Sheffield Park and Garden ~ England

Sheffield Park and Garden is one of the many that are managed by the National Trust in England.  They are a large non-profit charity that was founded in 1895 to preserve Britain’s buildings, landscape and coastline.

Lily Pads

We are having a springtime visit to Sheffield Park and Garden to enjoy a different season than the autumn visit we had before.  We are here just a bit too early to see the water lilies that will be covering this middle lake about two weeks after our visit.  That would be stunning.  They offer a Water Lily Photography workshop, which would also be great. 

Pulham Falls

Interesting that Victorian engineering is still being used to pump the water around the garden.  They are now having Waterfall Walks this year.  They aren’t charging for it but one must book to walk along the bottom of the waterfall as it cascades down and give you a different perspective of the falls.

Rhododendrons

Although the day wasn’t sunny, as I’d love every day to be, the beautiful bushes of Rhododendrons brightened up the gardens. There were several large bushes around the Park as well as so many other trees and bushes, that visiting anytime would offer some beautiful sights.

Sheffield Park House

Privately owned, this was the home of the owners of Sheffield Park and Garden, who changed many times over the years.    One of the most memorable owners would be Arthur Soames, who is given much credit for introducing many of the treasured flowers still living in this garden.  Still privately owned, it has now been converted into several condos or flats, as they call them in England. 

Beautiful floral displays

This is a sampling of some of the flowers we saw on our visit this day.  The colors are gorgeous and they are blooming all over the Garden. There are several walking paths to follow, I am sure one could spend a week wandering the different Garden trails in order to see and enjoy it all.  This Map illustrates them and will give you an idea of the size of Sheffield Park and Garden. 

Large Gunnera plant

Granted, my sister is not very tall, but these plants are monsters.  There are clusters of them around the Garden, and hopefully I have the right name of this plant.  It is a Gunnera, which grows to incredible sizes.  There is plenty of room for these huge plants to grow here, there are over 250 acres in Sheffield Park and Garden and we have only walked a very small portion of that.

Bridge over Lower Woman's Way Pond

We eventually cross this bridge but we were waiting to see if we would see another waterfall.  We hoped that today they would open the waterworks to allow the water from Upper Woman’s Way Pond to fall down into this lake, and they have a chosen time of day to do that when need be.  As it turns out, the water level was too low so not possible, it didn’t happen. 

Canadian Soldiers legacy

The War Office requisitioned Sheffield Park during WW2 for the British soldiers and it eventually became camp for thousands of Canadian troops, as well.  They lived and trained on the grounds, which surely did some damage that took many years to bring the state of the park back to its’ former beauty, some of which the soldiers helped with.

Canada Geese and ducks

We found some immigrants who obviously came from Canada and had their young here.  The Canada Geese are part of a fairly small flock enjoying this lovely Garden.  Then a little duck decided to perform her ‘drying-off-water methods’ for me when she got out of the lake.  I’ve not spent a lot of time with ducks to know how they think so maybe she was looking for treats from me. LOL  She was in no hurry to stop, little did she know that I had no treats.

Click here to see our autumn visit at Sheffield Park.

Firle ~ South Downs ~ England

We’d been travelling the roads of The South Downs in England and after finding the Berwick Church we moved onto visit Firle.  This historic village was here in very early days then became more permanent by the 15^th century and has been here ever since.   

Wisteria in Firle

The village is basically a cul-de-sac lined with homes that have been here for a very long time.  The entrance to the village has a large parking lot in the trees and once we walked from there, this walkway with hanging wisteria introduced us to Firle. 

Vintage sign and plant shop

Other than residents’ modern vehicles parked on these streets, it feels like we are once again taken back in time. The signs are old carved wooden signs, something we would never see at home and that add to the feel of history.  Firle Place, located down this road has been the home of the Gage family for over 500 years and is a great location available for special events. 

Ginko Biloba tree

The flint cottages and walls, most built back in the early centuries still stand here today.  We wandered down this road and saw a very large Ginko Biloba tree.  Had it not shown printed information at the flint wall, we’d not have known what kind it was.  It is over 150 years old and the story tells the origin of the tree. 

