Nymans

Nymans Garden

Today we went to Nymans in West Sussex. This is an outstanding National Trust property which is well worth the effort to visit. There are lots of varied things to see including picturesque gardens, woodland, a Victorian mock-medieval manor, and of course the obligatory tea shop.It was a pleasantly warm day and the spring flowers were showing off their best colours along with some spectacular azaleas and rhododendrons. We had some lunch in the cafe, and also some tea and cake later on which is pretty much compulsory when having a day out somewhere like this.

We didn’t bother looking in the house, as the weather was so nice we just wandered around the gardens and woodlands, making use of benches whenever they presented themselves, and enjoying the sunshine.

Annoyingly I had forgotten my camera, so I had to resort to the camera on my phone which didn’t really do justice to the surroundings.

Practicalities: Nymans isn’t the easiest place to get to without a car. We got a train to Crawley, from where you can get buses to the property. However the buses are not very frequent so you can end up with a long wait. On the way there we didn’t want to waste any time so we got a taxi from Crawley which cost £10. On the way back we timed our departure to coincide with a bus back to Crawley which was a more reasonable £2.50 each. Although the bus is sporadic, it does seem to be reliable and runs to the published times. There’s a bus stop right outside the property.

Chiswick House Camellia Festival

Camellia

Today we went to Chiswick House where there was a camellia festival. This was an exhibition in the newly restored conservatory. The camellia collection of Chiswick House is believed to be the largest in Europe.

The plants are very attractive to look at, and look as though they should smell nice but in fact they don’t have any scent.

Some of these plants are nearly 200 years old and were mostly brought from China in the early 19th century. There was a lot of good information about the collection, and stewards were on hand to answer any questions.

Chiswick House and Gardens has had a major restoration project completed in June 2010 and the whole place was certainly looking a lot better than the last time we visited several years ago.

The cafeteria especially was much improved. It is now run by Company Of Cooks, and after we had finished the exhibition we went there and had some good toasted sandwiches for lunch.

My blog being somewhat behind schedule, the camellia festival has now finished. But Chiswick House and Gardens itself is worth a visit for a stroll around. It’s not the easiest place to get to; we took the District Line to Turnham Green from where it’s about 15 minutes walk.