Grottos, ruins and beautiful trees!

A promise of a warm day today, so Sis and I set off at 10.30 for Painshill Park, near Cobham. The 160 acre designed landscape was created by Charles Hamilton between 1738 and 1773 and all I can say is that it's amazingly, fantastically, ridiculously, unbelievably, incredibly astonishing! We ended up staying for more than six hours and walked further than our combined hips and knees could really cope with! 

A wonderful collection of trees and shrubs, strange ruined buildings, grottos and other odds and ends - probably best to look at the website if you want to know more!  https://www.painshill.co.uk/explore-painshill/ My Blip today is of the 'Ruined Abbey' from across the lake.

I remember when the estate was bought by Elmbridge Borough Council back in 1980. I read about it in the paper and phoned to ask if I could see it. Although it wasn't to open to the public for some time while restoration took place, I was allowed in a couple of days after a special open day had taken place, probably for council people and maybe potential funders, and for the soon to be formed Trust which was to run it in the future. All the signs and arrows and marked routes were still up for me to follow! Seeing the huge number of people there today it was odd to remember being the only person there that day, apart from a few men fishing in the lake! I remember it being very overgrown with seedling trees.

Definitely worth going to see - a very special place!