Sights in village of  Firle

Firle was a thriving self-supporting village during the early centuries with a bigger population than it has these days and had all the trades necessary to take care of the villagers.  One of the more famous residents was Virginia Woolf, a famous author of her day and one who has been the subject of plays, novels and films.  She died here in 1941. 

Signs of history

This was a rather unusual way to park bikes and it is permanent.  It took a few minutes but we think it might be there to prevent cars parking on this side of the street. The streets are narrow and it takes very little to create problems.

Another puzzle to ponder.  These steps sit against a commercial building so we were thinking it may have been stairs to help the ladies get into the horse drawn buggy ‘back then’. 

We assumed this red Citroen may have once been for delivery but now appears to be more like a private travel van.  This is only a guess but I would suggest this van is one of a kind. 

St Peters Church

We couldn’t come to Firle without visiting St. Peters Church.  This church was originally built in the 12^th century then has been rebuilt and added to over the centuries since.   Vanessa Bell, her son Quentin Bell and Duncan Grant were buried here.  They were the artists to paint the murals in Berwick Church. 

Thank-you tree

St. Peters is a “Garden Church” which means they wish to “heal our relationship with all that lives on this planet”.  They ask you to take a ribbon, write the name of your favorite bird, animal or butterfly and tie it on the “Thank-you” tree.  Paying a small donation for this ribbon will help do the work of the church.

Preserved from old bell tower

The 17^th century bells were needing replacing so the Bell Foundry that had made the original bells melted the damaged ones in 2007 and made new.  The timber of the old bell frame was in very bad shape also so the headstock and clapper were preserved and put on this display frame. 

Alabaster Effigy

Sir John Gage (1479-1556) was given manorial rights in 1501 and the Gage family has been a part of Firle ever since.  He and his wife Philippa are represented in this alabaster effigy, erected in 1595 in what was once the original stone chapel and is now part of the St. Peters church, called the Gage chapel.

Scotney Castle ~ Kent ~ England

Time spent in England would just not be right without a visit to country estates or castles that have survived the test of time over several centuries.  Many of these have been donated and are now owned by National Trust as the families were not able to maintain the upkeep and maintenance required.  

Old Scotney Castle

The word castle derives from a Latin word and describes a type of fortified structure built by nobility.  It is usually considered to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble.  Our visit today was to Scotney Castle, which was surrounded by a moat.  The main building still stands strong but as you can see, there has been some destruction to other sections of it.

Picturesque tower

This Scotney Castle was built in 1378-80 by Roger Ashburnham, although there are records of the estate being owned by Lambert de Scoteni in 1137, which I would guess determined the name.  It is believed the castle was built as a defence against the French forces who had attacked nearby towns in 1377 during the Hundred Year War.

"romantic folly" garden

There were several architectural changes made during construction over the years.  The eastern range was partly dismantled on the completion of a new house in 1843, to allow the ruin to be a “romantic folly” garden feature.

Hiding door

The Darrel family owned the estate for 350 years, during which time they hid Catholic priests, as Catholicism was illegal in England at that time.  This door is a cupboard size, which leads to the hiding place the priest would go to when visitors arrived at the house during the years 1591-1598.  Jesuit Father Richard Blount, S.J. fled over a wall into the moat and escaped during the second raid when authorities came to arrest him.

View of Old Castle and Quarry Garden

 It was 1778 when Edward Hussey bought the Scotney Castle.   His grandson, also Edward built the ‘new’ castle from sandstone that was quarried from the estate.  The quarry later became the Quarry Garden. The new castle sits on a hill overlooking the picturesque spot down in the valley where the ‘old’ Scotney Castle sits, with the garden filling the space between.

Old Castle moat

The Hussey family used the old Scotney Castle mainly as a country home for 58 years.  There was nothing fancy about the inside of this old castle, it was very plain but the main purpose when built had been for defence so it wasn’t surprising to learn that with the wealth from the iron industry in the family, Edward Hussey lll decided to build a new castle.

