Ickworth - Abandoned Glasshouses

The walled garden at Ickworth is much larger that the one at Wimpole. But much of it isn't in use, turned over to lawn rather than food and flowers. There are several large, disused glasshouses, that are slowly being reclaimed by nature. Lots of peeling paint, stagnant water, rust and brambles. The sort of derelict scene that appeals to many photographers. They certainly did to me.

 

The Walled Garden at Wimpole

 I always enjoyed a visit to the walled garden at Wimpole.  Such a variety of shape and colour.

A Few More From Wisely

Tidying up Lightroom before a trip away, so here are a few more shots from RHS Wisely.

I was taken by the abstract nature of these shrubs.

The hot zone had a Jade vine, which was just coming into flower.

Robins are often confiding, but this one was a tart.

 

There were many interesting statues throughout the gardens.  This horse head was probably the most dramatic.  Made of beaten lead, I loved the play of light across the surface.

 

Leaves in Mono

I recently visited the RHS gardens at Wisley in Surrey.  I  particularly wanted to see the tropical glasshouse.  This is a modern structure, only opened in 2007.  It's a huge building, 12 metres high and covering 'an area of 10 tennis courts'.  So even in the hot zone (and in a mask) it didn't give the claustrophobia can sometimes accompany a trip to the palm houses at the Botanic Gardens or Kew.

I spent a lot of time focussing on the shapes and textures of the leaves.  I was less keen on all the green, and there was a lot of green (I sound like Ann), so I decided to turn all the images mono. 

 

Woolsthorpe Manor

Woolsthorpe Manor, near Gratham, is the birthplace and was the family home of Sir Isaac Newton.  It is now managed by the National Trust.  The half dozen rooms of the main house are presented as a typical seventeenth century yeoman's farmhouse. One of the former farm buildings now houses a series of hands-on demonstrations of basic principles of physics, as well as the essential NT cafe.

 

Of the interior spaces, I found Newton's bedroom the most interesting.  It was there that he did his experiments into the composition of white light.  Sadly, when it came to light, and as is usually the case with NT properties, there was limited available natural light in the room.  This meant that all images had to be at high ISO and thus quite noisy.  I decided to run a couple of shots through Nik Colour Efex and try to get a kind of old master painterly feel.

The orchard next to the house has 'the' apple tree, under which Newton supposedly pondered the nature of gravity.  It survives despite having been blown over in a storm in 1820.  It's not a pretty thing.  Neither are the apples. Those I could see still on the tree were all small and gnarled. 

Stowe Gardens in Infrared

I have been having a lot of fun with my old 40D since I had it converted to infrared.  But the leaves on the trees are starting to change.  All those chlorophyll greens, that look so good in IR, are starting to disappear.  There won't be many opportunities left this year to use the camera to its full effect.  So I thought it deserved one more decent outing. 

I have seen from both Ann and Barry's blogs that Stowe was a good place for shooting infrared.  So, as a I had a rare Friday off, that's where I headed.