Stourhead's snowdrops in the winter sun

Stourhead is perhaps the most beautiful garden in the world, and December through February you're allowed dogs on short leads. Low winter sun shows off the snowdrops, and leafless trees make the most of the views.You can read more in the Wiltshire Year book
























Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New book - A Wiltshire Year

Image
In a previous post  I wrote about my adopted county of Wiltshire, and decided that maybe I should go and work for the tourist board. But of course there are no jobs there - paid, at least - so I abandoned writing about motorcycles and set too on a new book about Wiltshire . And here it is..  England was born in Wiltshire when King Alfred won the battle of Ethandune in 878, and one of Wiltshire’s famous white horses still guards the site. Of course people lived in Wiltshire long before that: Stonehenge was once the most populous place in Europe, and the site of a great midwinter feast. One of the few places not covered by dense forests, this was where sheep farming could make England rich and create the biggest empire the world has seen. But Britain’s rise came with mixed fortunes. The Black Death killed millions, yet allowed a new middle class to emerge and create the first true European democracy. Yet conflict has never been far away, a bloody Civil War being fought
Read more

Wiltshire bees - not the only pollinators

Image
Bees might not be the only pollinators - even wasps help out - but they are the most noticeable and photogenic. They especially love our lavender, but other flowers in the garden get them buzzing too. Attracting them guarantees our fruit and veg get pollinated, and that we get the best possible harvest, even if this year's late, hard frost did for most of the pears.
Read more

Wiltshire - feeding the world. But please read the lable

Image
Down below our greensand ridge to day, the wheat smells almost ready to harvest, a smell that takes me back to childhood. Crushed where deer have slept, there is a nutty, floury dry sweetness in the air despite the breeze. On the other side of the track the cattle rush to greet me: it is rare to see anybody down here, so they assume something good is going to happen, such as extra food or a salt lick. This is how we should treat our livestock, out in herds on fresh grass. Too often cattle are kept cooped up in megabarns, a miserable life just so that we can eat cheaply. Cheap? Cheap food might just cost us the earth. Too many people eating too much, relying on antibiotics to keep crowded livestock healthy. There are genuine concerns that antibiotic resistance is on the way, which will mean more than just the end to cheap meat. It would mean an end to many operations and some chemotherapies for human beings.  Yet our local butchers, R Douse & son are no more expensive than
Read more