A year at Wallington in pictures, November 2011 - part 12
2011 is rapidly coming to an end, as is this series of blogs. Over the year, I have taken hundreds of photographs and used the ones that I like best to illustrate how the grounds and Walled Garden have changed season by season.
With the House now closed except for a few planned events, the property has started to get very quiet with a gradual reduction in visitor numbers. As usual here at Wallington, there are some planned weekly events, in the run up to Christmas.
My weekly visits to help this year started in the first week of January and hopefully will continue into December - weather permitting!
The above image of the Clock Tower was the first photograph taken on my first visit of November. The one-handed clock was showing it was approximately 8.45 am. I tend to get here early and use the time to walk around the property and take photographs before starting work. The autumn colours continue to be seen in the woods and especially the Walled Garden.
On reaching the car park, I was in only the second car there. Getting all my gear together, I set off to the Walled Garden. In the distance I heard the sound of someone using a leaf-blower - was this to be our job for today, I thought to myself!
It was to be a dry but slightly overcast day and I spent the my time in the Courtyard, clearing up leaves beside the Restaurant and from under the beech hedges of the Courtyard Cottage gardens.
My second visit to Wallington in November began with my usual walk around the outside of the House and grounds. Around the Courtyard, West and East Lawn the trees have nearly shed all of their leaves.
Rather than take the direct route to the Walled Garden, I took the path around China Pond. The ground and paths were completely covered with fallen leaves. My work today was concentrated on tidying up the path around East Lawn in the Walled Garden.
It was quiet in the Walled Garden and I only spoke to a few visitors during the day. It was a calm day, which made the clearing up of the leaves a much easier job.
The frosts of early November seemed to have disappeared for my third visit of the month. The trees in the woods here at Wallington have rapidly lost their leaves and the Walled Garden is being prepared for Winter. As well as volunteers, there was a group of about twelve people, spending a week here on a working holiday. A great deal of clearing up, planting and other tasks around the grounds and Walled Garden will be undertaken.
For today, our task was to cut down hazel branches in the Orchard. The branches were then stored to be used as pea sticks in the future. The weather remained dry and calm for another productive day's work around the estate here at Wallington.
Compared with recent months of the year, the Walled Garden is again starting to look bare. Over the last few weeks a great deal of planting has been carried out, to provide the seasonal splashes of colour. Whilst on my walk through the garden, I came across a single rose bloom, beside the Cut Flower border. It provided a reminder of the past colourful displays here this year, a 'trademark' for the property.
Last winter's snowy weather started here at Wallington on the 24th November 2010. After a frosty start to the day, snow began to fall in the middle of the afternoon and in a short space of time the Courtyard was completly covered. One of my first photographs taken that day was the Griffin Heads on East Lawn.
My fourth visit was to be on the 23rd of November, so I thought it would be a good idea to retake the same photograph of the Griffin Heads, a year to the day later. It certainly was a lot warmer today and no sign of frost.
During November, I have made five visits to help in the grounds and Walled Garden. The work for my last visit on the 30th was to tidy up the borders beside the House entrance and front of the House. The trees have shed all of their leaves and all that remains is to clear them away from the grass and any corners around the property.
Although windy and wet during the afternoon, it is certainly a big difference to this time last year, when we were in the grips of a hard winter.
As this National Trust property moves into the last month of 2011, preparations are being made for the planned Christmas events.
We'd like to hear from you. Send your stories, pics and videos to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk
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Morpeth Links
John Dawson - Local history tales
Wildlife - With Conservation Officer Kevin O'Hara
Ian Lavery - Updates from the MP for Wansbeck
Ray Purvis - Through the seasons at Wallington
DAWN Advice - Liz Chadwick from the advice charity
Robson and Prescott Vets - Pet advice
Morpeth Lions Club - By Lion Simon Pringle
Wendy Errington - Volunteering at Wallington
Andrew Gibson - Fishing and photography
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Hi Ray! Great post, as always. I've just sent you a message on your Flickr account, with my phone number. If you could give me a ring when you get it that would be great!