Stourhead in the Rain

[puddleshark]

A journey into foreign parts, which is to say Wiltshire. Drove all the way to Stourhead, in search of Temples, Grots & entirely ornamental Bridges, because the Met Office had promised me "20% chance of rain". Perhaps the sun was shining in the other 80% of Wiltshire.


The lady at the turnstile sympathised with me on the weather, remarked "But at least you'll have the garden to yourself..." I did meet one person: a fellow photographer taking shots of the bridge. I hope his shots came out better than mine.










The Pantheon (1753-54).




In the past, you used to be able to go inside, but the doors are locked now.






The Gothic Cottage (1806), for those who want to re-enact scenes from their favourite Gothic novel.

The rain stopped, and the surface of the lake stilled. But I took the uphill path to join the woodland walk, and under the trees there was still a steady drip of falling rain.


I love Stourhead best when the leaves are falling. Walking through the woods with the wind full of swirling leaves is equal measures melancholy and exhilarating. But I was too early this year. The leaves haven't really began to fall yet.

Still, there are some fabulous specimen trees planted in the 18th and 19th centuries to admire.






Araucaria.





Passed a small family party in the woods. A young dad carrying a baby in a pouch was saying "Was that a burp?" Pause. "Was it a dry burp?"


The Temple of Apollo (1765).




The Grotto. I didn't visit it this time, as it a dark and cold and drippy place, and the day had already been sufficiently dark and cold and drippy. (I did visit it once, back in 2015> ).




The Temple of Flora (1744-1746).



Arrived back at the entrance, where there were great queues of people waiting to come in. The rain had stopped, and suddenly Stourhead was heaving with visitors. Time for a pot of tea and a National Trust scone in the café before making the journey home. The woman next to me in the queue turned to me and remarked "I remember when the choice was just tea or coffee - one type of coffee!" But I noticed that she was sufficiently à la mode to be able to order an Americano.

Comments

[heleninwales]

I really like the muted colours of that first photo of the bridge. It's quite painterly.

The trees seem slow to drop their leaves this year, but a little bit of autumnal colour is appearing.

[puddleshark]

Definitely a watercolour sort of day. Though I had to leave the Canon in the boot of the car and use my little Pentax wet weather camera, which does tend to supersaturate the greens, so I had to do a bit of adjustment in Lightroom on some of the shots to get a more washed out effect.

Yes, there's a tiny bit of autumn colour starting to appear. But I think I'll have to wait another few weeks before I pay my annual visit to Minterne Gardens to see the Japanese maples.

[summersgate]

What a wonderful set of pictures! Mysterious and ancient looking.

[puddleshark]

Thank you!

It is such a stunning garden - one of the best 18th century landscape gardens in the country. I can see why it gets so busy with visitors at weekends.

[nanila]

Those are some very lovely edifices set in some gorgeous greenery.

[puddleshark]

I know it is a very artificial landscape - 18th century landscape gardens were all about clever artifice - but it's been here for so long now, and the trees are so ancient, it feels almost natural now. Even the Temples don't seem out of place.