Isle of Wight (4): Farringford, Tennyson's Home

With sweeping views like this it seems hardly surprising that the Isle of Wight is steeped in literature. The literary connections on this website alone bear testimony to this fact.

With the 'Break, break, break' of Tennyson's evocation of the waves ringing in my ears we set off for a pre-booked guided tour of Farringford, the poet's island home. There was a certain sense of mystery as we walked through the shiny brown door: we were entering the territory of a remarkable man who not only recreated the charge of the Light Brigade, but brought the colourful image of the Lady of Shalott and her charmed web before our eyes.

It was cold and fresh, but as we walked towards the house, we were greeted with signs of spring in the form of a swathe of crocuses.

You can catch a glimpse of the grounds, with the house in the distance from the greenhouse.

There were plenty of small plants and a splash of gold from the miniature daffodils.

No prizes for guessing who had been gnawing the fir cones! Though, sadly, we never saw a Red Squirrel.

The photo below gives a good impression of the path up to the house. Just imagine how beautiful this will be on a summer day.

Here I am at the entrance, just before the start of our tour. We were given an introduction and were then handed audio-guides so that we could go round pretty much at our own pace. I am not usually a fan of these machines, but the commentary was excellent. The staff were very helpful, too.

Tennyson settled here in 1853, and bought the property three years later. His library, one of my favourite rooms, equipped with a terrestrial and a celestial globe, was built in 1871. I was also particularly drawn to the (intensely blue) Blue Room on the ground floor, with its Parthenon frieze wallpaper.

The views of 'West Wight' from the grounds are wonderful.

Two days before our guided tour we had been exploring the area near Tennyson Down. The primroses were beautiful. 

David left me to 'take the low road' while he climbed to the top: you can just see him disappearing over the brow.

The white cross in the photo below is the Tennyson memorial, a cross to serve as a beacon to sailors. And yes, we did have some wonderful blue sky!

While David was walking on the ridge, I took a level path towards Alum Bay, and was delighted to find the following Tennyson quotation (from 'The Charge of the Light Brigade') on a National Trust gate.

We spent a little time on the beach at Freshwater ...

... and tried to visit the little thatched church of St Agnes. Sadly it was locked. You can read about it here. The stone is very old, but the building is only just over a century.

I shall stay in the West Wight area for my next post, which will be about our visit to Alum Bay and the Needles.

Isle of Wight (1): Osborne and Carisbrooke

'A wide expanse of shifting ocean,
A wide expanse of breezy down ...'

Mary Gordon Leith 

in 'Sketches from Recollection'

I mentioned in my last post that I had been away from my computer on the Isle of Wight and that I would share some pictures of our visit. We had a bitterly cold but calm crossing. We stayed out on deck, and David enjoyed looking at the forts in the Solent. The yachts from Cowes were out in force: you can see the island in the distance. I had spent a night on the island a long time ago, but had not previously had the chance to explore beyond Ryde and Newport.

OSBORNE

We drove straight to Osborne House, Queen Victoria's holiday home, with gardens stretching down to the sea. 

We passed this Victorian pillar box on our way to the cafe, where we were glad to warm up after the crossing with cups of steaming coffee.

You can just about make out the Solent. What lovely trees.

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing inside the house, and were delighted to find that we could picnic in the grounds. We perched on a bench near this stone sphinx, among daffodils and polyanthus. We noticed several holes in the soil: they were too large to have been made by mice so perhaps there were Red Squirrels in the vicinity ...

There were some wonderful decorative features: the frieze below adorned the inside of the house, with its Greek 'key' or 'meander' pattern, its palmettes and other motifs. 

The grotto outside was also very classical in appearance, with its shells and colour scheme.

I think we were both surprised at the number of corvids on the island. This rook was patrolling the lawn.

What wonderful blue skies in the photo below!

This last week has seemed very much like early summer; but despite the wonderful banks of primroses, our time on the island barely felt like spring.

CARISBROOKE CASTLE

Looking out over the walls

The Princess Beatrice garden from above

My thanks to David (Gill) for the two photographs above. We spent a wonderful afternoon exploring the castle. Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, has this lovely garden named after her today, but way back in the 13th century, Isabella de Fortibus created an early garden here at Carisbrooke.

Back in 1817 John Keats remarked on the Jackdaws, and I am glad to report that in 2018 there were a few glossy Jackdaws in residence. The pair below, taken with the full extent of my zoom, were literally perched in the masonry. I suspect the next generation of these birds will soon be on the way.

Kings of the castle

We have really noticed the first flush of green growth on the trees this last week, but you can see in the photo that the branches were still bare. What impressive castle walls.

We concluded our visit to Carisbrooke Castle by sitting outside with a pot of Earl Grey tea and slices of cake. We returned later in the week for a brief visit, and I particularly enjoyed seeing some of the artifacts in the museum.

My next post will step back in time to the Roman era when the Isle of Wight was known as Vectis.
  

Spring at NT Ickworth (another visit)

We saw three Nuthatches this afternoonat NT Ickworth.

The first one we saw was high up in a tree, but it flew down, and we noticed two others on the ground. 

The Robin attracted our attention with its song ...

Meanwhile, a little further into the park, the lambs were drawing a small crowd. 

Some were curled up at the base of a tree and others were looking alert. 

This pair, presumably twins, walked about in tandem, nudging up against each other as they went.

This little one was the closest to a black lamb ...

Notice the lovely markings on the ewe's face.

We noticed a few Grey Squirrels ...

like this one ...

... who was making the most of its nut. 

You can see the Ickworth rotunda here ...

We have seen an Egyptian Goose here before, and right on cue, this one appeared before our eyes ...

There seem to be quite a lot in East Anglia.

While we were admiring the goose, we noticed a charm of Goldfinches high up in one of the trees ...

The goose seemed to be looking for something, but we did not see a partner on this occasion. 

 There were some lovely clumps of Snowdrops and Primroses ...

This tiny Wren was scampering about on the bark.

On our way out of the park, we noticed an insect enclosure.

The arrows (clockwise from top) show:

• an high rise insect house, ideal for overwintering Ladybirds etc. 
• a path to allow the visitor to observe without disturbing the wildlife.
• a tree (there were several) providing bark in winter and leafy habitats in summer. 
• dry leaves and clumps of vegetation, again for insect homes, but also for food. 
• mossy tree roots, another kind of habitat for woodlice, snails, beetles etc.
• notice boards with beetle and butterfly identification guides.

NT Ickworth - a lovely place for a walk in the spring sunshine!