Shropshire 38 - Wollaton Old Hall Gardens 2 for one entry/courgette soup/Francis E Lester again

---

As we walked around a corner we were taken aback . There in front of us was a wooden building . A summer house . Quite perfect and covered in roses . Not any old rose . "It is - isn't it ?" We said . Yes it was our old friend Francis E Lester . The rambler we planted two years ago in our garden and which now is rambling all over the brick wall and beyond . To say it is a perfect rose is no understatement . The petals which are single open with pale pink edges . On their own they would be insignificant . But each stem holds around forty buds which once fully open turn to white and are loved by the bees . They open over time so you know that the display starts quietly but over a month it builds up until each stem is heavy with the single flowers . It reminds me of being a child and knowing I could only have tangerines at Christmas and strawberries for a few weeks in season that made them special . This rose flowers once and then it is over for another year . So when it flowers we sit and watch it opening . Sometimes we are spoilt when we get too much of a good thing . We take it too much for granted . I don't think we could ever take this rose for granted .

The sound of buzzing all day is soothing as the industrious bees go about their daily tasks. One thought of the day from Lao Tzu once said that the quieter you become the more you are able to hear . Sitting next to Francis the sound of the buzzing becomes thunderous at times . The bees are back and forth all day . Busy as a bee has a certain ring of truth to it . The rambler has a musky smell which permeates the air. Sweet and quite heavy but nevertheless essentially English. We don't love roses generally . Certainly not the standard roses beloved of gardeners in the 60's when they filled square patches of garden or grew around the edges of the lawns. We found out that Francis E Lester was an English rose breeder who raised roses in California. This rose named after him was the prettiest we had ever seen. We need another rambler . Perhaps a red one or a yellow this time to ring in the changes . Perhaps we need one that flowers later so that once Francis had done his bit the second rose could take over . We have the perfect blank wall for it . Thinking of the saying of the day I guess in a garden you hear all sorts of sounds if you listen .It is not just those bees but the birds singing , the water tinkling as it falls slowly into a pond, rill or fancy container . You can hear the wind rustling the leaves on a tree . Just not today. There was no wind . Just a stillness that comes with the summer heat .

So why were we standing in front of this rose ? It was just another garden.

We had not really wanted to see another garden after visiting Chirk at the start of the week but the Gardeners World two for one offer was calling . If we visited another garden today then the cost of the magazine was covered and we were 50p in profit. We had pondered on the thought that one garden was just like another. But that is not strictly true . Gardens take on their own identity and the identity of their owners and the settings . In the end we erred on the side of the garden and on another day when the weather was lovely again it seemed a good choice .

It was one of those hot days - a lazy hazy day of summer to quote the song. . The words of the song rang true over the last few weeks as we found ourselves out and about . Enjoying the sunshine of June and making the most of sitting outside drinking a glass of wine and reading a book . The latest Strike novel taken on holiday but not read had been quickly rooted out . We longed for rain though. We had not seen any for weeks on end and the gardens were suffering . Tap water does not do the trick . The water butts are empty . All three of them and we are hoping for a thunderstorm and a down pour at the weekend to fill them .

So where should we head to today ? The choice in the Gardeners world book was endless. So much choice. I could have just stuck a pin in and picked somewhere without any thought .Some close to home . Others a little further away . We could go to nearby Cheshire or to Shropshire or even a little further afield . We could visit the university botanical garden on the Wirral or the Hidden Garden of Cadnant on Anglesey . With a tank half full of petrol we ended up choosing Wollerton Old Hall in nearby Market Drayton. We had passed the sign many times but never once had we given a thought to visit the garden . Sometimes life is like that . You take things for granted . You wander past often and don't notice a place . It was only twenty minutes drive away and that was fine with us .

