A morning at Newby Hall

I have been planning to go to Newby Hall for some time. I even had a trip booked, twice, but for various reasons I did not get to visit. I was determined to visit to see their recently reopened restored rock garden and so found a day when I would definitely make the trip.

The journey commenced rainy, which was unusual. I begged the rain to rain at home (it did not) and carried on. The forecast said it would clear up so I had every hope it would. By the time my friend and I got to Newby it was fine drizzle and within an hour it was pleasantly cloudy if not a little humid.

There is a lot to see at Newby, and I do mean a lot. There is a boating lake, a small scale railway, a children's playground which we looked at but were not the focus of our day. We did visit the dolls house exhibition which was very interesting.

We visited the teddy bear display which houses Giles Brandreth's and his wife Michele Brown's teddy collection. This is an original Fozzy. I left worrying about Tony Blair's teddy. I didn't take a photo of him, he was sad enough as beside him was a letter dated 1998 saying that the bear was in the exhibition for his holiday. Well, I hate to mention it but 28 years later is a long holiday or maybe he has been abandoned....

Inside bits completed (we did not go into the house this time, maybe next time), we set off to find the rock garden. This shady walk was lovely and a relief after some of the swelteringly hot days we had this summer.

Despite the recent heat the dahlias were looking good.

and look - a host of Dahlia Waltzing Matilda, my favourite dahlia. It was like they had planted them knowing I was going to visit!

The long borders that lead up to the house were a delight.

I had to explore this ...

wonderful shell pavillion. How fabulous is this? Just think of the patience required, and it is one of a matching pair - one each side of the path.

We were here though for the rock garden and from first sight it did not disappoint.

It is the perfect mix of rocks and water and great details.

There are enticing paths that lead you through different views of the space.

and perfectly timed, the little train went past as we were gazing out over the pond.

I really enjoyed exploring. The rock garden was created between 1912 and 1914 by Robert Vyner, who owned the hall and the renowned plantswoman Ellen Willmot. As you can imagine, completing in 1914 meant that World War 1 had a huge impact on its upkeep as so many of the hall staff including the gardeners were called up to fight. The garden fell into disrepair and went into a period of neglect. Thankfully the current owners of the house and gardens decided to restore these gardens in a project that took over seven years.

Look at this aqueduct, isn't it amazing? Oh for a garden big enough to have an aqueduct..... Though as I often say, even in the largest gardens, inspiration can be found for a small space. So maybe I should consider a miniature aqueduct for the cats to walk over....

as we were leaving the rock garden I stopped to admire this wonderfully twisty stem. Isn't it fabulous.

We then continued our exploration. I loved this garden. It was full of colour and texture.

As I looked over the gate that led into another part of the garden I was convinced that one of the gate statues was a duck. My friend said it was a dog. I remain unconvinced.