We’ve just got arrived back from a month-long stay in the UK and guys, it was MAGNIFICENT. The weather was stunning, LR got to meet her family and we celebrated my Grandfather turning 90. It was truly the best holiday I could have wished for.
And, it’s yet another chance to show Mr H where I am from and why I love it so.
I’m such a lover of history – of which, the UK has in rich abundance – and Mr H and I get happily lost visiting monuments, historic cities and touring National Trust properties. The mansions, castles, palaces that we visited this year didn’t just offer stunningly kept rooms but the most AMAZING gardens. I could gush for days about the plants and flowers that I’ve seen but pictures, in this case, speak more.
Just look at what was blooming whilst we were there…
Resting on the edge of the Peak District, Lyme was once home to the Legh family and, in its heyday a great sporting estate.
It has 1,300 acres and is home to a beautifully large herd of red deer. Lyme Park was used as Mr Darcy’s abode in the Colin Firth version of Pride & Prejudice (obviously the best one).
A stark symbol of power, Chirk Castle was completed in 1310 during the reign of the conquering Edward I to subdue the last princes of Wales.
There is over 700 years of history here and their award-winning gardens cover 5.5 acres. It’s too easy to get lost wondering around their manicured lawns, clipped yews, beautiful rose, shrub and rock gardens and the woodlands.
Here you’ll find 18th-century formal garden with grand lawns, avenues of pleached limes and masses of apple trees.
On our last Saturday in the UK we did a park run around the grounds (mine was more of a park stroll) and we cheekily picked a few apples in the orchard.
The wildflowers in the walled garden made me so envious.
I think, for our next trip, we’re going to take out National Trust membership for the year and try and visit as many places as we can.
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