The First of March dawned with beautiful sunshine in the Cotswolds, so it seemed a perfect to day to revisit Hidcote Manor and Gardens near Chipping Campden in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds.
Hidcote is an Arts and Crafts-inspired garden created by Major Lawrence Johnston and covers an area of 10.5 acres. Major Johnston designed the garden in phases between 1907 and 1938 and was a member of the Garden Society and the Royal Horticultural Society. Hidcote was gifted to the National Trust in 1948.
The first part of the gardens I visited was the Long Borders next to the Orchard where many Snowdrops were still flowering and looking their best. I spent a while capturing quite a few snowdrop images! Even though the light is quite harsh around midday and the early part of the afternoon, there are many trees in the Orchard so the light is diffused by the tree branches and is better for photography.
Snowdrops
After admiring the snowdrops I walked through to the Beech Allee where I could hear and see lots of birds flitting around the trees and scrub around the edges of the gardens. I am hoping that when I visit in April, there will be Bluebells under the Beech trees. From there you can walk around the outskirts of the garden and arrive at the wrought iron gate at the end of the Red Borders where you can see right down to the huge old Cedar in the Old Garden.
I spent a little while in the Rock Bank and Wilderness Garden discovering more Snowdrops and some pretty Hellebore flowers and Hazel catkins. There are lots of Hydrangea with dried flower petals and seedheads and they looked very pretty in the sunshine.
Rock Bank and Wilderness Garden
By this point, I'd already spent two hours in the garden and was ready for coffee and cake! Fortunately, Winthrop's Cafe is open all day and serves lovely, hot coffee and delicious cakes so I sat outside in the sunshine with a Cappuccino and cake before continuing back into the garden.
The softer light of the afternoon sun bathes the gardens in a warm glow and the shadows start to lengthen and I prefer this light for photography. I wandered through the Old Garden and then back to the Red Borders and the Gazebos.
Old Garden and Rear View of Hidcote Manor House
Enjoying the late afternoon sunshine, I wandered along the different paths stopping at various points to photograph some landscape images of the Red Borders, Gazebos, Pillar Garden and the paths back to the Manor House.
In the early part of the season, Hidcote closes at 4pm and I suddenly realised it was ten minutes from closing and I didn't have long left of my visit! It is so easy to lose track of time in the gardens as there is so much to explore and so many images to capture. I just had time to wander back through the garden to the Chapel and take the last couple of pictures. My next visit will be in late March when I expect to see Daffodils and other spring flowers blooming and new leaves on many of the shrubs and trees.
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