Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.

Autumn

Autumn’s Embrace

Autumn’s embrace is upon us at last
A hue of vibrant colours
Dapple through the trees
Exuding warmth and comfort
To protect us from life’s breeze

Ageing leaves sprinkle like confetti
To the ground, without sound
Enticing us to walk their magic carpet
As we marvel at their splendour
Such soothing vibes, so tender

Warmth rings out
From the tapestry of colour
With such abundant flair
Easing the shift from summer’s sun-kissed skies
With fallen leaves, some trees now bare

Squirrels dine on pinecones, in plentiful supply
Children gather conkers off the ground
As they pass by
Crafters forage autumn gems to their hearts delight
Before they scamper back off home
As the day gives way to night

In time the leaves will decompose
As the tree roots, they will nourish
With the passing of the seasons
The trees again will one day flourish
But in between we revel in autumn’s calm embrace
As we marvel at its beauty with a smile upon our face

Photos from a lovely few hours spent at St Ives Estate near Bingley, West Yorkshire. It is my local 'go to' place and I have blogged about it on many occasions. I think this autumn is the best we have had for a long time, the colours really popped for weeks. These were taken as it started to come to and end but I still managed to capture some lovely tones and colours.

Autumn at St Ives

Coppice Pond

Autumn at St Ives

Coppice Pond

The Enchanted Woodland, Fyne Court

Fyne Court was once the grounds of a beautiful Georgian mansion with a grand Arcadian landscape. Today, the traditional garden has largely been lost, as has the house, which was destroyed by fire in the 19th century. However, the stories of its most famous resident, Andrew Crosse, and its links to a literary classic can still reveal the secrets of this once manicured garden.
Andrew Crosse is Fyne Court’s most celebrated occupant. Living here in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, he was a visionary scientist and poet with a deep love of his native Quantock Hills. He was a highly intelligent man whose fascination with electricity ignited when he attended a lecture on the force. He began experimenting by giving electric shocks to unsuspecting friends. When Crosse graduated from Oxford University, he returned to Fyne Court to run the estate and here, his near obsession with electricity intensified.

Crosse became intrigued by its presence in the atmosphere and decided to explore this interest further. He strung up a third of a mile of copper wire in the grounds and connected it to equipment in the music room.
Voltage would build up when there was fog, heavy rain or thunder and lightning. Conducting equipment would begin sparking and flashing, and loud bangs would shake the music room.
Fyne Court's also had connections to Frankenstein.

In an experiment to generate crystals Crosse found that mites began appearing from a piece of volcanic stone he had put in acid and passed an electric current through. Crosse gave a lecture on his findings in London, and it has been claimed that Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley attended. This has led to the belief that Crosse's lecture inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein. However their presence at the lecture has never been proven. Among the many visitors to Fyne Court, it's reputed that William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge came to see Andrew Crosse.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/somerset/fyne-court/history-of-fyne-court

We visited on a very hot day and were glad of the coffee served in the small tearoom. We sat and drank it in the shade and then set off to explore the garden and woodlands. Fyne Court was transformed in the 1750s when Arcadian landscapes were popular. A boathouse, follies, ponds, cascades and a serpentine lake were built, and the house was remodelled.However, later descendants couldn't afford to maintain the gardens. As you walk through the woodlands you'll discover the remains of their former grandeur. The boathouse has been resituated away from the lake and half way up a hill which I found strange. One of the nicest features was the pond next to the walled garden where newts have been reintroduced.

After doing our circular walk, we cooled ourselves off with ice cold drinks from the tearoom, it had been a godsend that day. We drove back through the beautiful Quantock Hills scenery, this had been the first time we had visited this area and we both vowed to return.

Overgrown Lake, Fyne Court

Fyne Court

Newt Pond, Fyne Court

Fyne Court

Fyne Court Gardens

Newt Pond

Wild Garlic

Newt Pond

Deckchairs

Overgrown Lake, Fyne Court

Bluebells and Tarr Steps

Tarr Steps is a 55m (180ft) long clapper bridge across the River Barle just west of Liscombe village, in the southern region of Exmoor National Park. The bridge is built with 17 large stone slabs laid end to end and supported on stone pilings. The pilings, in turn, are buttressed by 'raking stones' to protect against the force of the water. The bridge ends in a causeway, or raised bank, and those daft enough, can use this part of the river as a ford.

It was certainly in existence by early medieval times, and it seems likely that it has been built and rebuilt for thousands of years before then. The most extreme estimate is that the first bridge was erected around 1000 BC, making it approximately 3000 years old. The 'Tarr' part of the bridge name may come from the ancient Celtic word 'Tochar', meaning a causeway. If true, this would suggest that the bridge indeed has an ancient origin.

The Nature Reserve takes in 33 hectares of woodland surrounding the river and the bridge itself, and provides habitat for woodland creatures such as dormice and the rare barbastelle bat, also otters can be found along its river banks. I was lucky enough to be there in bluebell season which made the woodlands feel extra special.

Tarr Steps

River Barle

Knaplock Wood

River Barle

Knaplock Wood

River Barle

Knaplock Wood

River Barle

Bossington Plantation

A few photos I took in the vicinity of Bossington Village near Porlock. Horner Water starts life high up on Exmoor and flows in to The Bristol Channel at Porlock Bay, going through the villages of Allerford and Bossington on its way to the sea.

Hurlstone point is a promontory of land between Porlock Weir and Minehead in the Exmoor National Park and marks the boundary between Porlock Bay and Blue Anchor Bay in the Bristol Channel and is on the South West Coast Path. The remains of a coastguard station on Hurlstone Point, built in around 1900 and manned until after World War II is visible for miles around.

Beforehand I visited Kitnor's Tea Gardens, one of the prettiest in the area and, as you can see, I was blessed with yet another sunny day.