beat Denmark of Jon wouldn't have been happy wearing his vintage Danish Moghul print shirt. He also gave his Clarks' Originals their first outing and positively bounced around Biddulph.

Pass through a Victorian summerhouse and you'll find yourself in Egpyt, a yew hedge cut into a pyramid, flanked with sandstone sphinxes.

Pass through the pyramid and you exit from a Victorian cottage which, in turn, leads to an arboretum flanked with enormous American sequoia (redwood trees).

A National Trust visit wouldn't be the same without me posing on a bench. I haven't worn this 1960s silk Dollyrockers maxi dress in ages. I bought it in 2010 and it feels like an old friend whenever I put it on. Jon bought me the Betmar, New York hat from a charity shop last month. My Lottas never fail me, despite the rocky terrain.

True to the forecast, it was a dry and warm day and we were able to eat our sandwiches basking in the sunshine in the designated picnic area. Back at home, we sat in the garden keeping the lads company. 

Tea was one of those strange combinations that turned out to be a winner, a vegeburger on a toasted muffin, topped with a poached egg and accompanied by a five bean salad. Later we watched more of The Serpent and some of the BBC's coverage of Hampton Court Flower Show.

On Friday morning I had a tidy-up of the lounge before my final Wii Fit workout of the week. After breakfast, I photographed a strange combination of sportswear and vintage lingerie and listed them on eBay. 

With another dry day forecast, we'd decided to spend the day in the garden. Jon got stuck into some radical pruning while I planted the cornflower seedlings he'd planted a fortnight ago. We'd noticed that the first of Lynn's Auntie Gladys's sunflowers had made an appearance - a tiny one nibbled by snails. 

As the others were growing too tall for their stakes, Jon rigged up a couple of wires across the wall to keep them in place. They're almost as tall as he is!

Also making their debut on Friday were the crocosmia, the agapanthus and the bear's breeches. My Empress of India nasturtiums are the best thing ever, they even got a mention on the BBC last night as the perfect plant for adding colour, their brilliant orange is quite astonishing.

I spent the rest of the morning on my hands and knees cutting the front lawn by hand with my trusty £5 Wilko shears. After a break for noodles, a delivery arrived, a box of British moth & butterfly friendly wildflower plugs from a specialist nursery Jon had found online. 

This is what the Lady's Bedstraw, Oxeye Daisies, Moth Mullein and Harebells he ordered will look like when they're in flower.

Jon did the supermarket run leaving me to pop the plugs into the freshly cut lawn and water them into place.

Also delivered were these zingy yellow outdoor cushions I'd spotted on eBay for £6. Those wrought iron chairs I hauled out of a skip years ago are lovely to look at and hateful to sit on! 

Have you ever seen anything like this? I bought a pack of drumstick allium bulbs from Wilko and planted them last Autumn and this mutant has sprung up. It's a talking point if nothing else.

Like yesterday's Dollyrockers maxi, here's another vintage dress I've not worn in ages. It's by Hovland Swanson, apparently, it was once a posh department store in Nebraska (I wonder if Goody ever visited). I bought it from eBay almost 20 years ago. It's been to Glastonbury, seen The White Stripes, navigated the backwaters of Kerala in a canoe, been clubbing in Mumbai and numerous full moon parties in Goa. I wonder what it got up to before I owned it?

I'm drinking beer and waiting for my pizza to cook. It's a hard life! Later we'll be drinking rum and watching the rest of The Serpent with a break for Gardeners' World.

Cheers!