New Scotney Castle

The Scotney Castle had been lived in by someone of the Hussey family from 1778 until 2006 when the last family member, Elizabeth (Betty) Maude Hussey passed away at the age of 99 years.  It became the property of National Trust in 1970 but was kept as a family home for Betty until she passed away.  The National Trust opened it to the public in 2007 and has maintained it to look like it was still the Hussey family’s country home.

Rooms of the Scotney Castle

We had a walk around inside the new Scotney Castle that was filled with lots of carved walls and ceilings, books shelves filled with their old books, large portraits lined the walls in the staircase, beautiful fireplaces with carved words, the quality of the work has well survived these many years.  It was totally luxurious compared to the Old Castle.

Gardens in September

There have been several apartments on the estate that were rented out by the Trust.  In the 1970’s and 80’s it served as a country retreat for then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.  It is easy to understand why someone would choose this beautiful place to relax.  In spite of the many other visitors that were there during our visit, it was quiet and serene with the magic of the past showing us around.

Spend some time with us at Knole House, just click here..

East Grinstead ~ Ashurst Wood ~ England

We have now made several visits to England to spend time with my sister and brother-in-law and family and I have posted several pages of those visits.  The home base for us is at East Grinstead and Ashurst Wood yet I have not shared the history of this town and the village.  History surrounds us wherever we go but to see some of the dates on the buildings really confirms the difference between the UK and home for us in Canada.

Parish Church of St. Swithun

The Parish Church of St. Swithun is located in the heart of the town of East Grinstead and was first built to serve the community and surrounding settlements about 1000 AD.  Like most churches in England that we have seen, the graveyard of very old headstones surrounds the church.  The original tower was destroyed by a fall in 1785 and then replaced with the gothic style of the 18^th century to keep with the medieval predecessor of the original design.

Pipe Organ of the Church

Pipe organs can be seen in all churches in England, I am sure.  Those that we have seen have been massive and an incredible sight as we see here.  They are a Medieval musical instrument and one was first installed in the Bishop of Winchester’s church in 951.  The sounds were forced through the pipes with slides at that time.  The first keyboard for the pipe organ was used in 1361.  One of our visits will have to be made at a time that we can hear the beautiful sounds they produce with the pipe organ.

The Olde homes of High Street in East Grinstead

High Street is the main street in this borough built in early 13^th century.  This was an important road for traffic from London to South Coast ports and some of the homes were built in very early days.  The date we see on one of the buildings shown here is 1450.  Another shown is the Cromwell House, which was built as a prestigious townhouse for the prosperous family in 1599.

Doors of old

The buildings were often named after the resident who originally built them and as time went on were added onto.  The Clarendon House was built in 1470.  They extended by building with the “Old Stone House” in 1630 then more extensions built in the 1880’s.  These doors were shorter than 6’ high which would suggest the people were a lot shorter in those days than we are today.

Sir Archibald McIndoe ~ Surgeon 1900-1960

The quote below this statue states “He led a pioneering team whose treatment gave the lives back to severely burned airmen of the Guinea Pig Club and other casualties of WW11.”

Sir Archibald McIndoe was a plastic surgeon who worked at the burns unit of Queen Victoria’s Hospital during WW11.  He had no book to guide him through his treatments of the burn victims but by the end of the war had successfully treated 649 victims, 57% were British and 27% were Canadian.   The Guinea Pig Club was so named due to the lack of information necessasry for burn treatments and to this day is a chapter of important history of East Grinstead.  My sister wrote: "As kids we were used to seeing very badly disfigured men who were going through their treatment.  They used to come onto the estate where I lived to the shop to buy their ciggies and papers etc and us kids never thought anything of it.   When the pub was built it was called the Guinea Pig across the road from the church."  East Grinstead became "the town that did not stare".

The Cenotaph in East Grinstead, Sussex

East Grinstead has a war memorial monument designed by the sculpture Earnest G. Gillick standing on High Street.  It commemorates the sacrifices made by the East Grinstead community members who lost their lives in WW1.  The monument was unveiled in 1922 with the names of those who died.  Several names have been added since that day of those who were also lost in battles. One of those occasions included a devastating bombing that killed many children enjoying a matinee in the East Grinstead theatre in 1943.  Read more of that here.

