Synopsis: A garden full of lovely vistas and tints of winter colour. A nice walk for a winter’s day. The farm and country museum is fascinating and well worth seeing. And there was cake too!
It’s my birthday, so I fancied a trip out. I suggested to Mum we go to Bicton Park Botanical Gardens in part because I had some Tesco Deals vouchers to use before the end of the month. I hadn’t visited this place for about thirty years, so perhaps it was time for a revisit. I was aware gardens in November are not at their best, and the day was rather dull and overcast, but it was warm and dry and I felt we’d at least get some exercise and fresh air. In fact I was pleasantly surprised how lovely parts of the gardens looked.
We were rather late starting out from home, arriving just after midday. Our first objective was to get something to eat. The old orangery has been converted into two eating halls with tables that look out over the gardens. It’s hard to imagine a more splendid eating place, except for one thing. It was so noisy, as the place was full of families, and the stone floor seemed to bounce sound all around the room. I had not imagined that this venue would be so popular with families. I understand it’s possible to purchase an annual family ticket for Bicton Park and sister attraction Morwellham Quay, and parts of the grounds have been set aside as play areas, so I suppose it makes for a good alternative place to allow children to burn off some of their boundless energy. To be honest, the noise was really my fault, as who would choose to have a birthday on a Saturday?
Mum and I enjoyed our meals, which included treating ourselves to cake. Well, it was my birthday. My daughters Helen and Laura had told me how they’d had a big bag of English cakes the other day, which is perhaps unusual for Germany. They described this delicious biscuit, caramel and chocolate cake they’d had, and there was a slice of it in front of me, so I had to have one.
Mirror Lake with fountain and St Mary's Church in the background
After we’d eaten Mum and I set off on a tour of the gardens. One of the main features of the garden, usually seen in photographs of Bicton Park, is the Mirror Lake and the fountain that is at the centre of this. It is a very sleek and elegant fountain that looked stylish in the subdued winter light of today. In the background of this photo can be seen St Mary’s Church, in the grounds of the park.
Vegetation of warm winter tints
The garden is really nicely planted with numerous vistas that are very pleasing to the eye. On the day of our visit I particularly liked the warm winter colours of the vegetation set against the deep cold blue of the water features.
The museum - East Anglian wagon c.1890
With a little time to spare before Bicton Park closed, we had just time enough to explore the museum. This was a marvellous addition to our visit, as it is a building packed full of wonderful old farm and country equipment through the ages. This wagon brought to mind The Hay Wain by John Constable. There are a number of photos in my photo set (link above) taken in the museum, but the light was low so some camera shake will be visible in these.
A thoroughly enjoyable visit and delightful way to spend my birthday. I think I shall be visiting Bicton Park again; perhaps a summer visit next time.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 3.9 miles
Moving Time: 1hrs 40min
Stopped Time: 1hr 18min
Total Ascent: 74 metres
Maximum Elevation: 52 metres
No comments:
Post a Comment