A Year at Wallington in pictures, August 2011 - Part 9

Just as July, the weather at Wallington in August continued to be changeable, with periods of heavy rain and sunny spells! Work in the Walled Garden, work around the grounds and the planned events had to cope with our summer weather. The last two months here at Wallington had seen a wide variety of events and activities aimed at the younger generation. With the School holidays rapidly coming to an end, the estate moves into the last quarter of 2011.

House entrance in the early morning sun - 17/08/2011.

Walled Garden Orchard - 17/08/2011.

Summer view of Conservatory - 17/08/2011.

August was a very busy month for events. The varied programme catered for all ages with such events as: Medieval Family Fun Weekend, Woodland Heritage Day, Heros and Heroines Weekend, Teddy Bear's Picnic as well as the popular Go Wild and Summer Fun days.

Illyria returned with a swashbuckling version of Gilbert and Sullivan's much loved comic opera of Pirates of Penzance. The performance on the 14th August, had an audience of 300 and was played out on a sunny evening in the beautiful setting of Wallington courtyard.  

Due to my own holidays, I have only been in the Walled Garden for the second half of this month. My jobs have mainly involved general tidying up of the borders and paths. On each of these occasions the Walled Garden has been very busy with a large number of visitors and children. The garden echoed with the sound of children at play, and picnics on the grassed areas seemed to be popular.

As we are moving closer to the Autumn, many varieties of plants have stopped flowering and we are kept busy cutting them back, dead heading and tidying up the borders. It is also noticeable that the trees in the woods are starting to change colour. I have a feeling that we will be starting to clear up fallen leaves around the property, earlier than normal this year!

Changing Colours - 24/08/2011.

The work carried out by the permanent staff here at Wallington is supplemented by the team of volunteers. Last year, the National Trust had 55,000 volunteers who gave their time at various properties and sites around the country. Wallington is always looking to increase volunteer numbers for a wide range of activities and roles around the House, garden, grounds and estate. For more information you can visit the National Trust web site or ring the Estate office on 01670 773967.

After a shower - 24/08/2011.

Walled Garden Lower Terrace - 24/08/2011.

As August finishes and September begins, I shall be continuing my weekly visits. It has been surprising to see all of the changes and watch how the garden matured over this year. Due to the size of the Walled Garden and the wide variety of planting, it is unusual to work in the same part or carry out the same activity, two weeks in a row.

Summer afternoon Walled garden Conservatory - 25/08/2011.

View of Lower Terrace from Mary Pool - 25/08/2011.

The hard work, time and effort put into the Walled Garden, grounds and Estate by all of the people involved, continues to ensure that visitors to the property, see it at its best, whatever time of the year they visit. Over the last few weeks there has been a wide variety of comments from the first time and regular visitors: Wonderful place to visit, excellent garden, best garden we have visited, well set out and maintained garden and a beautiful garden with Wow factor!

As a single volunteer, my weekly contribution is only a small part of the overall work that is needed to keep this garden in its pristine condition. It is great to hear the positive comments from visitors and be thanked by them for the work that you are doing. I really enjoy my time here and look forward to my weekly visits.