A day out at Hatchlands Park

A friend of mine and I have been rather busy with not very exciting tasks recently so we decided it was time for a walk whilst having something to look at. We headed off for the National Trust House and Gardens - Hatchlands Park.

The National Trust describe it thus:

Hatchlands Park was built in the 1750s for Admiral Boscawen, hero of the Battle of Louisburg. Robert Adam ceilings decorate the house, featuring appropriately nautical motifs. Today the mansion is a family home, containing tenant Alec Cobbe's superb collection of paintings. Six rooms also display the Cobbe Collection, Europe's largest collection of keyboard instruments associated with famous composers such as J. C. Bach, Chopin and Elgar. The mansion is set in informal grounds, with one small parterre garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll. The surrounding parkland provides a number of waymarked walks in a tranquil and beautiful setting.

The house (which I haven't seen the inside of before) and small garden weren't open until 2.00 pm so we decided to arrive in time to walk around the park itself (takes about 1.5 hours) and have a bite to eat then "do" the house.

This we did! The sun was shining and warm; the air fresh and cool - perfect weather for me!

The walk around the outer perimeter of the park itself is lovely. Very quiet (in terms of humans) but birdsong all along the route. We hardly met anyone during the time we walked.

The house itself is not large or particularly grand but "homely". The gardens are small but with a huge park around your home, who needs a large garden?

This seemed to be growing wild nearly every where.. I think it's a wisteria - but if anyone can confirm or otherwise, I would be pleased to know what it is!

Every which way you looked were beautiful and distant views.

Up in the tree a nest box. Kestrel or owl perhaps?

These seemed to be doing well and were abundant!

A great walk accompanied by lots of bird song and colourful plants along the way.

And now time for something to eat..

Given the weather we sat out side which was great. Asparagus Soup and chunky bread and I had Brie and Mango chutney Panini with salad - and Elderberry to drink.. very refreshing

This is the old stable block

After eating we went on a tour of the house. Mostly paintings and musical instruments but not one of the best houses in terms of decor. No photography was allowed anywhere in the house given that it was tenanted and housed private collections.

A view of the front of the house

and around to one side was the small parterre garden.

Throughout the estate the trees were magnificent - some enormous and must be very old.

This one completely dwarfs the house.

And a bit of colour in the garden.

We'd been there for most of the day but were reluctant to end it there.. so we headed off for Claremont Gardens on the way home for a cuppa and piece of cake - Banana and Date with a sticky toffee topping - absolutely wicked but really yummy!! :D

Wonderful weather, lovely walk and good company - thank you IHD. :)

Painshill Park Great Crested Grebes - 2nd pair have eggs!

It's been a while since I went local patch birding or visiting anywhere local even. So today, eventually I managed to get over to Painshill for a check-up on the Grebes.

But on my way around the lake, (and having been advised by a friend there) I came across the "other couple". This pair had never seemed to quite get the hang of the weed dancing or nest building but at some point they must have done, as they are now nesting. I say "they" but in the entire time I was watching, I only ever saw (whom I presume to be) the female.

She was sitting quietly when I arrived. The nest is completely out in the open with no protection whatsoever and is about 20 feet from the lake's bank.

Although she was sitting contentedly this soon changed as a couple of Mute Swans swam past. Although they took no interest in the Grebe she was immediately on the defensive.

Making an aggressive rasping noise she opened her beak threateningly in the direction of the nearest swan.

They were rather close!

Eventually they swam away and Mrs. Grebe got off her nest for a swim revealing 4 eggs.

She swam and dived and eventually came back to the nest - had a quick look - and swam off again.

In the meantime some Canada Geese arrived to take up their place on the lake.

and finally Mrs. Grebe returned and settled down to the task of incubation.

Where Mr. Grebe was I've no idea... I didn't see him at all despite looking further up and down the lake.

I then went over to the other side and found our original two youngsters - and my, have the grown. They were calling constantly which made finding them so much easier.

One parent found a "tiddler" which was promptly fed to a youngster.

At this point, Major gave chase to Minor - thrashing through the water like a power boat!

Over on the bank, serentity was personified by a grooming Mute Swan

acting like a contortionist.

More fishing ensued and this time I thought, wrongly as it turned out, it was a parent's turn for a meal. The fish seemed far too big for a little beak and throat but, it turned out, it was not too big at all!!

And with several gulps, the fish became a youngster's meal.

You can see the "lump" of the fish as it goes down!

So the little ones seem to be doing OK which is great! :D But the new nest - if Dad doesn't reappear - may not last. She spent a couple of few-minute sessions of the nest so the eggs were quite exposed and cooling. time will tell!

My week ends in Sussex...and some Gulls!

I'm keeping my grandson company this weekend and, as Teenagers do, he was enjoying a Saturday lie in this morning.

The forecast was for rain, but the morning dawned bright clear and sunny - so I walked down to the beach.

The sky and sea were blue and blue... and the tide was right in!

In some local beach gardens, the flowers shone in the early morning sun... I was almost alone on the beach and it was wonderful :D

Right out on the horizon, a pleasure craft seemed to glide along..

and even the gulls seemed relaxed in the morning sunshine..

some seemed to be just waking up to greet the day..

but yawning leads to sleeping..

The sea at the peak of high tide, was very gentle too... just lapping over the breakwaters.

I walked for some time just enjoying the day... and

on the way back, one of the many House Sparrows was catching insects for breakfast.

Later on in the morning J and I walked into Worthing - by now the sky was covered in much cloud and the temperature had dropped.

Still it was a good walk and in excellent company...

We bought some sandwiches and drinks and sat on the sea front to eat them. By now it was getting quite chilly but we walked to the end of the pier and back before walking home again.

A good day...