Discover England Tours

27/07/2023

Fabulous butterfly walk earlier this week on Shillingstone Hill. More than we have seen in years. Shillingstone Dorset Dorset Wildlife Trust

19/07/2023

We've been visiting today. Just wandering around the village enjoying all the historic houses.

11/06/2023

A few scenes from our garden today. June is a beautiful month.

08/06/2023

Peonies .Garden looking great today with roses, delphiniums and peonies in flower. Really enjoyed the cool shade of the landscape garden too.

11/05/2023

Iford Manor Gardens looking beautiful today. Such a wonderful setting. May is a wonderful month especially when the blue sky is full of billowing cumulus clouds.

27/04/2023

Lyme Regis looking lovely as always.

06/04/2023

We picked up our new car for the 2023 season today and we called in at Langport for lunch and to visit St Mary's Church at Huish Episcopi.

The church is noted for it's fine tower but we were there for the Norman doorway - part of the church built in the late 11th century. It has the classical Norman arch shape and decoration. A beautiful thing of such antiquity.

The church has fine medieval stained glass especially the east window. We wanted to see a 20th century window designed by Edward Byrne Jones and made in the William Morris studio. It shows a nativity scene and is a memorial to a local nurseryman.

Also of interest was the Hanging Chapel built over the top of a surviving gateway into the medieval town. The gateway was itself built on the remains of the Saxon town walls.

We saw some lovely historic buildings today. And had a great lunch at The Bridge Langport







-raphaelites

15/03/2023

Spring flowers in a Dorset garden.

06/03/2023

Magnolias are starting to flower in . As the snowdrops start to fade a whole succession of spring bulbs start to flower 🌸

17/02/2023

Wells Cathedral - the scissor arches.

11/02/2023

Its warming up a little and it looks like Spring might be on the way. So it's a good time to think about visiting some of our beautiful English gardens later in the year. We visited Hidcote Manor Garden last year on a Cotswold garden tour and the garden was looking lovely - as it always does!

04/02/2023

We took a winter walk around the gardens at Kingston Lacy this morning. It was a bit grey and chilly but the were beautiful. Also good was the witchhazel with was producing a gentle scent in the still air.

This is a good all year around garden. Next on the agenda is the which are just starting to flower. We had better go back in a week or so!

23/01/2023

Here in we have beautiful hills and forests for walking. The weather was right for an outdoor adventure this morning. The sun was out though temperatures were a little below freezing.

Here we are half way up Okeford Hill, quite enjoying the alpine vibe!

17/01/2023

It's cold and icy today in Dorset so we're thinking about the spring when gardens will be in flower again. This beautiful iris was captured at Hidcote Manor Garden.

14/01/2023

A tale of three cathedrals today! Featuring which has Britains tallest spire, ******ercathedral with its Norman arches - the longest cathedral in Europe and the beautiful scissor arches in .

13/01/2023

Its snowdrop season here in Dorset - they are just finding their way through the leaf litter under the beech trees with the daffodils not very far behind. Snowdrops grow wild in Dorset and they are a uplifting sight in the hedges and on the roadsides.

11/01/2023

The Sub Tropical Garden at enjoys a mild micro-climate as a consequence of its location behind the huge pebble bank of Dorset's Chesil Beach.

The garden is a wonderful combination of mature and unusual trees with different zones showcasing a wide variety of plants and planting styles. Here you will see tender plants that do not thrive in other parts of England.

The village of Abbotsbury is stone-built and reminiscent of the Cotswolds. Nearby is the Swannery where hundreds of swans nest in the summer.

10/01/2023

The gatehouse Wi******er Cathedral Close. The city of Wi******er is a good destination for fans. She lived the last days of her life in ******er and its buried in the cathedral.

The cathedral is worth a visit in its own right. Built over an extended period commencing in 1079 by Bishop Walkelin, a relative of William the Conqueror. Some of the Norman architecture survives and the cathedral is the burial place of many personages of significance in English history

When you visit be sure to find out about the diver from the early 1900's who worked tirelessly for six years shoring the crumbling foundations of the cathedral.




******er
******ercathedral

13/11/2022

Autumn colour in the woods near Shilligstone.

25/10/2022

More from our visit to National Trust Brownsea Island. Redshank, greenshank and cheeky squirel

25/10/2022

Here's a Red Squirel we spotted on a recent day out to National Trust Brownsea Island. Its a great time to see them as they stock up on food for the winter. We spotted 4 in total which is more then we have ever seen on previous visits to the island. Plenty of food for then to collect this year probably due to the hot summer.

11/10/2022

Late visit to this afternoon. The gardens are still colourful and there are such lovely trees all around the park.

Excited to witness the implementation of ground source heating for the Kingston Lacy estate putting on track for net zero by 2030.

18/07/2022

A warm and sunny day spent and .

03/07/2022

Susy planted some lovely poppies this year. The bees love them and they are beautiful if only for a couple of days and then a new one opens.

25/06/2022

Gardens at looking lovely today. Lots of great work been done with new planting. Especially liked the new bed on the kitchen garden. Skies were a bit dark - but no matter!

01/06/2022

A visit to National Trust - Hidcote Manor Garden in the Cotswolds is always a great day out. There is so much to see as you wander the small paths around this fascinating garden created by Lawrence Johnston in the early 1900s. The garden was acquired by the National Trust in 1948.

24/05/2022

Minterne Gardens looking very lovely in the May sunshine.

19/05/2022

A day today with a visit to the cottage where he was born. At Bere Regis church we encountered a Turberville descendent visiting from the US to see the family memorials. Then it was on to the coast to visit which featured in Far From the Madding Crowd.

10/05/2022

Stourhead looking beautiful today in the sunshine.

09/05/2022

In English folklore there's a saying:

The oak before the ash, we shall have splash. Ash before the oak we shall have a soak. The oak is on the left, the ash to the right.

Looks like a dry Spring is in prospect in 2022.

Btw - today is our first day back on the road after two COVID years. Paul is on the way to Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway with Joyce and Stacy.

24/04/2022

Went to check out Lyme Regis yesterday. Just as lovely as ever. Susy has just read Persuasion, so we went to view the steps where Louisa Musgrove fell!

08/04/2022

Looking forward to foxglove season!

29/03/2022

The first bluebell of the year seen on Saturday in the local woods. Cowslips along the wildlife field margins.

01/03/2022

Daffodils (and hellebores) for St Davids Day

15/02/2022

With the snowdrops come the . Not such a common bulb but lovely to see so early in the year.

07/02/2022

Its season in Dorset. The woods and hedgerows are full of these beautiful flowers. And the daffodils are not far behind!

20/10/2021

Our village had the annual Ploughing Match last weekend - where people turn out with vintage tractors and 2-furrow ploughs to show the landsman skills that have been lost to modern agriculture.

It was a beautiful autumn day. The Steam Preservation Society were there with their steam plough and various traction engines. There was ice cream and cups of tea. Our video was taken after the competiton closed - the drivers had linked up their harrows and were having fun just driving up and down! Can you spot the steam and smoke from the traction engines?

06/10/2021

Two years ago today - we were walking on the Purbeck coast. What a beautiful day!

03/10/2021

Plans for 2022 - https://mailchi.mp/457c624f3706/plans-for-1689584

12/07/2020