April 2011

And what an April it was, Royal wedding apart. The weather was almost full summery and of rain, that was becoming a distant memory as the ground dried and went from brown to grey with finger wide cracks.

Of course, April brings the bluebells, but they will last until the year runs into May. Flowers splash the gardens with colour and leaves fledge their greenery as some add flashes of blossom.

The season is busy and when complemented by the glorious weather, April 2011 was a fizz of a month. The lambs, of which a few in March, are now every where, but the red deer are away and no doubt births are occurring. They will no doubt return with young soon.

A key feature for years, long before the 21st century transformations to the gardens and parkland are the rhododendrons. Vibrant and plentiful, they once again break up the green with stunning colour.


Not native, and uncontrolled can spread wildly, visitors to the grounds have for decades enjoyed this visual feast.

Camellias, too, are blooming, flowering before the foliage.




Birds are arriving for the summer and that now rarity, the cuckoo, has been heard in the parkland. Chiffchaffs, willow warblers and blackcaps are amongst the arrivals and, while in April, they can be seen clearly, soon the flood of green leaves will render the job of seeing them more and more difficult.

March 2011

The trees are still bare and the lansdscape is distinctly chilly and ghostly. And the wildlife is very quiet indeed.

By the month end, there were brighter days. When the sun shone, the shadows of the afternoon were long and dark and, out of the feeble heat of early March sunshine, you needed to keep moving briskly. Gloves were dispensed with but a hat was still needed. The early new farm life was clearly and noisily evident as the month progressed and the parkland below Archer's Gate was soon filling with the new season's lambs.

The Parkland is always stark and clearly defined at this time of year, but it reflects that the time of year is early and not yet warm and green as it will become in April