Category: Shropshire

The Architectural Heritage of Shrewsbury – Shuts and Passages

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 7, 2013
13 Comments on The Architectural Heritage of Shrewsbury – Shuts and Passages

Shrewsbury is well known for the variety of its architecture and fine examples can be found of many eras and styles within the loop of the River Severn in which the town lies. With locals and visitors alike there is a certain affection for the shuts and passages that sneak between them.

They give you sneak previews of streets you have not yet found, they let you take short cuts, smokers use them to escape the wind when they want to light a match, lovers use them for secret cuddles, and sadly the homeless have to use them for shelter from the cold wind that howls around the tall buildings of Shrewsbury. There shouldn’t be homeless anywhere in the world and in so-called civilised countries like ours there should be none. Sadly homelessness is on the increase. At least our county town has some shelter in the shuts and passages.

We took a wander around the centre of town and took photos of these little alleyways, the good and the bad, the attractive and the ugly. Visiting on the day that the recycling bins were due for collection spoilt many a photo opportunity, but I suppose this juxtaposition of the heritage and beauty from the town’s past should be presented alongside the reality of today’s world. We need everything recycled that can possibly be recycled after all.

This beautiful gate marked the entrance to one of the few private alleyways.

Enjoy a peak into a variety of our shuts and passages.

Tags passages, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, shuts, tow, townscape

colours flowering bulbs fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grasses hardy perennials Land Art ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography Shropshire shrubs spring bulbs spring gardening wildlife

A Bouquet for April

At last spring has arrived in the garden and taken it by storm. Buds are bursting, birds are nesting and bees buzzing searching the blooms.

Any bouquet for April will have to embrace flowering bulbs.

And how about adding a few bursting buds of trees and shrubs? Our miniature chestnut, the sweetly scented daphne flowers and the froth of snow-white amelanchier flowers.

All around the garden fresh fruit blossom promise beautifully scented and delicious, delicate flavours. The pinks of apple blossom and whites of plums. Oh so tasty!

The insects are appreciating these new signs of life too, in particular the bees and butterflies. This little bee knows that there is something good awaiting him inside the tulip once it opens. He is just a centimetre or so long and coloured a rich gingery orange.

I shall finish off by inviting you to enjoy a little gallery of garden delights taken on the last day of April.

Dusky pink primula hides in arum and stipa leaves.

Copper sculpture with copper leaved phormium.

Kingcups on the dge of the wildlife pond.

Tags amelanchier, apples, foliage, fruit and veg, fruit blossom, fruit., garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, insects, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture, sculpture, spring bulbs, spring flowers, spring garden

architecture buildings photography Shropshire townscapes

The Architectural Heritage of Shrewsbury – Rowleys Mansion

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date April 10, 2013
5 Comments on The Architectural Heritage of Shrewsbury – Rowleys Mansion

In my latest post looking at the architecture of our home county town of Shrewsbury, I want to take a look at what Jude The Undergardener and I both consider as our favourite building here – Rowleys Mansion.

Mr William Rowley was a merchant in Shrewsbury during the reign of Elizabeth I. He made the fortune as a brewer and draper that allowed him to build this magnificent house.Sadly his home now sits surrounded by car parks and must be trembling in every oak beam as buses and trucks pass close by. How can this happen to such a special building? It is an insult to its beauty, its heritage and all the people who have lived in it, worked in it and visited it over centuries. It is currently temporarily housing the town’s Tourist Information Centre as The Music Hall, its full-time home, is being revamped.

Close up we can see the structure and clues to the construction methods used centuries ago. From this angle we see a huge half-timbered building but as we shall soon discover another entirely different buildings has been built onto it. The huge mighty strong oak beams support the whole structure and these were pegged together.

We consider graffiti as a modern-day phenomena that is spoiling our environment, but this is untrue. A close look at this ancient building reveals a history of graffiti. Some of these may be marks left by carpenters or construction workers as the old mansion was built.

This solid heavy-looking door is topped with an oak lintel and below this lintel lies a strip of narrow tile infill, an interesting textural contrast.

Some of the details such as the iron tie and this little coloured glass window deserve a close up look.

But what of the other building attached to the old timbered mansion? It is the earliest brick-built building in Shrewsbury and at the time it was built it would have been considered a pioneering material and was used to impress. William Rowley added the mansion to show off his increased wealth.

Look closely and the textures of the construction materials create interesting cameos.

At the opposite end of the buildings from the wooden door we looked at early on in this post is the main doorway giving access to the brick building. This old oak door stands within a stone frame with beautiful carved detailing. This is an impressive doorway which says “I have made it!”, the equivalent of today’s big cars!

Let us finish with another view of Rowleys Mansion – the half-timbered end.

