I previously posted about the grounds at Welford Park and, as I noted in that post, our reason for being there was the snowdrops. Today I am continuing my excessive posting about snowdrops, and I promise that this will be the last snowdrop post for this year – probably. I was worried that the flowers might have already peaked before we got there but I needn’t have worried. The woodlands were still carpeted with the white blooms. Here are some images that I got as we strolled around.
Three years ago, en route to a family wedding, we made a stop at Welford Park to see the snowdrops. It is not normally open to the public (although you can see it if you watch Bake Off), but they open for a few weeks each year when the snowdrops are in bloom. This year, we decided to go back again to see the flowers. They will appear in a separate post but, for this entry, I am focusing on the rest of the estate.
It is not a grand location like some in the area, but it certainly isn’t shabby. The house is big enough, the landscaping is lovely, rivers flow through various parts of the grounds, there are bridges, gardens are laid out, there is the church and churchyard next to the house so, all in all, it is a pretty nice-looking place. On our previous visit, we hadn’t explored some parts of the grounds, so this time it was good to check things out in a bit more detail.
If you are a fan of a certain British cooking program, this post maybe more relevant to you. I have never watched Bake Off but Nancy has and she knew of Welford Park, the location where it has been shot. The grounds are not normally open to the public – only paying TV crews – but once a year they open up for the snowdrops which I previously posted about. After walking through the woods and seeing the flowers, we came back to the main house where they had a café since a spot of lunch was in order.
Having not watched the show, I am not familiar with the layout of the grounds. However, I am told that the steps down to the lawn from the house are a feature of some of the TV footage. The house itself appears in shots and the lawn area, which was clear while we were there, is where they have the tents in which the contestants undertaken their challenges. If you have seen the show, hopefully these shots will be recognizable to you.
Not far from where we were staying while in the UK and en route to the wedding venue was Welford Park. Nancy was interested in this place because it is the location for the filming of Bake Off. However, it isn’t normally open to the public. Spring is the one exception when the snowdrops flower in huge numbers in the woods on the estate and they open up for visitors. Fortunately, the timing of this coincided with our visit so we scheduled a stop on our way to the wedding.
The weather was not looking like it would play ball. Just as we arrived in the parking area – a field – the heavens opened. We figured it was the UK so things could change quickly so waited it out. Sure enough, ten minutes later the sun was out and we headed in. There were a couple of times when the rain threatened again but we stayed basically dry, and we walked around the wood checking out the snowdrops.
They weren’t kidding. We saw quite a few as we walked into the estate but then we got to the woods and the place was carpeted with them. At first, I thought it was just the distance that made it look so dense but, no, when you got closer, it was really that many flowers. We wandered around the grounds taking them all in. It didn’t take too long, of course, before you started to get a little blasé about just how many there were. Sure, more snowdrops! No biggie!
