A Visit to Burghley House and The Ha Ha (Part 2)

The day continued to smile on us at Burghley with its blue skies and perfect sunshine to show off the glorious landscape surrounding the house.  It doesn't matter how many times we visit here, it always shows us something new.  This time around it showed off the beautiful gardens of Capability Brown in all its glory.

Autumn was in full flow and this meant camera overdrive for me.  The large space is so welcome to walk and take time to enjoy, especially when I have Mr Teen with me on a rare trip together, just relaxing time, mother and son.

I can't tell you how much I dream of these moments where I can walk amongst the leaves and see avenues of trees and luckily he wanted to do the same.

The house itself sits in the middle of its estate in absolute splendour, surrounded by the most exquisite park land and gardens.

The feast of colour made me smile.  This time of year is magical.

Usually we are followed by the deer that reside here, but with the rutting season most were behind fencing.  One or two were free though just relaxing in the brief sunshine.

The day was perfect to capture autumn and this house through the trees.

I have always wondered what this wall was that surrounds the inner sanctum of the building itself.  Apparently it is called The Ha Ha and was constructed by Capability Brown as a sunken wall in the 18th century to keep the deer herd out of the park while maintaining uninterrupted views across the from the west front of the house.  The renovations were completed in 2012 after 300 meters of limestone wall were replaced.

And so, thoughts now start to focus on Christmas and from looking up at the trees, they were thinking this also with the round balls of festive mistletoe ready to be farmed and displayed in strategic parts of houses.

With the wind blowing outside as I type this and the tree branches naked from leaves, I think we were lucky to capture these moments while we could.  

So that's Autumn and November nearly over.  Now the countdown begins to the big day!

Have a wonderful week!

              

An Autumn Trip to Burghley House (Part I)

With most of the leaves now fallen it is a joy to go back a month on my camera card and seeing some more autumn happiness on our travels.  Burghley House is a regular visit for us, and we absolutely love this place with its deer park, sculpture gardens and of course the tudor mansion.  So let's just park the bike and spend some time around this wonderful place.

The tree lined avenues were cloaked in gold before the inevitable high winds came along with incessant rain, so I was so happy to catch this moment.

Of course it is rutting season, so most of the deer were behind protective fencing but there was still plenty of opportunity to capture these gentle creatures.

However, I must stop diverting from what I wanted to show you this week.  With Burghley House you can walk around the grounds for free, but to see the Garden of Surprises and sculpture gardens you need to pay.  Most of the time we are blissfully happy with the freedom of the park, but this visit was going to be spent having rare moments with Mr Teen and I was most certainly going to make the most of it!

I have always wanted to eat lunch with the view over the lake (for years!!), and today was going to be it.  So, with Halloween just around the corner (can you believe that was nearly a month ago!), off we went to explore and capture the beauty of autumn in this place.  We were having more than a pumpkin punch, so the wicked witch's offering was not going to be accepted!!

The changing leaves were spectacular and did not disappoint.  So let's go on a quiet walk around the gardens.

And so to lunch!  A very sturdy and comfortable seat awaited.

And a very welcome bagel on the spot that I have yearned to look out on while we ate.

A beautiful view...

Right by the boat house.

Next time I will take you back onto the main park and the views of the wonderful Burghley House and more of the autumn leaves and deer.

Thank you for your good wishes for my surgery.  Just two more weeks and the bunions will be bunioffs!!  The Christmas shopping is in full flow while I am still mobile, but will give Black Friday a miss!

And, a very Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating this week!!

              

Autumn's Beauty at Burghley House

For the last couple of weeks I have been dreaming about crispy brown leaves beneath my feet, so when I heard it was going to rain, and rain hard, I knew I had to get to Burghley and risk the showers before things started getting all mushy.  So, are you ready for a gentle walk my 'deers'?!!

The Elizabethan Burghley House was standing beautifully in its grounds with the mist clearing... and still dry!  We were being very lucky with the weather this time around.

The last of the summer roses surrounded the driveway's flower beds and the smell was incredibly strong along with the lavender that danced by their feet.  White roses on one side and red on the other, all equally strongly scented.

However, I suppose I had better get keep with the rules!

Our walk was shared with deer of all sizes and temperaments.  These two were enjoying some play jousting with their antlers.

There is still green in the trees but the slight change was there to see, especially beneath our feet.  At last, we were able to hear the crispiness beneath our feet.

The trees are amazing in the grounds.  They seem to look as though they have been corkscrewed out of the earth.

The avenues of trees looked nearly ready for their sleepy slumber that would follow in the next few months.

Our walk took us through the metal gate and onto the bridge to give gorgeous views of the House and lake.

The autumn colours gently showing through the green.

Our walk then followed the lake back to the house and the sun started to make more of an appearance.  It was warm but not summer warm - warm with the autumn bite.

It was so quiet on the bridge and we didn't want to leave here.

The house was beginning to be bathed in the sunlight.  It's always a joy to see and visit this landmark  (past posts are here, here and here), but to just walk around the grounds is free to everyone.

I've censored the statue that stands in the driveway of the house (too many 'grapes' on show!).

Mumsy had a lovely reflective time walking around as my Dad hasn't been too well lately, so she was just able to be quiet for a while.

And so, it was time to head back as the storm clouds had finally appeared on the horizon.  Time to leave this one snoozing... where's his blue badge?!!

Autumn has come, slowly, but the comforting colours are appearing.

So, how's the season changing in your part of the world?

Oh, and this shot was taken by Miss Teen of me and Mumsy...

Just look at those leaves!!!

Have a wonderful week.

Take care.

This week I am sharing with:

Our World Tuesday