Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset

A walk in the park

The weather has been glorious! "Halcyon days" as Geoffrey so aptly expressed it. It was indeed a wonderful day to be visiting a magnificent garden in the Quantocks near Taunton.

We drove to Hestercombe gardens through the Somerset Levels which were so badly affected by flooding earlier this year. The Parrett river which would normally drain floodwaters away from the low lying fields had become badly silted up over the years effectively reducing its capacity by 40%The consequence of ceasing dredging (supposedly to cut costs) was that the floods lasted many weeks. Some farmers claim the soil is very seriously depleted of nutrients even though the flood waters have long receded. Dredging operations have subsequently re-commenced and the cost will be enormous.

We were able to take the dogs with us to the Hestercombe gardens, so long as they were on leads. It was a fantastic place for them to go walking, as there are many tracks through beautiful woodland areas, with the landscaping including multiple lakes, cascades and many ornamental shelters modeled on various themes. I love that one part of the gardens was more or less in a natural state, with woodland flowers including foxgloves growing wild, while around the big house there were more formal flower beds and manicured landscaping.

one of the lakes



dogs in the water

Geoffrey & Bella

gorgeous views

foxgloves growing wild

The dogs jumped in any water they came to, including the ornamental fountain in front of the mansion. They would've jumped in the lake too except that a swan was guarding the area and was ready to see them off should they dare.

swan guarding the lake

Geoffrey with Daisy and Bella taking a break on the walk

Susan chose to wait in a shelter overlooking a waterfall with her knitting while Geoffrey and I took the dogs on the extended trail right up to a viewing point at the top of the ridge. The trail seemed to peter out as we passed through a gate into a freshly mown field of hay, but after consulting the map it appeared we had to cross the field to get to the gate we could see on the other side. Poor Geoffrey was wearing the wrong shoes, having forgotten to put on his walking boots and after wading through hay gathering more and more grass as he walked he resembled Scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz".

Geoffrey & the dogs

wading through the hay

off in search of the cafe

We were pretty exhausted and hot after our walk. It was 32 degrees, which is really hot for here.We'd even worked up a sweat as well as a thirst, so we chose to stop for lunch and a cooling drink at the cafe before going on to examine the formal gardens and rose gardens in front of the manor house.

formal gardens fountain

the manor house

The food on offer was actually really good, and it had the best lemonade I've ever had. Or maybe I was just really thirsty and it was deliciously quenching. The dogs sat nicely at our feet and were much admired by both other patrons and even our waiter. They are such happy friendly dogs and obviously well cared for, so people always stop to pat and chat.

The formal gardens were stunning. We wandered around these for some time enjoying the wonderful scents of the various flowers. Roses here actually have smell as well as look good. I am just revelling in these English gardens. You could easily spend all day going around this one.

grotto and pool

admiring the gardens

rural views

garden beds

Bella in the garden

grogeous flowers

We had arranged to visit Geoffrey's cousin Joy at her home in Bridgewater. This is the town where Geoffrey grew up and he pointed out his old school and other familiar landmarks as we drove in.
Joy was waiting for us with a pot of tea and some delicious home baked chocolate cake and scones.
We chatted a while then drove home via Sainsburys to shop for supplies for the next week.

Susan, Joy and Geoffrey