Laburnum Arch, Brodsworth Hall, May 16th 2017

One tends to take one's locality for granted. We live nearby the stunning English Heritage property, Brodsworth Hall. We use it as a park, the facility more than paying back the cost of our annual subscription. Over the years we have seen a stupendous improvement in the gardens, from snowdrops in January, massed bedding displays in spring and summer, and throughout the year the gloriously maintained topiary. The gardens are one of only three on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens to Grade II*. The neglected gardens covering some 15 acres, and in the structure of the 1860s, received funding from the UK's lottery fund in 2002, the restoration initially supposed to take three years but the reality is that there has been continuous work to restore a grandeur I suspect was never quite as wondrous as it is now, despite the size of the 19th century workforce, a number only to be dreamed of by the more streamlined team working there today. The reason of course is that the trees and shrubs have achieved maturity and been shaped to an uniformity unknown in nature. Which leads me to the laburnum arch.

I suspect we visited a week or so before the laburnums fleshed out to their full glory

The formal spring bedding looking splendid to be replaced a few short weeks later with summer plants

Brodsworth Hall Fountain, restored, eye-catching and cascading - not always the case

The first of three of the structures, this Victorian privy was a restored, or rebuilt to be frank, last year

Cutting down the overgrown trees and shrubs revealed to visitors of the house and gardens, the largely 12th century St Michael and All Angels, the vista recreated from an old photograph. If the visit is timed correctly tea and cakes are provided there several times a year and they are always delicious...

Just a glimpse of the house itself viewed from behind the shrubs`clipped to a measured inch of their lives

Different members of the gardening team take responsibility for the choice of bedding plants for spring and summer

The chalet or summer house