Tuesday 2 June - Athelhampton and local church

Off we went to Athelhampton House and Gardens. As is normal, wheelchairs could only be accommodated on the ground floor so I duly left Mum enjoying the views of the garden whilst I visited the small upstairs area.

Athelhampton is a privately owned house and has been for hundreds of years; the house being part of the the Historic Houses Association scheme. Each house determines its own policy regarding the taking of pictures and Athelhampton advised that I could take pictures inside the house, with the caveat that I didn't use flash; this meant, of course, that given some of the rooms were very dark, some of the pictures were far too blurred to be used.

After coming through the entrance you come across a thatched barn and a dovecote.

Inside the house the ceremonial robes were on display. Given that we are enjoying considerable heat, the thought of having to don these cloaks was not pleasant!

Walking around the garden, we looked back towards the house.

























On the way home, we stopped by the local church (Church of St. Michael, Pen Selwood) to use the pillar box and I took the opportunity to have a look around the church.

A wooden carved statue caught my eye..

and outside in the graveyard, Rhododendrons bloomed colourfully.

Another good day out.

It's interesting that the local area - Penselwood - is given in two different ways. This covers road signs and area signs; so no wonder I'm confused.

So - it's either Penselwood or Pen Selwood. One day perhaps, I might understand the difference.

Monday - 1 June - The Courts Garden and shopping!

There are many horses here on the farm and this is one of my favourites. A gentle mare but with a great appetite!

Being on a self-catering holiday means that occasionally we have to forage for food; consequently we decided to go to The Courts Garden - this being a relatively small garden would leave us time for acquiring said food.

Back in Victorian times a cloth mill was associated with the house with the garden only existing from 1901. It's a small garden which consists of several divided areas; a couple of arboretums, water garden, fruit orchard to name but a few.

From here the house is tucked away.

Wonderful colour around the garden with many Irises; including these with such interesting colour combinations.

The Courts Garden is small but beautiful with several small areas making up the whole. Mostly formal, but there is an apple orchard and a small arboretum.

We had lunch the in the tea room (not run by the National Trust) but the food and service (we were waited on!) were both excellent.


















Had in “interesting” journey there – we were on the correct route when we ran out of signposts; and this makes me very bad tempered!! However, we found it and it was lovely. Very tranquil and peaceful – a place to walk then just sit and watch the world and its people go by. Lovely.

We finally left the tranquillity of the gardens and negotiated the route to Frome quite successfully. However, although we parked the car with the intention of having a wander around the town, it soon became apparent that the hilly nature of it was prohibitive – I couldn't manage the wheelchair up the very steep hills in the town.

However, crossing over one small bridge, we looked left and there was another bridge, "Ponte Vecchio" style, with buildings lining one of its sides.


So we did our food shopping and home we came. Another good day of our holiday.

And the weather - excellent - hot sun and a cool breeze...whey hey!
(More pictures will follow when I get back home :D )