I promised pictures from Stowe Gardens

[sally_maria]

On Thursday we decided to take advantage of the good weather and visit these famous gardens. (One of those places you always intend to visit, one of these days, and don't always get round to.) If you haven't come across it before, there's a pretty good Wikipedia entry. It's one of the first big English style landscape gardens, with lawns, woods and random structures to make it more visually interesting.

ETA I was also pointed by a friend to the DNB article on Viscount Cobham, the originator of the gardens.

Admiring the Pebble Arch





Early view of the house, across the lake


There were a number of guys on ride-on mowers zipping about, which could be noisy, but they looked like they were enjoying themselves, so it was hard to judge them. :-)

Across the Elysian fields, from the Temple of Ancient Virtue to the Temple of British Worthies.


View from the Grotto, onto the River Styx


View from the Temple of Friendship - from right to left, the Palladian Bridge, Lord Cobham's Monument, the Gothic Temple and the Queen's Temple.




For the completeists among you, I made an album with all the pictures I took on Flickr. :-)

Comments

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

It's lovely there, isn't it. On our last trip, we were lucky enough to have a native guide; adaese's uncle, who is an old stoic.

[sally_maria]

It was beautiful, and I'm very glad we got round to making the trip.

We did run across one or two smartly uniformed teenagers in our walk round, as well as the golfers and the people being driven in golf buggies.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

On our earlier visit, there was a wedding at the house, and the wedding party came out while we were there. And onto the golf course. To the (very vocal) displeasure of the golfers.

[sally_maria]

Ah, yes, I can see why that would be awkward for all concerned.

All the golfers we saw were very tolerant, but I suspect a sizeable party of people all in a group would be much more of a hazard than the odd individual who looked both ways before they crossed the fairway. (Cleeve Hill is a golf course, we grew up learning to dodge golfers. :-D)

[didiusjulianus.livejournal.com]

Cleeve Hill uses to have a YHA but I don't think it does any more.

[sally_maria]

I didn't know that, but yes, apparently it did. I don't know exactly where, though.

[chainmailmaiden]

Stowe's beautiful isn't it. My Dad was a Stoic, so we had him as a guide when we went round. Must have been nearly 20 years ago since I went though.

[sally_maria]

It certainly is - I'm very pleased we finally got ourselves organised to go there. :-)

[didiusjulianus.livejournal.com]

But who are the peoples in the photos? ;)

[sally_maria]

:-)

My Dad on the left and my brother Marcus on the right - discussing the details of the designs, which you can only partly see in the photo.