We have been to many gardens . Some small . Others extremely large. Gardens that are based on cottage garden plants. Open landscapes designed by Capability Brown with parklands full of mature trees and an enormous lake gorged out of the landscape . . Gardens in the United Kingdom. Water gardens . Gardens in France , Italy and Croatia. We had searched out Islamic gardens in Southern Spain. We had followed in the trail of Monty Don and his Italian gardens .

The garden we were heading for today was described as a small 4 acre garden set in Shropshire countryside . 4 acres is not a lot for a garden . The stately homes of the United Kingdom have hundreds of acres with the nearest parts to the houses set up as more formal plots . We had looked on the internet to read a bit about Wollerton Old Hall and its gardens. So had a little idea what to expect .

Car parking was relatively easy in the field opposite. Hay bales filled the field which gave everywhere a summery feel . The fields yellow with the lack of rain . There were a large number of cars parked up when we arrived just on twelve noon. We were shocked at how many people were out visiting the garden which to be fair only opens a few days a week . We had not expected so many out today .

I guess I ought to say come on walk over the road with us and let's go and look at the garden . We are first going to be directed up a long drive to the entrance where we will pay £9 for the two of us. I am not sure if I would have paid the full £18 . That seemed rather expensive although it does seem the going rate since Covid and staycations for visits to gardens.

Our first stop after paying was to walk through the plant sale area and then head off for some lunch. The small cafe had a number of seats inside which were cooler but we fancied sitting outside in the courtyard . We chose our meal - the usual cappacino , an elderflower fizzy drink which I rather enjoyed even though it was a limited edition Coronation special . A Gardeners Lunch and a soup. Odd how meals get different names . A Ploughmans Lunch , a Shropshire Ploughmans Lunch and now The Gardeners Lunch which comprised of a rocket salad, chutney in a pot , potatoes in mayonaise, two chunks of local cheese from the nearby Belton Farm - a Brie and a cheddar , soft bread rolls , tomatoes , rice and pasta . My soup was an unusual one . I was relieved it was not tomato which is a staple of cafes and a I soup I hate . It was courgette. I was not sure what a courgette soup would taste like but it was quite refreshing and different . I would not hesitate to choose it again . Coupled up with three different soft bread rolls it was a perfect light lunch. Bit pricey for what it was but as long as we enjoy it then we don't mind the price . Having saved £9 on the entrance fee it did make the price a little more palatable.

We sat outside in the sunshine . The meal was definately not cheap but when it arrived it was filling and as always a good choice . We left nothing on the plate . it would have been rude to leave any of it. We talked about other gardens we had visited. Ninfa always comes to mind as the best garden we have ever been to. But then there are others . Perhaps we should not compare one with another as they all have their own characters .

We commented on the other people visiting . There were no children just the elderly out for the day . No we don't think of ourselves as elderly and did not count ourselves amongst them. We had read that this garden was considered one of Englands finest . Not a modest thing to say and something big to live up to. Would it be that good ? It had been awarded runner up in the 2020 competition Christies Historic houses and Garden of the Year 2019 Regional Winner. It was set around the 16th century hall which sadly was a family home and not open to the public .

After a lovely lunch it was time to carry on and wander round the garden . The house looked like the typical black and white magpie buildings of Cheshire and Shropshire . To the left of the house are a number of barns and outbuildings . Some were in the process of renovation with the slates piled high waiting for the roofer to reslate the roof . Not a job for the fainthearted on such a hot day . Roses climbed all over the outbuildings . A peach coloured on climbed towards the roof . Pink blousy roses arched over the doorways . . If you look closely they are covered with greenfly. It is a bad year for those pests along with whitefly and I have plenty of them on our roses this year . Copious quantities of soapy water are doing little to control them .

Walking into the garden itself we were told that this was a modern formal garden set on an old site which meant lots of neatly clipped yew and box hedges forming compartments and "rooms ". Walls everywhere and fences dividing the "rooms " into smaller ones . We were told that the garden was famous for Salvias - not yet out and perennials and was bursting with design ideas. Clematis and Roses would be everywhere and that the garden would fade out to informal and overgrown woodland . Not touched by human hand .

