Route: Dalemain
Area: North Eastern Lake District
Date of walk: 3rd August 2016
Walkers: Andrew
Distance: 1.0 mile
Weather: Cloudy, several showers and a couple of short bright spells
Dalemain is one of our favourite gardens. We first visited over 20 years ago and have been back many times since. The house was opened to the public in 1977 but remains lived in by the Hasell-McCosh family where rooms are used throughout the year. There are interesting collections of fine furniture, family portraits, ceramics, dolls’ houses, and old toys. There’s a magical quality about the garden and a feeling that this is a space that is lived in and loved by its owners
There was some light rain as I walked round the house to enter the gardens, a good thing in some ways as I had the place to myself and the only other person around was the gardener
A garden plan is available at the entrance and it’s worth taking one of these, as there are many hidden features which could easily be missed without it. I spent a couple of hours wandering around and it was a delight every step of the way
For other visits here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below for a location map
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
On entering the grounds, I chatted with the gamekeeper who has worked here for 40 years - wild birds follow him around and respond to his whistle - and a few seeds
I pass through the old courtyard
Dalemain House
On my last visit a duck was nesting in one of these urns along the Terrace Garden
Herbaceous border on the Terrace Garden
The Elizabethan Knot Garden
Agapanthus
Views to the eastern fells from the Knot Garden
The silver fir on the right is the biggest of its type in the British Isles
The steps down to the Lower Garden
Dacre Beck on the edge of the Lower Garden
Back up the steps for another wander around the main garden
Some close ups of the planting in the herbaceous borders…
A poppy head, in case you were wondering
The end of another wonderful visit as I leave via the Terrace Garden
Dalemain is well known for its marmalade - ‘the world’s best’, a claim which I intend to put to the test at breakfast tomorrow
Back home, a red squirrel in the garden, enjoying walnuts from M&S
