'Willpower & sheer idiocy combine in harmony'
FANS of gardens and afternoon tea have to put Crook Hall on their 'to do' list, hidden in the heart of Durham City.
The 13th-Century Grade I listed Medieval hall provides a spectacular backdrop to the stunning gardens, each one with a different, but distinctly English, theme.
Soak up the atmosphere over a home-made cream tea in the courtyard or in front of a log fire in the Georgian dining room.
The gardens are a short walk from the market place. Country Life described the hall as having "history, romance and beauty".
Winter opening: October 1 to April 10 2016:
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: 10am to 3pm. Adults, £4, children £3.
The cafe is open seven days a week, 9am-5pm, free entrance.
Crook Hall is on Frankland Lane, Sidegate, DH1 5SZ, a short walk from The Gates Shopping Centre. Follow the road next to the river from the Riverside and The Gates Car Parks, opposite the Gala Theatre. Pre-booking is essential for certain events. Season tickets and group discounts are available.
For further information, call 0191 384 8028 or e-mail: info@crookhallgardens.co.uk, or follow the link below:
Crook Hall - hidden gem in the heart of Durham City
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Book discovers many Paradises on earth
IN major world religions, plants and gardens have symbolism and meaning imbued with layers of significance and ceremonial or ritualistic purpose and use.
Paradise Gardens looks at 17 belief systems and their use of gardens, planting and art, illustrated by historical pictorial sources and photographs of existing sites.
Combining a global perspective and chronology of more than 5,000 years, Paradise Gardens reveals some of the divine gardens and earthly paradises promised to the faithful including The Fields of Reeds in Ancient Egypt, Eden in Christianity, the Isles of the Immortals in China and the Pure Land in Buddhist Japan.
Dr Toby Musgrave is one of the UK’s leading authorities on garden history and horticulture.
He writes for Gardens Illustrated and The Garden, presented the DVD Your First Garden Made Easy and is author of Cottage Gardens, An Empire of Plants, and The Gardener’s Garden.
The book would make an ideal gift - and here's my special offer.
The book is available now, published by Frances Lincoln. To order Paradise Gardens by Toby Musgrave at the discounted price of £24 including p&p* (RRP: £30), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG362.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
Inspirational places for gardeners
Gibside - 18th century pleasure grounds
DRIVE past the MetroCentre and take the kids to Gibside, Rowlands Gill - it's a National Trust property with stunning walks, scenery and holiday events.
The 18th-century pleasure grounds were the vision of coal baron George Bowes. Discover fine Derwent Valley views, winding paths and open spaces while exploring elegant buildings and ruins.
It's Georgian 'grand design' on a spectacular scale. The Palladian chapel is an architectural masterpiece, the stable block is a learning and discovery centre, and the once grand hall is now a dramatic shell. Gibside is also a haven for wildlife with red kites.
Food also runs through Gibside’s veins, whether in the walled garden, cafe, farm shop or twice monthly farmers' market, on the first and third Saturday every month, 10am to 3pm.
For more information, call 01207 541 820, or you can log on to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/gibside/
GIBSIDE FAMILY HIGHLIGHTS
Action-packed walk tracking the Strawberry Castle Adventure Play Area, the Low Ropes Challenge, Nature Playscape and Mini-Gibside Hall. Spot wildlife along the way and tick off some of your ‘50 things’ as you go.
Grade: Easy
Distance: 3.5 miles (5.5km)
Time: 2 hours (plus playing time)
OS Map: Explorer 307
Terrain: Circular route of the West Woods starting from visitor reception, calling in at play areas, including Strawberry Castle and returning along Gibside's flat avenue.
All on pushchair-accessible footpaths and tracks, there are no steps or stiles but some steep gradients.
GIBSIDE TRAIL
Grade: Moderate
Distance: 3.5 miles (5.5km)
Time: 1 hour 40 minutes to 3 hours
OS Map: Landranger 88, Explorer 307
Terrain: Fairly easy along well-maintained tracks and some grass, with a couple of steps and several gentle inclines.
Walk not suitable for wheelchairs. For accessible areas, use Gibside's Trampers (off-road mobility scooter) - free, but booking advisable. Dogs welcome on a lead.
GIBSIDE SKYLINE WALK
Grade: Moderate
Distance: 3.5 miles (5.3km) to and from entrance, including 1 mile (1.6km) on Skyline path.
Time: 2 to 4 hours
OS Map: Explorer 307
Terrain: Stone and gravel estate tracks, woodland paths and grassy farm fields, steep in places and muddy. Three stiles, eight steps and three kissing gates. Follow the white and green Waymarker signs.Walk takes you through fields which may have cows and horses. Dogs welcome on short leads.
THE Historic Houses Association (HHA) has launched a microsite focusing on 18 of England’s greatest Capability Brown landscapes and wants amateur photographers to get involved.
Northumberland-born Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, the father of landscape architecture, was born at Kirkharle, near Wallington Hall - it became his first landscape - and is featured on the site.
Now you can see your own photos on the homepage. Images can be submitted on Twitter using the hashtag #HHACapabilityBrown
and will be uploaded and credited.
