MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 17
　

Anglesey Abbey isn’t a place of worship, it is a country house not far from Cambridge. Originally a priory, it’s situated in the village of Lode and is surrounded by landscaped grounds, with various gardens filled with classical statues, topiary and flowerbeds. Some of the gardens are formal, while others are a glorious mix of trees, shrubs and ivy. Apparently, the gardens were laid out in a 18^th century style by Lord Fairhaven in the 1930s. The house and grounds are now owned by the National Trust.

It’s a place we frequently return to; the gardens are attractive whatever the season. I went there a few days ago and the dahlias were in full bloom. Some of them were enormous, sporting huge cactus type pointed petal flowers, while others had symmetrical pom-pom blooms. The colours were intense: reds, purples, oranges, pinks and yellows, a feast of colour. Unfortunately, there isn’t room in our garden for such spectacular plants, but the sweeping dahlia-filled bed at Anglesey Abbey is a glorious sight. Another of the gardens was filled with smaller dahlias, and that was pretty too.

The rose garden was still in bloom, there was a beautiful magenta-coloured rose called Darcey Bussell, named for the ex prima ballerina, while another that caught my eye was an orange rose, ‘Lady of Shallot’. Although the herbaceous garden was past its best, there were still plenty of plants in colour, including some lovely deep blue delphiniums. I’ve always been fond of delphiniums, and whenever I see them recall the delightful poem by AA Milne, ‘The Dormouse and the Doctor’, which begins:

There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed
Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red),
And all the day long he'd a wonderful view
Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue).

Amongst the trees we caught glimpses of cyclamen, and as we approached a wooded avenue we could see them stretching ahead like a pale pink carpet. The sun illuminated them, and it was a delightful sight; we weren’t the only people stopping to admire them. Soon we reached one of my favourite parts of the garden, a collection of Himalayan birch in the winter garden. Unlike the common birch, the bark on these trees doesn’t peel, and so the trunks are a bright silver/white. The effect is magical whatever time of year you visit – it’s almost as though the trees have been covered with whitewash!

We walked along the river, here men were scything and raking some of the vegetation, and we watched the moorhens with their almost-grown-up chicks. The Lode Mill, painted a bright white, was reflected in the water. The mill is open most days and you can climb up and see the machinery. You can buy flour from the mill, too. We were amazed at how many dragonflies there were, not just by the river but all around the gardens, on the lawns and by the trees. There were butterflies too; I noticed red admirals and small whites.

Soon, the trees will be turning red and gold – late autumn is a good time to visit Anglesey Abbey. But then, winter is a great time to visit too – in February this year we walked through the snow admiring the stunning colours of the dogwood and other shrubs in the winter garden. February is a good month for the glorious sight of thousands of snowdrops, too. And of course, spring at Anglesey Abbey is exquisite when the narcissi and other bulbs are in bloom, while in high summer it is a mass of colour…… whenever you go, it’s beautiful.

Of course, it’s possible to visit the house too, and we have done that several times. There is plenty to see there, from bedrooms to kitchens. One of the things to look out for is the collection of clocks, and there are many paintings, including some gorgeous ones of birds, as well as silver, china and furnishings. My favourite item is a tray with 18 ceramic tubes and wire clips. Apparently, it is a carnation box. Lord Fairhaven always wore a carnation – a coloured one during the day and a white one in the evening. This tray stored the readymade buttonholes, allowing him to wear a flower even when away from home. The lid bore the warning ‘Cut flowers in water. This way up.’

After we have explored, we always end up in the super café, with windows that look out onto the lawns. It’s a good place to relax with a cup of tea and something delicious to eat after walking around the house and gardens.

Yes I thoroughly recommend a visit to Anglesey Abbey – if you see me there, come and say hello!

MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 16

The bower is becoming rather a tangle of passionflowers and clematis at the moment. Although the clematis has stopped flowering there are still plenty of flowers and buds on the passionflower. It’s the common variety – the Blue Passionflower (Passiflora caerulea). Do you know the story of the passionflower? It is said that it gained its name because missionaries used the plant to demonstrate the events in the Bible, specifically the story of Christ’s Passion. The five petals and the five sepals represent the ten apostles (omitting Peter and Judas), while the three pistils are the nails of the cross. The beautiful purple corona (the circle of filaments) depicts the crown of thorns, the large stemmed ovary is the goblet used at the Last Supper, the tendrils are the whips and the leaves represent the spear. It’s such a beautiful plant, and it bears golden fruits this time of year. They can be eaten, but contain so many pips that it isn’t really worthwhile.

On Friday, my daughter and I set out on the journey to Preston. It took six hours to get there, but we wanted to go to a doll fair that was being held in nearby Barton on the following day. At the fair we were spoilt for choice, there were so many lovely dolls that we would have loved to buy. However, space is tight at home, and also we couldn’t afford to ‘go mad’. Even so, we acquired a good mix of china, celluloid, plastic and composition dolls, as well as a Noah’s Ark. The ark needs a bit of attention, but it’s one of those nostalgic toys that belongs to a bygone era. At one time, a Noah’s Ark was the only toy that children were permitted to play with on the Sabbath.

