Trentham Gardens - Day Visit - November 6th 2013

We made a visit to Trentham Gardens on November 6th, as it was our Wedding Anniversary and my wifes birthday too. So one of our last trips out this year maybe. It was of course raining, but we still enjoyed the visit. The Trentham estate incorporates an area with retail units, that are made from wood. Interesting shops which are quite individual, unlike the High St shops in most cities & towns these days. The gardens though have been around a long time, though were all re-developed a few years ago, as the former gardens had become tired and untidy. They made a nice "Italian Garden" and this is within the parkland with a cafe within it. The lake has a boat trip to the other island, which has an attraction called "Monkey World", with over 140 Monkeys living within the trees, but enclosed for safe measure. There is also a large garden centre next to the retail park, which is very impressive too.   Although the gardens lacked the colour of the summer flowers, there was still all the autumn shades to enjoy. A nice place to visit for a day out at most times of the year. 

CALKE ABBEY- Autumn Visit for Apples and Sweet Chestnuts- Nov 2nd 2013



Gourds



Unusual Toadstool

Sweet Chestnuts


We visited Calke Abbey grounds & Gardens as they were selling Apples from their old orchards, knowing they would be very nice, having seen them on the trees on a recent visit. Also on sale were gourds in various shapes & sizes. So we stocked up on a few varieties of Apples at £2 a bag . Delicious they are too!
On our way around the grounds we noticed that there were Sweet Chestnuts around, having fallen from the trees. So we collected a lot of those too, which were equally tasty.  It was a blustery Autumn day but such a lovely place to walk and take in the Autumn colours. We spotted this unusual toadstool (The name escapes me!) but it was Red with White Spots......just like those I used to see in childrens books at school. Sadly a clump of them had been trodden on! A shame as they look so spectacular. Though I'm sure quite poisonous too. But well worth the visit just to see those. Calke is always such an interesting place to visit at any time of year.