Kiftsgate Gardens and Other Drives

Kay and I have been fascinated with the village of Ilmington.  You drive through and think you have a good idea where things are.  Then you walk the foot paths and nothing comes out where you think it should.  We are both pretty good with directions but it is just hard to get the lay of the land here.  We have been trying to find Ilmington Manor which was where King George delivered his Christmas message to the country in 1934.  If King George could find it, why can't we?  Kay was researching it online this morning because we only have a week left to find it.  What we did find out is that it is not in town as we had thought but rather at the highest point in the village so we have been looking in the wrong place.

We wanted to have our last Sunday dinner back at the Thatch in Stratford Upon Avon.  It is the most beautiful morning and we can hear the church bells ringing.  We decided to drive up the hill and take the one lane road back down.  After the snow and cold yesterday, it seems everyone is out walking, biking, riding horses or hiking today.  Kay got to do the "Bernie Wave" already this morning as we had to pull over as soon as we got on the one lane road.  It was a beautiful drive and we got some great photos.

The "Bernie Wave"

We parked in Stratford and walked to the Thatch and they said they couldn't seat us until 2 which gave us an hour and a half to walk down the pedestrian street of shops.  We went through the Shakespeare shop and they even had him outside as a statue.  We went to eat and it was as delicious as last week.  We walked around town and got some gelato and Victoria cake to go and headed back to the car.  On to Kiftsgate.

This is another HHA property so we got to park and get in free.  After rounding the path to the back of the rather eerie looking house we see what the draw is to this place.  It sits at the very top of the hill and most of the gardens are terraced on the hills.  We took the somewhat hazardous stairs down and I said to Kay that I feared the only way back up was the same way we were coming down and it was a very steep hill.  The view from the pool area was spectacular and the photos don't do it justice.  The flowers were so pretty and the gardens will be gorgeous when all of these plants bloom.  There was a meadow with a mauve colored flower that looked like a bleeding heart in with a field of little blue and white flowers and a tulip magnolia.  Before we left we saw a beautiful wood with bluebells.

A Pence for your thoughts?

Breathtaking view

 

Bluebells and daffodils

 

 

 

No idea but so pretty!

We are back home blogging and going through photos.  We will eat in tonight after our evening walk.
The photos below is of the dog we pass that carries his own frisbie..there is also one who carries his own ball...well done them!