With the idea of modern in our heads I guess we expected grasses everywhere . Mediterranean planting . Plants that tolerated drought . But there were none . Perhaps we had learned a hard lesson last year. The heat of the summer had lulled us into thinking we needed plants that required little watering . We had replaced our usual English plantings with more sun tolerant plants which was fine until the wet winter followed by night time temperatures of minus 20. The New Zealand Flax that had looked lovely in the summer had rotted away. The Agapanthus that flowered happily year on year were just a slimy mess . A lesson to be learnt perhaps .

With the house called HF - House frontage - on the actually quite good linear map behind us we are going into the garden proper. SG - The shade garden with stone chips for a path was the closest to the house . When the family moved in it was a field with nothing but a few trees . I imagined a garden designer with a bit of paper in front of him and a pencil in his hand as he carved up the garden into sections . Each one small enough to manage . Each one surrounded by a fence, a hedge or a newly built wall . Gradually the garden would have filled up with the hard landscaping and once that was completed the planting could begin. Pretty ice blue and lemon iris bloomed . The large crimson lilies were in full bud and would be blooming in a week or so. On to the old garden with its roses and clematis and a pretty pink shrub that the phone once we had taken a photograph of it told us it was some relation to a Honeysuckle . Do you use the search facility on a phone to check out the species or name of a plant ? It comes in handy as we never would have guessed the true identity of the pretty pink flower. The yew walk was stunning with its geometrically cut single trees that lined the grass walk . Crimson lupins were coming into bloom .

Our favourite was the LR and the UR- the Upper Rill garden and the Lower Rill garden . Based on an Islamic principle the view up the rill was picture perfect . SD was the Sundial garden . The sundial was the centrepiece . A quiet shady corner held an arch covered with white wisteria .Beneath was a simple stone container . Running water ran down the wall behind and into the container . Simple but stunningly effective . It was hard to times to stop and takes photographs. Each garden was individual and everyone had the same idea to stop , look and click the camera . Sometimes we would stumble on a sculpture hidden amongst the plantings . I was trying to take ideas home with me for our own garden . Although this was on a big scale it could be scaled down .

The garden names carried on - SM - the summer house garden . That was where we found our Francis creeping along the summer house . Odd how we imagined Francis to be a female Frances . She seemed too delicate a rose to be named after a man . This part of the garden was peaceful . There were seats everywhere . Around every corner had been placed a wooden bench or a metal seat . They encouraged you to sit and think and just admire what had gone in to make this such a pretty garden . 4 acres that went on giving pleasure at each turn . Some of the older visitors would sit in the shady spots enjoying the garden .

The woodland wild area was cooler and shady. We had it to ourselves . Not many ventured out of the formal areas . Overgrown with nettles and red Campion there were signs that Bluebells were probably in full bloom a month ago . Leaving the woodland garden we could see signs hinting of the flowers that would be out next week or the week after . White Hydrangea in tubs . Salvias of purple and deep crimson. Delphiniums of all colours, Phlox and Dahlias . As is always the case with a garden you can see it four times a year and it will never look the same .

Our visit was over all too soon . It had been a pleasant surprise . Would we have visited it without our two for one card ? Probably not . Will we go again ? Maybe . But then again perhaps I might find something different to visit next week . The next garden can wait a week or two .

Coming home was interesting for all the wrong reasons . As we approached Prees Heath a BMW driver came out of the car park a little too fast for his own good . Given the BMW's are rear wheel drive he could not control the car and careered from one side of the carriageway to the other . He did eventually correct himself but we thought had he come out a few seconds earlier or we had arrived a few seconds earlier we may well have been hit by him . I wonder what he was thinking as he careered across the carriageway . Perhaps a lesson to him to drive a little more carefully . Funny how life can change at the flip of a coin .

---