Month: June 2024

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

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Jane said she didn’t want a present for her birthday – I had one planned, honest!  Instead, she wanted to go on a trip to Sussex and, specifically, to Rye.  She booked a hotel there and sorted out an itinerary of things to do.  Part of that itinerary was to visit Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent on the way.

Approaching Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

We had visited the garden early in our relationship, a few decades ago.  I barely remember that.  Even when confronted with the garden this time, I could only recall the old brick buildings not the walled gardens.  Jane thinks we went in a different season to this time; perhaps that’s why I don’t really remember the garden but my memory is like a sieve these days (as our local pub-quiz regularly demonstrates.)  Anyway, the gardens looked beautifully cared for and uniformly splendid.

The garden has developed considerably over the last century.  It was transformed from the 1930’s onwards by Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Harold Nicolson, until their deaths in the 1960s.  In 1967 the garden, castle and associated farm were taken over by the National Trust.  Since then, Harold Nicholson’s grandson and his wife, the famous gardener, Sarah Raven, developed the garden. 

More recently, the original ideas to develop a Greek-style garden in one of its parts have been re-implemented under the guidance of yet another famous gardener, Dan Pearson, to create an area called the Delos Garden.  We visited on a gorgeous sunny day with some real heat in the air and the Delos Garden was one of the great highlights of our visit.  It really did have a Mediterranean feel.

The Delos Garden

Elsewhere, in one of the several walled garden quadrants, was the White Garden.  Here too, the timing of our visit was perfect.  Not only was the sun shining but the old, huge, central climbing rose (rosa mulliganii) is apparently only in full bloom briefly and yet we saw its lovely blossom at its peak.

The White Garden

We spent well over an hour meandering around the garden, investigating all its nooks and crannies.  Then we retraced many of our steps to take another look.  The variety and density of the planting is amazing.  Every time I thought: ‘ooh I haven’t seen one of this or that species of shrub or flower’, one would turn up around the next corner.  In all directions, the colours and sheer health of the plants was breathtaking.

To cap the visit, I ventured up to the top of the castle for an aerial view of the garden.  In a way, I wished I had done this at the start.  That way, the layout of the garden would have been clearer from the start.  But perhaps that would have detracted in some way from the excitement I got in moving through an arch or turning a corner as I had moved through the sections of the garden.  Either way, the views from the top of the castle were as spectacular as expected.

Views From The Top Of Sissinghurst Castle

We were so fortunate to see the gardens on such a beautiful day.  Surprisingly, there was not a huge number of visitors.  The layout of the garden into walled sections also helped to give a feeling of seclusion and nowhere felt crowded. 

The entrance cost may be a deterrent for many (£15/adult).  Again, we are so lucky in that we were both given lifetime National Trust Membership by my parents when we were married.  It was an extravagant gift but one of the best value and valued ones we have ever received – the cost of life membership now is eyewatering.

We had had another lovely day courtesy of that gift and the good work of the National Trust.  It’s a really special garden and well worth a visit – especially in June.  We drove on to Rye with a bounce in our hearts.

Slivers of Summer

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Overall, the weather during the last few weeks has been rather disappointing.  The meadow grass in our field that usually waves gently in sunlight at this time of year has, instead, collapsed in the windy wet.  The cool and damp spring and early summer has meant growth of vegetable seedlings has been slow.  Many have been eradicated by slugs and snails who have revelled in the damp conditions.  Fortunately, there have been several lovely days of sun and some of those have been when it has mattered most. 

Roses In Rain: Along The Permissive Footpath Through Ruskin Mill Into Town

For example, we had a lovely sunny afternoon during which we were able to visit Second Grandchild (SG) in Bristol and to help his parents with their garden.  We got a lot done – though there is more potential to fill the vegetable and flower beds with a bit of home produce and colour and we look forward to helping again there.  Having said that, the highlight of this trip was having the chance to give SG a bath.  He has discovered the joy of moving his little limbs and they didn’t stop threshing throughout his little wash.

We also had a relatively warm and dry evening for a wedding party in Kew in west London with some past neighbours of ours.  It was a lovely celebration of their wedding – some 14 years after first meeting – held in their garden with opportunities to meet a number of other old friends from our time in Kew.  The drinking started early and finished very late and I can’t remember when I last had such a bad hangover as a souvenir of an entertaining evening.