Tags Rowleys Mansion, Shrewsbury

birds gardens open to the public National Trust nature reserves photography Shropshire The National Trust trees wildlife winter gardens woodland

Birches in Winter

Regular readers of Greenbenchramblings will be very aware of my love of Birch trees in all their many guises. In this post I shall highlight our native Betula pendula.

The texture of its silvered bark metamorphoses as it ages from a smooth shining silver to a pattern of deeply fissured elephant skin.

Our native Birch is a relatively short-lived tree so within any mixed woodland fallen specimens litter the ground. They will slowly dissolve away through the actions of the tiniest creatures and a multitude of fungi.

Perhaps the best way to finish off this series of photos of my favourite trees, the Birches, is with a set of pictures of groups of them standing like cold sentinels.

Tags betulas, birches, birds, National Trust, ornamental trees, trees, winter gardens, woodland

gardens open to the public National Trust nature reserves Shropshire wildlife woodland

Attingham’s Deer

We always keep an eye out for the deer herd at Attingham. Today we were treated to a close up view of a group of these Fallow Deer. They were so busy feeding they hardly noticed us. We felt honoured that they let us watch them and take a few photos. Click on any pic to see them as a slide show.

Tags deer, National Trust, wildlife, winter

birds flowering bulbs garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens open to the public Land Art landscapes National Trust nature reserves ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography Shropshire spring bulbs The National Trust trees wildlife Winter Gardening winter gardens woodland

A Cold Woodland Walk

A cold dull day with a biting easterly wind. Stay at home and enjoy a book in front of a roaring homely log fire? No, we decided to get out into it and enjoy a walk in the woodland in the grounds of our local National Trust property, Attingham Hall.

We visit regularly and no two visits are ever the same. We set out on this particular walk expecting to see the first signs of spring, perhaps the fresh green growth of Hawthorn, buds on trees fattening fit to burst or birdsong all around. How wrong we were. The wood is still in the grip of winter and birds remain quiet, except for a Mistle Thrush who cast his song far and wide over the tree tops, a melodic uplifting tune. One patch of Hawthorn displayed some green but only one.

However in the protection of a brick wall this Flowering Currant defied the winter and cheered us up with its soft pinky-red flowers hanging in so many tassels. Nearby just beyond the warmth provided by the wall the tight yellow buds of a variety of Mahonia aquifolia patiently wait. The odd splash of blue sky above us reflects in the gloss of the leaves. Close by their cousins the Berberis are a little behind but both will respond to some kinder weather.

The last of the Snowdrops still hang on, and wherever there is protection flowers respond.

Where elderly specimens of trees begin to break and fall sculptural shapes are created. This old split trunk looks huge amongst younger trees and its boughs stretch out across the ground rotting where they fell and colonised by a carpet of mosses.

There is something magical about woodlands, they make you feel calm and relaxed and they make some visitors more creative or more childlike. They build dens, climb trees or create little bits of land art. The National Trust are doing a brilliant job in encouraging these effects on their visitors, in particular with their little booklet “50 things to do before you are 11 3/4“. Right in the depths of the woodland we came across these two simple but beautiful land art pieces.

Tree surgeons at work have left their marks. We were amazed when we spotted the beautiful “fern” chipped into the bark by a chainsaw. The off cuts were used to make a wonderful big logpile to attract insects especially all the beetles who make Attingham their home. The National Trust’s woodland management keeps wildlife in mind. It is heartening to know that Stag Beetles now live here.

In the walled garden the extra warmth afforded by its tall brick walls has allowed flowering plants to make some progress towards Spring.

The best feature of our walk was to see a Honey Bee at work feeding on Wallflowers in the walled garden.

What a great walk we had, cold ears and noses but plenty of fresh air and sheer joy at being outside and in woodland. I hope you enjoy the collection of pics below!

colours flowering bulbs garden photography gardening ornamental trees and shrubs Shropshire spring bulbs spring gardening Winter Gardening winter gardens

A Bouquet for March

Here is this month’s “Bouquet” post. The first photo says it all!

There are in fact two flowers visible – both yellow. Our Cornus mas is still in bloom and the flower buds of daffodils are spearing their way through their white duvet.

Let’s hope our April Bouquet is a bit more impressive!

Tags cornelian cherry, cornus, daffodils, dogwoods, garden photography, gardening, shrubs, snow, winter, winter gardens

birds conservation landscapes Shropshire trees wildlife

Hedgerow Maintenance – the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date March 11, 2013
14 Comments on Hedgerow Maintenance – the good, the bad and the downright ugly.