Estates and green fields of Ashurst Wood, Sussex

Within a mile of East Grinstead is the village of Ashurst Wood and for the first time, we took a walk to see the area surrounding the village.  Due to the population known to be so large in Great Britain, it is easy to assume there would be very little green space but that is so far from the truth.  We are always amazed at how many pastures and fields we see on our travels over there, as well as this walk!

Narrow roads

I have often talked about the narrow roads without side shoulders that offer so very little room to pass oncoming traffic.  We were walking along what I assumed was a walkway until I saw this car coming towards us! This is a road, not just a driveway that leads through a neighborhood and is regularly used by the local residents there.

Ashurst Wood, England

Then we visit the ‘downtown’ heart of Ashurst Wood village before walking back home.  This quaint village offers many things, as most villages do.  It has a school, community center, post office, general store, several little shops and services and a pub that we have yet to visit.  We will have to add that to the list for our next visit.  In the meantime, we shall enjoy the memories of our visits to the UK and will share those special times on the blog.

Boscastle ~ Cornwall ~ England

Our travels in England have not included an RV but we've been enjoying some lovely travels and our wonderful trip continues.

We set out from Tavistock to spend our sunny day visiting some of the medieval villages on the northern coast of Cornwall. We drove across the moorlands and began our descent down to the fishing village of Boscastle. So many of these villages we were visiting are at the bottom of a long downhill drive to the water and this was no exception. The best part was that we were able to drive down to a parking area in the small village where other places we have had to walk down.

Village of Boscastle, England

We crossed the bridge to find our parking then walked through the shopping area of the village. This part of the village was only about a block long and had nice looking shops for those that may wish to browse.

Stone harbour walls in Boscastle, England

The stone harbor walls seen here, were built in 1584 and act as a buffer from the tidal waters that offer some very rough waves from the Atlantic Ocean.  The boats are able to come into the harbor to tie up behind the walls and away from the waves and dock safely when not in use.  Boscastle is the only natural harbor for boats along the 40 mile stretch of coastline.

Atlantic Ocean at Boscastle, England

We walked up the wet banks of rock overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and, as always, enjoyed watching the waves crash against the rocks. Waves are always fascinating and I wanted to take enough pictures to make sure I get the right wave and the right splash before I leave. It was very windy, I mean very very windy, so our stay out there watching the waves was shorter than we may have wanted it to be.

The natural harbour at Boscastle, England

Several people were walking on the other side of the harbor and one hiker can be seen up on top of the hill, giving us a perspective on how big that hill really is.  We had worn warm jackets and good walking shoes but these rocks were slippery and we needed to be cautious when walking on them.  Many visitors sat down on the rocks to enjoy watching the waves and weathered the cold stormy winds.  The blue sky is deceiving but the wind was blowing those clouds away, so we're not complaining.

Rivers running through Boscastle, England

The Rivers Valency and Jordon come together to create this natural harbor.  Then one day in August 2004 after torrential rains filled both rivers to overflow, there was a major flooding that devastated this small village.  The water tore through the town and damaged the majority of the buildings and homes as it ravaged its' way down the valley, including taking out the bridge.
 

Sunny day in Boscastle, England

We watched a video that showed the damage being done by the powerful force of that flooding and it is amazing that not one life was lost.  People were sitting on rooftops and had to be airlifted out by helicoptor.  The signage showing the water level that day makes it hard to believe their recovery has been so successful.  We had lunch in a quaint little hotel and saw the sign of the water level shown on the second floor. 

Fishing boats in harbour at Boscastle, England

Fishing was once a major industry in Boscastle but tourism is now the number one industry for this village and much of that might be due to the flooding then the recovery done by the strength and determination of the people of the village of Boscastle.  There is little evidence of the flood showing today, and it was great to spend some time in the village of Boscastle.

Alfriston ~ Birling Gap ~ Beachy Head ~ England

We spent several weeks in England with my sister and brother-in-law and we could not have asked for better hosts, company or tour guides! We spent most of our time touring and seeing the sights of southern England, making several photo-taking stops every day. There were so many sights to see and they were making sure that we could see as many of them as possible but still leaving many for a future visit. 

