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.