Winter Wonderland

Behind a gloomy Victorian shrubbery there's a gloomy Victorian mansion, but behind that lurks one of the most extraordinary gardens in Britain...it contains whole continents, including China and Ancient Egypt – not to mention Italian terraces and a Scottish glen...this is how Alan Titchmarsh, the TV gardener, described Biddulph Grange Gardens in Staffordshire, our Twixtmas destination. 

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. Bateman 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 using their wealth to purchase specimens bought back from the great Victorian plant-hunters. I've always felt an affinity with Biddulph Grange so the link, if a little tenuous, makes me shiver with excitement over the family connection.

James Bateman (1811 - 1897)

If you're wondering about the origins of the town's name, Biddulph, it's believed to be from the Anglo-Saxon word, bidulfe, meaning wolf slayer and the Biddulph family crest includes a wolf rampant. 

Biddulph Grange was rebuilt after the original burned down in 1896. From 1923 until 1991 it was used as a hospital but, over time, the gardens fell into disrepair and were taken over by the National Trust in 1988. The house remains privately owned, these days divided into swanky apartments with views to die for.

Midwinter it may be but there's nothing bleak about Biddulph Grange, it's bloody gorgeous all year round. Everywhere from the Himalayan Glens, Pine Avenues and English formal planting there's interest wherever you look. We've visited regularly since becoming National Trust members in 2016 but there's something extra special about the gardens in Winter.

The deer were part of a trail for children and we could hear squeals of excitement when they ticked each one off their list. I can't think of a more thrilling destination, at 56 years old I'm as giddy as they are, scrambling up the well-worn stone steps and stumbling through the dark tunnels which lead to a magical world of secret gardens.... 

We cross perilously high bridges...

...and enticing-looking archways

We travel to Italy, meandering down neat avenues, admiring the topiary and the marvelously ornate planters.

 And visit China where the glint of gaudy pagodas and golden icons are reflected in the lake below.

And wonder at the weirdness of Britain's first stumpery - an almost lunar landscape created from felled oaks.

   We explore the Egyptian pyramid, cut from privet and flanked by a pair of handsome sphinxes.

And ascend the steps hewn from the rocks to the top of the crenelated tower of the folly and look out at the vista below, finding it hard to imagine that the post-industrial landscape of The Potteries is a mere stone's throw away.

The Cheshire Cottage lies at the end of Wellingtonia Avenue, huge evergreen trees grown from seed brought back from the Americas in the 19th Century.

Built in 1856, the cottage bears the initials of James and his wife, Maria believed to be a nod to Queen Victoria's Swiss Chalet built in the grounds of Osborne House.

In the Summer months the Dahlia is ablaze with a rainbow of gaudy blooms but still remains beautiful even in the depths of Winter. 

It was the first time we'd visited Bateman's Geological Gallery, built in 1862 and restored by the National Trust in 2016.

After a car picnic we made our way towards home, stopping off at Longton (36 miles from Walsall), one of the six principal towns which make up Stoke-on-Trent. 

 Recognise these bottle kilns, Throwdown fans? Yes, it's Gladstone Pottery where The Great Pottery Throwdown is filmed. (The new series starts at 7.45pm on Sunday 8th January, I'm so excited!)

 A pottery factory has stood here since 1787 and was originally run by the Shelley Family who produced earthenware and decorated plates produced by Josiah Wedgewood at Etruria. The factory opened as a museum in 1970 but is currently closed, not due to reopen until the Spring.

Hoping to have some exotic heritage, a DNA test I took several years ago actually revealed my ethnicity was 82% Potteries (the area that has been at the centre of the British pottery industry from the beginning of the 17th century). My 8 x great grandfather, Edward Adams of Bank House, Bagnall (1661 -1727) belonded to one of the great Staffordshire pottery dynasties, The Adamses. The Adams's founded the Greengates Pottery in Tunstall (another of the six towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent), producing fine jasperware table sets, plaques, medallions and other products stamped Adams & Co. The family leased their Brickhouse Pottery to Josiah Wedgwood until 1772 when he moved to his premises in Etruria. Greengates Pottery was absorbed into the Wedgwood group in 1966 and the building was eventually demolished in the 1990s.

Greengates Pottery circa 1870

I was surprised at how deserted it was, expecting at least a few other fans to be wandering around but it was just us (and a couple of cars which slowed down and looked at us like me were mad). We half-hoped we'd catch sight of the wonderful Keith Brymer-Jones but it was not to be - it turns out that we were twenty-four hours too early, he posted on his Facebook page that he was there the following day - gah!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! Thanks for visiting my blog and for all the kind comments and messages you've left over the past thirteen years.

See you in 2023!