Driving around the countryside around our home in Shropshire we are struck at the difference between the worst and the best examples of hedgerow maintenance. Some are beautifully trimmed providing stock proof boundaries which benefit and encourage wildlife. The best examples of these are those that are “layered” as these remain dense in growth and provide homes, food, shelter and nest sites for all aspects of wildlife and often result in special habitats at the base of them full of wildflowers and accompanying wildlife. Insects, small mammals, birds, butterflies, bees and so much more of our wildlife can take advantage of this beautiful and skilful country craft. The trees of the hedgerow even those of reasonable girth can be trimmed and layered to create dense hedges. We found this beautiful length of hedge in a country lane a few miles from home.

I particularly like the artful way it has been thoughtfully finished with a flourish of woven hazel. This may be some sort of “signature” – the craftsman leaving his mark. Although artistic this probably strengthens the structure further by binding the top of the hedge tightly together. This hedger is such a craftsman that the angle of cut on the top of every stake is exactly the same.

A mix of shrubs and trees have been beautifully entwined. Even trees with trunks up to 12 inches thick have been split and layered. It is easy to see how impenetrable to stock these layered hedges are.

We were lucky to find this other hedge in the process of being layered so took some pics. It would have been even luckier if the hedge layer was still around for me to photograph him at work but it must have been his day off!

hedge 12

So those are good examples which are few and far between. The bad and ugly are sadly much more common now, hedges cut by machine, slashed to create ugliness. Some of the cutting blades on these machines seem blunt or perhaps inappropriate for the job in hand. Thicker branches get torn and slowly after a few years these hedges get thinner so are poor as stock proof barriers and even poorer wildlife habitats. Whole sections disappear and tend to be replaced with fencing so the wildlife benefit is lessened further. When the hedge cutter in his tractor cab comes across trees, whatever their size they are cut just the same. The old oak in the photos below had its lower branches hacked off.

The messy hedges that are left are a waste of time, too thin to keep stock in and of little use to wildlife and too thin to allow the usual wildflowers associated with a hedge’s shelter and shade to thrive.

What the answer is to improving hedgerow management in a wildlife friendly manner is difficult to come up with. The agricultural industry in the UK needs to rethink, look again at the idea of countryside stewardship and responsibilities towards the land.

Here endeth my major rant for 2013!

Tags birds, conservation, hedgerows, hedging, layering, shrubs, trees

garden design garden photography gardening gardens open to the public National Trust NGS photography Shropshire South Shropshire The National Gardening Scheme" The National Trust trees

Looking Back One – An Hour at Croft Castle

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 24, 2013
6 Comments on Looking Back One – An Hour at Croft Castle

This is the third in the series of posts looking back at garden visits we enjoyed last summer and autumn. Here we shall remember our autumn visit to the grounds of Croft Castle in South Shropshire.

Croft Castle is a favourite National Trust property. We often visit to enjoy a walk around the gardens and take tea in the teashop. On this autumn day we only had a short time but still managed to do both!

Croft is famous for its ancient avenue of Sweet Chestnut trees which are now sadly coming to the end of their lives. Their gnarled, pitted bark shows their great age and makes you imagine just what they would have seen going on under their boughs and all around them over the centuries. If only they could tell.

Autumn was descending on the walled gardens. SAMSUNG

Tags Croft Castle. Sweet Chestnuts, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, greenhouses, grown your own, National Trust, NGS, organic gardening, Shropshire Hills

arboreta birds fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials Hardy Plant Society HPS meadows ornamental trees and shrubs Shropshire South Shropshire village gardens

Holly Cottage – another garden visit with the HPS

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date February 22, 2013
8 Comments on Holly Cottage – another garden visit with the HPS

June 16th and we are visiting two gardens with fellow members of the Shropshire Hardy Plant Society. In my previous post I shared our morning visit to “Fairview” and now we move on to Holly Cottage just a few miles away for the afternoon. To get to the cottage we had to drive over a few fields dodging sheep and when we parked up the heavens opened and the temperature plummeted. Bravely we donned waterproofs – it was well worth it. The garden at Holly Cottage ran downhill from the cottage and within its two and a half acres formal and informal plantings of herbaceous plants mingled with mature trees, meadows, a pond and even a small stream.

Just as we were impressed by the veggie patch at Fairview in the morning, the fruit and veg garden at Holly Cottage impressed too. This veggie patch practised organic principles to produce quality harvests.

Part of following organic principles is to encourage wildlife to garden with you and here there were nest boxes and bird feeders in evidence as well as a meadow, a small arboretum featuring mostly native and wildlife attracting trees and shrubs. A comfy rustic bench was also positioned where we could appreciate it all.

We like to find original new ideas or twists on old favourites during our garden visits. At Holly Cottage we came across this wonderful example of high-rise living for plants.

As with any garden the plants are the stars and on a dull, wet cold day such as this these stars are needed even more. Holly Cottage’s plants did not let us down. They lifted our spirits out of the gloom.