High Street in Alfriston, England

We began one day with our first stop in Alfriston, a small and very quiet village on this day.  The village square is tiny but has a bench that a few of the local gentlemen have gathered on to share their stories with one another.  We walked along High Street, which is also the highway that passes through town.  The building with the strips of wood on its' facing is The George Inn, and it has a sign on the outside that says, "First Transfer of Innkeepers License - 1397".  This inn has been in business for a very long time!

St. Andrew's Parish Church, Alfriston, England

 St. Andrew's Parish Church in Alfriston dates back to the 14th century and was built in the shape of a cross. As most churches on our travels, the graveyard surrounds the church and some of the headstones also date back a very long time. The open door meant we were able to go inside the church and enjoy the stained glass windows from the inside on this sunny morning while there was also a film crew working in there for an English television program.

Artist and swan on River Cuckmere, England

This old gentleman sat quietly sketching on the bank of the River Cuckmere, oblivious to the beautiful swan that was below his sight range. We walked over to see what he saw, which was the back of St. Andrew's Parish Church and he offered to show us his book of work. He may have been part of a very small group of artists, perhaps five or six that we'd seen scattered about the village, but he said he was there "to get away from the people". He was polite but I felt that our brief stop was long enough for him and we were on our way, he was an artist at work.

St. Andrew's Parish Church, England

The small canal of water (in swan photo) is the River Cuckmere that runs behind the St. Andrew's Parish Church in Alfriston. This is located about 10 km (6 mi) northeast of the river mouth at Seaford, It was during the 18th century that they first took measures to prevent flooding of the valley which had
occured in Alfriston, so the river isn't affected by the tide changes as it had been back then and leaves only this canal in this part of the valley. The River Cuckmere does widen once it leaves here to make its' way down to Seaford.

Seven Sisters at Birling Gap, England

I had always had an interest in seeing England and especially to see the white cliffs, most likely because of the song 'White Clffs of Dover' from WW2 and it seemed to have a personal connection as my dad was posted over there and had fought during that war. So the white cliffs of Dover was on the list. There are other locations that have white cliffs and Dover wasn't on our route plan so we were going to visit some cliffs that were farther south instead, at Birling Gap which is part of the longest natural exposure of chalk cliffs in Europe. They were distinct markers for seafaring ships.

White chalk cliffs at Birling Gap, England

Birling Gap is in East Sussex, Southest England, right on the English Channel. We'd driven through green pastures passing over the Cuckmere River and came upon Birling Gap, which is a parking lot with a small hotel and restaurants but I saw little else, I was anxious to see the white cliffs. There is
a staircase that leads down to the beach, so we approached that just as a busload of foreign highschool students did the same but once we got through the crowded platform, we were given the most magnificant view of the Seven Sisters, the white cliffs. I found that moment when I first saw the cliffs to be one of the most emotional moments I had on our travels. That was unexpected but the sight was as amazing as expected.

Beachy Head, England

Beachy Head is not far up the coast from Birling Gap. The lighthouse is one of two at this location and sits below the highest chalk cliff in the UK. It is 162 meters (530 ft) above sea level and offers an beautiful view of the English Channel. The name Beachy Head is a result of mispronouciation of the
original french name meaning 'beautiful headland'. In 1724, the name Beachy Head became accepted as the preferred name.

Lighthouse atop Beachy Head, England

The imagination can offer many scenarios as we look out over the English Channel. The history from this part of the world goes back forever, filled with many stories about ships and battles, a time that we read about in our history books. Today all we see is a sailboat so we are back in the moment and enjoying the special time that we have to spend here and enjoying the view.

Sheep on South Downs, England

The South Downs is splattered with sheep in green pastures, many times they are pastures lined with rock walls. I did enjoy seeing the faces of the curious sheep when we stopped to take some pictures as much as some of them seemed to enjoy our company! Sheep are a common sight in southern England and we did see a few different kinds, but these ones were very familiar, as the ones we see at home.

Our journeys in England continue and there will be many more photos to see.  We've visited London and other areas in southern England, click on the link if you wish to see some of those photos.