Friday 16 November 2012

A FEW DAYS IN SURREY

Last week I spent a few days in ~Surrey with my sister and brother-in-law.   We had fantastic weather, and she took me to the Royal Horticultural Gardens at Wisley
 


The Herb Garden was lovely, even at this time of the year,


And the flowers in the Alpine House were spectacular.


The trees were so beautiful, the autumn colours seemed to get brighter every day!   Surrey is very wooded, unlike where we live, and I was amazed at the beautiful colours along every little lane.


In the Glass House, the tropical House had some very odd plants, one stem, which was very thick, like a tree trunk, looked as if it had been plaited (braided)


I'm not a great lover of cacti, but these were giant sized!


We also went to Watts Gallery, which was the highlight of my visit.   GD Watts is a famous Victorian  artist and he had designed these buildings especially to hold his paintings and those of his wife.   It was all very "Arts and Crafts,  and had a wonderful shop and a really good cafe!


The Chapel, however was something else.   Mrs. Watts had designed it herself, and to my way of thinking was way over the top!


Over the door were all these faces, all different.   I wondered if they had been modelled on real people.


Inside was another surprise.   It was circular and had windows in each segment, the wallspaces between were covered in paintings and modelling like the above.   It didn't feel like a chapel to me, but had had some famous visitors, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall among them!

 


This particularly beautiful tree was in a local park, where I surprised myself by managing to walk right round a very large lake!

I promise not to leave it so long next time before writing a new blog!
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6 comments:

cheshire wife said...

Thank you for the trip down memory lane. When Wisley was five miles away we rarely went. Now that we are 200 miles away I really miss it.

Diane said...

What a lovely visit. Wisley is beautiful. I bet you enjoyed every minute. xxxx

Glennis said...

Wow, that chapel is amazing in that crazy way only those Victorians could be!!

Gilly, we'll be visiting our son in London in December. Are there any good garden-visiting opportunities at that time of year, or is everything all under a blanket of snow?

kenju said...

Gilly, that place looks amazing!! I marvel at your wonderful scenery and interesting buildings!! Good for you for walking all the way around the lake.

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Lovely photos from your visit South Gilly - so colourful and sunny. Have a lovely Xmas. Lesley x

LL Cool Joe said...

We live in Surrey but we've never visited Wisley!