Hopton Hall - Snowdrop
Time
w/e 13 February
2005
All
this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
A foggy start to the day in
Ilkeston soon gave way to broken cloud and sunny spells but by
the time we had driven the twenty miles or so north westwards
to the other side of Wirksworth, it had become quite misty again.
Our objective was the village of Hopton near Carsington Water
or, to be more precise, Hopton Hall.
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The Hall and approximately 30
acres of grounds were purchased in the spring of 1996 by Mr &
Mrs Bill Brogden, at which time the gardens and grounds were
totally overgrown. In the eight years since then with the help
of their manager, Spencer, they have cleared and restored much
of the woodland which has resulted in a fine display of snowdrops
and aconites (the yellow flowers) each February, rivalling some
of the best snowdrop gardens in the country.
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It took about five years for the grounds
to be improved sufficiently for them to be opened to the public
but now the Brogdens are able to make charitable donations to
the NSPCC, the local school and the church from the proceeds
of the admission charges. They are also able to finance further
restoration and development work and the displays of snowdrops
beneath the trees are getting better year on year as more woodland
is cleared.
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Visitors are encouraged to follow a marked path through the grounds
and this enables them to see hens roaming free in the woodland,
ornamental pheasants in an aviary converted from the former dog
kennels and white doves in the walled garden. The doves have
taken up residence in the summer house which is currently being
repaired. New homes have already been provided but the doves
are yet to move in.
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The route from the walled garden
leads around the Croquet Lawn which is surrounded by a number
of statues in various stages of dress (and undress). Some of
the ladies on the north side looked decidedly chilly clutching
just one garment to maintain their decency whilst on the south
side a pipe playing male made do with just a leaf. His adjacent
compatriot, fully clothed, looked discreetly in the other direction
whilst resting with his spade. Now that's my sort of gardening
- leaning on a spade. Not sure about the hat though or the hand
on hip pose!
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Leaving the statues behind,
the path leads through the Spring Garden between two interconnected
ponds. The water channel between the ponds is to the left of
this picture.
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Beyond the second pond is the
Wildlife Lake and at the bottom corners of this view, some of
the trees planted in 1999 in Eddy's (Bill's wife) Arboretum can
also be seen. When the Brogdens first moved in to Hopton Hall,
the Arboretum was a rough paddock.
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But at this time of year the
overriding attraction has to be the snowdrops. The return to
the starting point of the circular route leads back to the Hall
and then through more of the woodland where there are lots of
these delightful flowers to be seen .
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I took quite a number of photos during our
visit to Hopton Hall and was hard pressed to know which to use
here, hence a number of composite shots. If you would like to
see most of the above at a larger size and more, including some
taken by my wife Sandra with the Kodak DC280, you'll find an
album at Fotopic - click here.
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