Hergest Croft in Autumn

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As we were enjoying the longest and most colourful autumn ever, I and my partner decided to visit Hergest Croft near Kington, Herefordshire. The Croft is a red tile and brick house built in 1906 and now converted into flats. There are toilets and a tea-room, which leads out onto a balcony, where the visitor can sit when the weather permits (not today – too cold).

We took a walk up through the wooded area first and came across a tree stump covered in fungi. As well as the usual bracket fungus, we discovered tiny, grey mushrooms in between.

We looked up through a giant Monkey Puzzle tree;

admired the rich reds of the Acers

then followed a track where shadowed areas highlighted the distinctive shapes and patterns of the leaves.

Brown leaves of autumn are reflected in a birch trunk.

Unbelievably, azaleas are flowering for the second time this year…

…and every shrub and tree is laden with heavy bunches of fruit and berries.

The more unusual fruit of Cornus ‘Norman Hadden’;

Sorbus ‘Pink Pagoda’ is heavy with pink berries.

The more usual scarlet berries waiting for the birds to come and eat them!

As well as reds and pinks, there were whites…

..and lilacs.

Leaves cover the ground,…
…the branches….

……and this tree, for Christmas, perhaps!

Nature never ceases to amaze us with her artistic creations


A recycled tree trunk reminds us that we need a drink!

So we made our way to the tea-room…

…where we sat enjoying the views of manicured lawns and flower borders over a cuppa.

After a welcome rest, we continued on our walk, keeping close to the house and meandering round towards the exit.
At first sight, this weeping tree looked like a willow but in fact it was a weeping beech, ‘Fagus Sylvatica Pendula’. Next to it, a ‘common’ beech – beautiful!

Equally stunning was the size (and colour) of these vine-like leaves clambering through the shrubbery

The sun came out and intensified the autumn colours

These lichen covered stems look a bit like an archer;

Golds and reds – unmistakably autumn.

As we approached the exit to Hergest Croft, the gardens became more formal; a round pool surrounded by a rockery looks out over the Radnorshire landscape…

…and a tiny ‘knot garden’ is formed from clipped Japanese and English box hedges. Sadly, the latter was badly affected by a virus that seems to be sweeping the country.

Our last port of call was the vegetable garden, full of fruit trees, flowers and, of course, vegetables. It seemed such a shame that the apples were left to rot on the trees. That was the end of our tour of Hergest Croft, which looked so beautiful today. We had also been lucky with the weather; cool and dry with not even a whisper of a breeze. Lovely!

The End

• 22 Oct, 2015
• 7 likes

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