There is a long track down to the mansion itself. This photo looks as if I have taken it on an angle but actually the perspectives are a bit wonky in the valley itself. The valley is full of Welsh Black cattle who are sturdy little blighters and reputedly even more tasty than (and in their belted form, easily mistaken for) the belted Galloway with which our freezer is currently stuffed. The cows are good because they attract the flies that the rare bats in the belfry feed upon.
The house was never finished. I don't know why. Probably the builders got distracted by a more lucrative client, or somebody died or something. It stands, unfinished, stark and beautiful, in the middle of the valley, a home to Greater Horseshoe bats and reputedly several spectral occupants which regular seances will put you in touch with. Personally, I find the gargoyles to be the most interesting feature. Bats are cool but ghosts never fail to disappoint.
There are a series of lakes, man-made by some Victorian landscaper, and it was here I saw an emperor dragonfly and another red one the name of which escapes me. It seems odd that with Christmas decorations in the shops, dragonflies are still to be seen. The elongation of both seasons seems to have brought together these two unlikely contemporaries. I tried to get a photo but they were too quick for me.
On the second lake is the boathouse. It is so very twee and you can just imagine atmospheric Summer trysts here, as the soft rain falls and Her Ladyship, freed of her crinolines, stares dreamily out of the window at the lake as the gamekeeper languishes, spent and disbelieving of his good fortune, on a pile of old horse blankets thinking socialist thoughts.
I think it is rather a lovely idea to have a boat parked under your floor. I wonder if there was a trapdoor, Thunderbirds style, through which one could drop down into a small dinghy for a quick getaway to the other end of the valley and the cover of the woods.
It was a beautiful day, unseasonably warm at perhaps 18C, but a breeze had been following us down the valley as we descended. The surface of the lake was initially covered in ripples until, suddenly, the wind dropped and...
I got a chance for an artistic shot of reflections and beech leaves. The sudden stillness was a bit spooky initially but once I got used to it, the place seemed full of peacefulness and I could happily have sat there all day, staring into the water. It was the middle of nowhere, remote, beautiful. The world surely could not intrude here.
After all these years of driving right on past this hidden treasure, I could not believe how extensive a place could be enclosed by the roads so familiar to me. There just didn't seem to be enough space.
Anyway, after a few moments of introspection, the rumbling of my stomach became too obtrusive to ignore and we headed back up the long valley to the van for a cup of tea and a kit kat. I confess that few things give me the feeling of peace as sitting in my van in a beautiful place, in the back of my van, with a cup of tea. Everyone needs a van or its equivalent, for peace of mind and mobile solitude. I have said it many times before but I love my van.
8 comments:
Ah, how romantic. When it's dry and bright, our country is not so bad, is it?
Shame you didn't capture the dragonflies (with your camera, of course, not with a net). On the mansion photograph, the sky looks like emerald green, only blue, if that makes sense?
I wonder - would you be kind enough to send me the photo of the trees reflected on the still water? My 12 year old don is doing a project for art; collecting pictures of water and trees is one of the tasks. If you don't want to send it, I shan't consider you 'unkind'.
I want a van, but the boys would only be allowed to look at it!
Lucy
Yes, I understand what you mean by emeral green but blue, the same way I always knew what colour sky blue pink would be: Kind of the same hue but on the "other side" of the spectrum.
You never look back once you get a van. Sitting warm inside looking at a raging sea, or listening to the rain on the roof as you sleep, its freedom, pure and simple. Plus there is a cocktail cabinet in one of the cupboards for those long parked-up evenings.
p.s, my son isn't called Don. That was a typo.
Oh! A "mysteriously abandoned" mansion - those few words were enough to have me do a little research; I could not turn the computer off tonight without having at least tried to find out why Woodchester Mansion was never finished.
According to the official website, the original owner died before it was finished. His son comissioned an estimate into what it would cost to finish and then run the mansion, and was advised that he'd have to spend less money for an entirely new house, and so eventually the plans to complete the mansion were abandoned.
While you had 18C on Sunday, we had maybe 2 or maximum 4 in the sun, but it still was a good day - even without dragonflies.
Lots and lots of things to like in this post. Your post brightened up a dull train journey,so thanks for that!
I have to join the 'I want a van' club too, I am afraid. Either that or a Landrover. I'm a step away from converting our current car into some kind of gritty off-roader (although Mrs GL might say something nasty).
And the new photo at the top of the blog is bloody good.
Hello:
Such a surprise to open this post this morning and to find ourselves taken back to Woodchester where we were now many, many years ago. And yet, from your pictures, nothing seems to have changed beyond a glimpse of some awning attached to the house itself.
We are delighted that you got as far as the boathouse which, we think, is an absolute gem and something which we could readily 'steal'!!
Oh! Blogger makes me cross! I wrote a comprehensive and appreciative response to all your comments and then when I clicked to publish it, it came up with a "your request cannot be completed". And now I can't remember what I wrote!
Bah! ctrl-A, ctrl-C always!
So, let me try again.
Lucy, nothing wrong with being called Don. In Zorro, apparently, everyone was called Don, though they were of course of Spanish descent and therefore entitled to a little eccentricity.
Meks, I started reading the website but my attention span is even shorter than usual at the moment. I seemed to remember a death was implicated, but beyond that, it was all a little hazy.
GL: Thanks for the comments on the pics. The new title pic was the easiest photo I ever took: Lying on my back under the few coniferous trees at the far extent of the valley.
And get a van. Its freedom:
http://oldmucketsmakery.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/escaping-in-a-van/
Lance and Jane: I cannot believe i had not been to Woodchester before. It is mere hundreds of metres from roads I traverse every week. It is a treasure I must wander around again, only with a better camera.
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