Leaving Cornwall is never easy. It is such a loved place by everyone who visits that to say goodbye to the beautiful unspoiled countryside and magnificent coastal views is always a major tug on the heartstrings.
Stourhead Garden, Wiltshire
But we made our departure and headed back to London for the Chelsea Flower Show and a visit to Wisley, the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship garden near Dorking.
On the way back from Cornwall, we stopped at Stourhead, the superb estate garden built by Henry Hoare in the 18th century.
Stourhead Garden, Wiltshire
This is an “Acadian landscape” with temples and grottoes and a Pantheon building set on the banks of the lake surrounded by more than a thousand acres of woodland.
Stourhead Garden, Wiltshire
Hoare was attempting to create a romantic landscape that evokes the idea of the myths and legends and poetic stories of Greece and Rome of antiquity.
Loraine Whysall at the pantheon at Stourhead
It is the beauty of woodlands full of nymphs and gods and goddesses that is supposed to engage the mind in a thrilling encounter with the divine and the mysterious.
Inside 260 year old grotto at Stourhead
No matter how many times you visit this garden, the picturesque view of the lake with the Palladian bridge in the foreground and the pantheon in the distance never grows tired. It is always a picture that rests the eyes and fills you with a sense of peace and relaxation.
Gothic cottage tucked into woodland at Stourhead.
We walked around the lake, admiring large rhododendrons and camellias in bloom on the way as well as specialty trees, such as the pocket-handkerchief tree and large, magnificent beech and oak trees.
Petal filled ground under giant rhodos at Stourhead
From Stourhead, we went on a little way before stopping for a pub lunch at The Black Dog in Chilmark. This is a lovely Wiltshire pub with a history that dates back to the 1600s.
Landlady of The Black Dog waves goodbye
Back in London, we checked back into our hotel in Shepherd’s Bush.
Garden group outside The Black Dog
The final day of our garden tours includes a visit to Wisley and then the inimitable Chelsea Flower Show.West Country
Rhodes below beech at Stourhead
Lunch at The Black Dog with knight in the corner
Steve Whysall with knight at The Black Dog in Wiltshire
