Escape to the South - Part 6 - Around the River Test

Mottisfont Abbey and Garden



If we had been a bit more familiar with the area, we would have taken a boat and let us drift down on the river Test to Mottisfont. :-)



This estate belongs to the National Trust. (I have recently become a member, a great gift from Father Christmas ;-) )



The parkland around is very ancient and, as always, the old trees are majestic and are naturally dominating.





This must be an old graveyard for dogs but the writing on the stones is quite fainted.



We stroll through the park and arrive at the river Test.



There are workers who repair the old bank reinforcement. They explain that it was initially in elm wood but due to the Dutch disease there are no more elms to be found and it is replaced mainly by chestnut. They were confident that they would do this work only once in their life time ;-).



Those rainbow trouts had a decent pan size and were so quiet - I thought I would be able to catch them with my bare hands...



We had a look inside the catacombs, very dull and dark and mysterious.



The we were walking along the Abbey to the walled garden.
A late rose still flowering - there were a few labels in the walled garden.



Lots of hedges to cut and all very well maintained.





This is how EG and I imagine our arched way in the front garden. However, we have now metal arches as those wooden ones have rotten away after 8 years. I would like to come back here in summer and see the roses in flower with all the bees and butterflies around.



The autumn bloom was not too well presented, it is a rose garden and therefore much better on show in summer.



We did spot some geraniums (my friend Georgia is responsible having infected me with the hardy geranium bug :-o)



A part from the Verbena bonariensis and the cyclamens we could not identify those blooms and unfortunately there were no labels. They had either white or slightly purple flowers. Any clue?



On the way back, one has again a good overview of the walled garden.



On the field outside were 'my' highlanders waiting but they were not interested in coming closer.



We waved good-bye to this ancient place. It was our last day in Hampshire and we had to get our luggage ready for next day's drive. Georgia was to be dropped in Gatwick to take her flight back to Hamburg and I was taking the ferry again for driving home, alone. But before that, we had plenty of time to explore:
Wisley Garden in Surrey.