Amazing work at Cliveden

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Well the sun rose once again over Cliveden this morning. There were no spectacular images caused by this elusive dust here in Bourne End.

However I did pay Cliveden a visit the other day. It is National Trust property and being ‘on my doorstep‘ so to speak, I like to have my money’s worth from the membership.

At this time of the year, with no leaves on the trees, I can see the house from my upstairs room.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

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The Fountain of Love

The gardens are not at their best until the summer months when all the beds are planted up. At the moment there are millions of daffs out, but as you know what they look like, you will be spared a ’daffodil picture’. What I was hoping to photograph though was the 10,000 tulip bulbs that had been planted in the Long Garden.

Sorry, there were 9,998 tulip buds but only two in flower! I shall have to go back later.

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The Water Gardens had been really well cleared of old and dying plants. It looked very bare, but I expect it will all recover in time and perhaps give us a better show this year.

One new addition to the gardens is a maze.

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The proposed layout.

In 1894 Lord Astor created a large Yew Maze near the Water Garden, but up until recently only a few scraggy bushes remained. Starting in 2009 The National Trust has begun to recreate the Cliveden Maze on the same site. The maze, which is due for completion in 2011, is based on Lord Astor’s original plan and will cover an area of approximately 1/3 of an acre.

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You can see work is well under way in laying down the steel edging to contain the gravel pathways. When these are complete there is the task of planting the 1,100 young yew trees.

The sun began to sink behind the Clock Tower (actually a water tower) and still no spectacular sunsets. Never mind - a good half day out.

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Loads of Mistletoe.

PS. If you haven't guessed -

I was joking about the name of the maze!

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