Whilst we were in the area, we visited Brockholes Nature Reserve. This reserve is till under construction, and I am sure will be magnificent when completed. We saw a flock of goldfinches, and there were ducks, swans, coots, gulls and herons on the lake. I overheard a small boy calling to his mum. ‘Quick, look, that swan is doing handstands in the water!’ (It was dipping down under the water looking for food!)
The visitor’s centre is amazing – it floats on the water, and when you are inside looking through the windows, it is as if you are on board a boat. It must be an optical illusion. The ice creams they serve at the café are delicious and enormous, and there are a couple of gift shops filled with interesting items such as small wooden toys. We bought a pack of Eccles cakes to take home!

We couldn’t travel all that way without going to see the illuminations at Blackpool. Unfortunately, the traffic lights in the town had failed, and the police were trying to direct the traffic which seemed to be coming in all directions, so consequently we had to queue for ages before we caught our first glimpse of the lights. They were stunning, especially some of the tableaux, and amongst the decorations which were strung across the road were many illuminated plaques depicting the Blackpool Tower and informing us that the lights were celebrating their one-hundredth birthday. Tired but happy we returned to the hotel, and travelled back home the following day.

MUSINGS FROM THE BOWER 15

Sometimes, if I’m lucky whilst out walking or in the car, I catch a glimpse of a wild creature – often a squirrel or rabbit. I’ve seen quite a few deer, too, and foxes, hedgehogs, weasels. On one memorable occasion, I saw a mole. There are wood mice living in my garden, and frogs and newts too, as well, of course, as the birds that I can watch from my hideaway bower.

However, if you really would love to be able to see a great selection of British wildlife life, I recommend a visit to the British Wildlife Centre at Lingfield, Surrey. This is yet another of my favourite, special places, and I go there regularly. Not only can you see most of Britain’s mammals, including the harder-to-find ones such as polecats, pine martens, red squirrels, otters and wildcats, you can see adders, grass snakes, marsh frogs and even nocturnal animals such as bats and dormice.

I was there a week or so ago. As usual, I made for the red squirrel area first – this enormous, walkthrough enclosure is populated by the dainty red squirrels which were at one time a common sight in Britain, before the larger grey squirrel was introduced. The grey squirrel gradually drove the reds northwards, and now, apart from small colonies in parts of England and Wales, and on the Isle of Wight and Brownsea Island, you will probably need to go to northern Scotland before you are really in red squirrel country. In the squirrel enclosure at the British Wildlife Centre though, you are quite likely to be mugged by a red squirrel! They scamper along the boardwalk and the rail, and if you are in the way, then they will scamper over you too, in the hope you that have some tasty morsel for them. Although you aren’t allowed to feed these gorgeous creatures, they are great optimists, and very cheeky.



The otters are favourites, too. I could watch these elegant, streamlined playful creatures for hours. Unlike many other water creatures, otters are equally at home on land – they romp on the grass, twisting and turning as they wrestle with each other, before a grand chase makes them sprint back to the water. There they gracefully dive, disappearing and reappearing, with just a few bubbles marking the surface, showing where they are.

One of the nicest things about the British Wildlife Centre is the programme of talks. Throughout the day, informative talks are given at the various enclosures, and the animals are fed at the same time. It’s a marvellous opportunity to see some of the rarer creatures close up, and the keepers really know their stuff. The wildcats, for example, will venture to grab some food before slinking away to a favourite branch to eat, while the beautifully-marked pine marten just adores licking strawberry jam from a keeper’s fingers!
I was thrilled to see a grass snake gliding through the water searching for fish – what a beautiful, elegant reptile it is. The adders, in the next enclosure, were warming their coiled bodies, the warning V-shaped markings on their heads glinting in the sun. A fat water vole was scooping up duckweed, I didn’t realise that they enjoyed eating that, but this one certainly did. An inscrutable huge marsh frog was watching him. The russet coats of the foxes were glowing in the autumn sunshine. They were relaxing on the grass, yet their ears were pricked, listening no doubt for their keeper’s footsteps, which might mean food!

There are two large herds of deer at the Centre – red deer and fallow deer. You can also see muntjac and roe deer, At feeding time the two herds come from the trees, the bucks showing off their enormous antlers. I love the fallow deer, they are so dainty and their striped black tails make them easy to identify in the wild, even if you get the briefest of glances. Other impressive creatures at the Centre are the badgers. The dramatic black stripes on their heads, the soft grey of their bodies, and above all their noticeable muscular build as they stomp around the enclosure are a stunning sight. Their large black noses are in stark contrast to their small, weak-looking eyes, and they have huge clawed feet.

Badgers are in the news at the moment – the Government is allowing culling to take place in areas of England as the animals are believed by some to spread bovine tuberculosis. Badgers live in colonies, and I think that, because culling will break down family groups, it will cause badgers to spread elsewhere, searching for another colony. This will just make the problem worse. All I know is that last week, as I watched those badgers snuffling around, I wondered how anyone could justify killing such magnificent creatures, especially when scientific studies have shown that culling would be of little help in reducing bovine TB.

http://www.justdosomething.org.uk/

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If you ever get the chance, it really is worth visiting the British Wildlife Centre at Lingfield, though do check first because they are not open every day. I just wish I could see red squirrels from my bower – I will have to content myself with the occasional grey!