Charlecote Park – a wander in the heat.

We are in the middle of a very uncharacteristic period of weather, very hot and dry by day and night. Normally in our summer we are glad to see a temperature hovering around the 20 mark but this year we have had three weeks around the 30 mark and just one short shower in that time.

So when we visited Charlecote Park in Warwickshire we wandered around at a slow ambling speed, about tortoise speed. But we enjoyed it until the heat and humidity got the better of us and we succumbed to our third ice cream of the day and gave up. But I have a few pics to show you to give an idea of the beauty of the place.

Once we had walked up the main driveway of dusty gravel we passed under the gatehouse portal and the main house itself was revealed.

First task was to find the coffee shop for the usual coffee and cakes. The restaurant itself was housed in the Orangery but before reaching it we came across this eccentric aviary. After a refreshing break in the orangery we discovered another eccentric feature, which turned out to be a woven willow children’s play tunnel decorated brightly with ribbons.

We were fascinated by this ancient walnut tree with several branches which had rooted where they touched the ground having fallen down. Butterflies were revelling in the sunny warmth of the day.

We decided that the coolest place to be was alongside the river passing through the parkland. We were treated by the site of the bright electric blue flash of a kingfisher darting across close to the water surface.

As we made our way back to the car park through meadows of dry grasses and occasional splashes of colour from wildflowers we discovered this old split-chestnut fence and unusual gate.

We didn’t really get a chance to appreciate Charlecote Park fully as we were defeated by the heat, having spent the previous day at an outdoor festival but we saw enough to ensure our return in the near future.