Longstowe Hall and Gardens

The photographs are from a visit to Longstowe Hall gardens on the last Sunday in June. There is a short story behind it (a real life one, not fiction).

I've lived in this corner of Cambridgeshire for over two decades and have often wondered what is hidden behind the impressive front gate of Longstowe Hall (which strangely I didn't take a photograph of), but have never actively done anything to find out, despite it being only a ten minute or so drive up the road from me. 

During lockdown I did inadvertently (honest!) wander onto their parkland while following a badly signposted public footpath, but I still didn't get to see the hall and formal gardens. (Some of the photos in my "Laying Down Lines" post are from that inadvertent stroll). 

Finally, I made a conscious effort to visit on one of their open garden days. Better late than never. It only took twenty years to get around to it. These are some of the things I saw.

RSPB Sandy

As ever, I don't really have the proper photographic kit to take decent bird photographs (See my RSPB Fowlmere post for further comments about the importance of size), but it was still a very fine afternoon and I managed to find a variety of interesting and rather lovely things to photograph. I may have even seen a raven, or I may have deluded myself, but either way I didn't manage to get a decent picture.

I definitely saw buzzards and red kites, plus magpies and pigeons and a squirrel, but yet again, no photos were taken, or those that were, were not up to it. Oh well...

Click here for further information about The Lodge Nature Reserve at Sandy.