The microsite profiles world-famous landscapes such as Blenheim Palace and Chatsworth House, alongside Ashridge House, Belvoir Castle, Bowood House, Burghley House, Burton Constable, Compton Verney, Harewood House, Highclere Castle, Knowsley Hall, Longleat House, Milton Abbey, Scampston Hall, Sherborne Castle, Ugbrooke Park and Weston Park.
All properties on the new microsite are taking part in the Capability Brown Festival in 2016 - a nationwide celebration of the 300th anniversary of Brown’s birth, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Find out more on www.hhacapabilitybrown.co.uk, or Tweet your pictures to @Historic_Houses #HHACapabilityBrown.
Celebration of NE lad Capability Brown's work
Walk in the Great North Forest - our 'urban lungs'
THE Great North Forest circular cycle and walking route takes you through the countryside of the former mining areas in Tyne and Wear and parts of County Durham, passing through Pelton, Bournmoor, Hetton-le-Hole, Penshaw Monument and Witherwack.
It includes a path along the Wear in Sunderland and a coastal section visiting Whitburn and Marsden Bay.
You will also visit the 14th century Lumley Castle at Chester-le-Street and Penshaw monument - a folly on Penshaw Hill dedicated to John George Lambton, first Earl of Durham.
In 2006, by the time the two millionth tree had been planted in Herrington Country Park, £22 million had been invested.
It was started in 1989 as the first of 12 community forests, designed as 'urban lungs', covering about 250sq km across Tyne and Wear and North-East Durham - more than 1,200 hectares of new woodland.
Neighbouring South Hylton Pasture is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and one of the few remaining examples of lowland hay meadow in Britain. The shallow, north-facing slopes support unimproved neutral grassland, maintaining a herb-rich sward, which supports the Common Blue and Meadow Brown butterflies.
IN Great Gardens OF London, Victoria Summerley, Hugo Rittson Thomas and Marianne Majerus collaborate to unearth the fascinating stories of plants and people inside the capital’s most exciting gardens.
The book opens the gates to more than 25 traditional and quirky gardens, some private, some public - on rooftops, within palaces, surrounding churches, behind walls, even floating on or lapped by the Thames.
The gardens include Winfield House, the US ambassador’s residence in Regent's Park; Downings Road's Floating Gardens in Bermondsey; the Old English Garden at Battersea Park and Coutts Skyline Garden, Charing Cross.
Victoria Summerley is a national newspaper journalist who specialises in writing about gardens and gardening and in 2010, won the Garden Media Guild Journalist of the Year award. Hugo Rittson Thomas is one of the UK’s leading portrait photographers and Marianne Majerus is a prestigious and prolific international garden photographer.
Published by Frances Lincoln, the book is available now, and you can order Great Gardens of London at the discounted price of £24 including p&p* (RRP: £30), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code APG372.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
Hidden garden gems of London unearthed
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Garden Museum shuts for multimillion pound revamp
LONDON'S Garden Museum closed on October 30 2015 for a £7.2million redevelopment project funded partly by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which will take approximately 15 months.
Members of the public have the chance to adopt some of its objects with a donation to support their care and conservation during the closure, and their display in the new galleries.
When it eventually reopens in early 2017, to get there, cross Westminster Bridge and head upstream. Enjoy a riverside walk until you get to Lambeth Palace Road, home of the museum, in the deconsecrated church of St Mary-at-Lambeth.
It's a hidden gem and not just for plant lovers. There's a thriving cafe and you can eat outside in the knot garden; a shop; the tomb of Captain Bligh (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame) and of course, the exhibits.
For more information about the Garden Museum Adoption Scheme, visit www.gardenmuseum.org.uk
WANT your family to live a healthier life? David Kirsch’s Ultimate Family Wellness book provides information on improving nutrition, maintaining physical fitness and a healthier lifestyle.
With a foreward by Jennifer Lopez, this programme is a guide to help everyone make simple changes to their daily routine that will provide
valuable lessons toward an all-around healthy lifestyle.
Fully customizable for adults of any body type, David Kirsch offers his no-excuses 5-5-5® exercise and diet programme (five moves, five days, five pounds), to help you improve your fitness level, lose weight and instill in your family a passion for fitness and health.
Losing the first five pounds in five days is the jump start to feeling and incorporating a new nutritional and fitness philosophy into your day-to-day life.
By combining enjoyable activities such as family time in the gym, scooter rides, swimming, running and hop scotch, to name a few, your family will discover the joy and benefits of an active life.
You’ll also discover ways to keep your body fuelled and burning fat. Reduce the time in your kitchen with nutritious and delicious recipes.
Finally, make it last with David’s approach to staying mindful, living well and staying happy and healthy.
With more than two decades of experience uncovering and harnessing the powerful connection between mind, body and spirit, David has become a leading authority on achieving optimal health and wellbeing at any age or fitness level.
Published by Fair Winds, to order Ultimate Family Wellness at the discounted price of £11.99 including p&p* (RRP: £14.99), telephone 01903 828503 or email mailorders@lbsltd.co.uk and quote the offer code QPG419.
*UK ONLY - Please add £2.50 if ordering from overseas.
The winner of the competition was @adaleb, of Norwich.
