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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2882 |
24th June 2019 Hiking - Walking: National Trust Nymans house and gardens Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: Mainly cloudy Max Speed: Distance Covered: 6 miles (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Monday 24th June – walk ***** National Trust Nymans house and gardens – mainly cloudy After a top weekend looking after our lovely Grandson Arlo while his mum and Dad ran a Duke of Edinburgh bronze course for local kids, we moved on to explore Sussex for a couple of days. We will be returning to Sayers Croft to see him again mid-week:) We want to make use of our National Trust membership (a kind gift of a year’s membership) and as there are not many NT sites in Suffolk, we make the most of the many down this way. We drive about 20 miles to Nymans to explore the expansive and ever-changing gardens, only getting lost a couple of times! We arrive on a cloudy/drizzly Monday and have trouble finding a parking space, those bloomin’ pensioners are always getting in the way! The light rain doesn’t put us off and it’s really warm too as we head to the entrance to have our membership cards scanned for the second time. A nice lady gives us a site map and explains the best route to take. Mag visits the loo while I look at the large garden centre section selling overpriced plants, a tea shop with expensive cake and a souvenir shop - do people really buy that stuff??? There are three circular walks mainly through the woods and we chose the longest, the 4km Millennium walk following the orange arrows. We start off with some pretty flower beds, past the temple and wild flower meadows leading down to Cow Wood leaving the crowds behind as we enter the dark and very beautiful trees with only the odd dog walker. The orchids are particularly nice and we spot various wood sculptures including owls and a frog but missed the kingfisher. At the lake you turn steeply uphill past the cascades through Jack Reedings Wood where although we could hear the rain, we were completely sheltered by the canopy of trees. Along the Medieval track and down over the meadow to the lake bird hide but there are only a few Mallards! Then along conifer avenue which includes some very impressive Giant Redwoods and saw half a dozen squirrels. Getting hungry we decide to head back to the van for lunch before returning to see the house and gardens. We enter the Top Garden via the Plant Centre and there are some really impressive trees and shrubs and a deep hole full of Mag’s favourite gunnera plants with their huge leaves. Past the potting sheds and second-hand book shop to the rose garden which was in desperate need of some serious pruning! The walled garden comes next which leads to the main house once belonging to the Messel family and devastated by a fire in 1947 leaving most of the building a ruin. The remaining rooms saved from the fire are small and are displayed almost exactly as they appeared when Anne, Countess of Rosse lived in them from 1979 to 1992. We are not usually interested in seeing inside old houses but we had a quick look round with Mag spotting an interesting photo album showing a connection to the Royal family through Anthony Armstrong Jones, Lord Snowdon, the photographer. Some of the pictures being taken by him. The gardens/lawns in front of the house offered stunning views for miles around as we headed back to the plant centre but Mag couldn’t find anything she wanted, just made notes for future reference! Back at the van we backed up and headed across country to Cissbury Ring another NT site of an old fort at the top of the South Downs just outside Worthing. We got a nice spot to park for a welcome cuppa and scone before dozing and reading. Despite being a cloudy Monday, it was very busy with mountain bikers, joggers and dog walkers. We did have a walk along one of the bridle ways before tea and we will walk to the top of the hill tomorrow in search of the fort before seeing if we can find the Wey and Arun canal. We have had a few Gary boys in their noisy hatchbacks (as we seem to every time, we go out in the van these days!) but they have gone so hopefully we will have a peaceful night! Photo Gallery Here National Trust – Nymans |
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