I have had to pick and choose my moments for local walks in the sunshine.  On one of those sunny days, Jane and I went to a couple of National Garden Scheme open gardens a couple of valleys away from our home.  One of these was very good; the other, not so much.  But regardless of the quality, it is always interesting to see a slightly different part of the Stroud Valleys and to have a nose about in someone else’s back yard.

National Gardens Scheme Gardens In France Lynch, Gloucestershire

Most importantly, despite the gloomy BBC weather forecast for the weekend, we had good, chilly but bright weather for our latest trip to Edinburgh to see First Grandchild (FG) and his parents.  As usual, we were treated to great hospitality, FG was on fine form and Edinburgh was full of interesting things to do. 

Little Boy, Big Gunnera In The Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh

In between our compliance with FG’s constant demands to ‘play a little bit’ we visited a few art exhibitions, took FG as usual to the outstanding Royal Botanic Gardens and National Museum of Scotland, walked the streets of Stockbridge and along the Water of Leith, popped into our favourite bar (Spry) and had a lively evening out with FG eating pizza at MILK.

Beyond the wonderful entrance hall of the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland was a recent rehanging of the main hall of portraits that focused on modern portrait creation.  Many of the paintings and photographs were new to me and several were impressive.  The gallery is quiet, compact and one of my favourites.

Portrait Of John Burnside (Scottish Poet) By Alan J Lawson, National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh

We also visited the National Gallery of Scotland.  Walking to it across Princes Street gave us a great view of the hordes of ‘’Swifties’ heading off by bus and tram to Murrayfield for one of three concerts Taylor Swift was holding over the weekend.  The sun was shining but there was a cool wind.  I felt sympathy for the majority of fans who had diligently dressed up in extravagant boots and light sparkly skirts and tops – as Swifties apparently do – given the expectation of a big drop in temperature while they queued to get back into town after the concert and night drew in.

The Current Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition At The National Gallery Of Scotland

In the gallery was a showpiece ‘national treasure’: a painting by Vermeer that had been put on special show to commemorate the 200th year of the National Gallery.  It is lovely of course but we spent most of our time in the new gallery extension and among the pictures by The Glasgow Boys (and Girls).  The new gallery is a wonderful, light space with great views (see below) and, on a Friday, not crowded despite the multitude outside waiting to get to see Taylor Swift. 

To complete our cultural ride, we visited a lovely little exhibition in Leith.  This was in an old, small but elegant building – an ex-pharmacy apparently – owned by Mote102 as a charming pop-up space for shops and artists.  It had been partially restored so that some of its original (Georgian or Victorian) features were visible and it was a good fit for the work on show. 

Works By Gail Turpin At Mote102, Leith

The artist on show – and present for a short talk – is an old acquaintance of Jane’s called Gail Turpin.  Jane had found out that she was now based in Edinburgh from the bride at the wedding celebration we had attended a couple of weeks previously.  All three, and a few other friends, went on an eventful holiday in Greece a few decades ago. 

After Jane had reminisced with Gail about that, I perused the textiles and drawing on show and then left Jane to the talk while I found a small present for FG and parked myself in Spry Wine Bar.

Another Part of Gail Turpin’s Exhibition, Leith

We travelled to and from Edinburgh by train this time.  That had its benefits; the journey was an hour shorter despite a train cancellation and we had booked seats so it was a relaxed journey.  Train cancellations are not so frustrating when one is retired and there aren’t meetings to get to ad hard deadlines to meet.  Also, while in Edinburgh, Jane didn’t have to keep thinking about moving the car to avoid parking restrictions (I rarely get involved in this aspect), we avoided car parking costs and didn’t have to worry about charging the car up. 

Waverley Railway Station, Edinburgh

However, despite the avoidance of car parking costs, the train is a more expensive option.  Also, it seems that, on this occasion, there was a hidden downside in that the packed train was carrying the coronavirus.  Jane caught it and has had a few rough days as a result.  Fortunately, for the second time when Jane has had Covid, I seem to have dodged the bullet.  Lucky me not (so far) to have never caught the dreaded Covid when so many others have!