Warley Place

Warley Place is an Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) 'garden' between Warley and the M25.  We went because the EWT website talked about the bulbs in bloom.   They are spectacular - especially the daffodils.  One of the wardens commented how early they are this year, because we almost skipped winter.

The garden created by Ellen Willmot over a century ago is now in ruins, but some of the trees she planted are still growing or coming near to the end of their lives.

The site is carefully marked out, with plenty of 'keep to the path'  signs.  That ensures the bulbs will grow next year and for years to come.

Here are a few of the pictures I took.   

Crocus

The daffodils cover the hill side.

In the kitchen garden, I haven't identified these yet.

A lily amongst the snow drops, similar to those in our garden that will bloom in a month or so.

Snow drops, daffodils and unidentified lilies

A field with clumps of daffodils

A patch of snowdrops, still surviving, while most are coming to their end for this year.

 

After our walk around the site, where we were in competition for a while with Havering U3A and two wardens, we had lunch at the Thatchers Arms next door.  The pub was full, we only got a table because someone had booked and not turned up.  Those who came in after us were turned away.  The food was good, the staff friendly, but the wait was a bit long.

A walk around Middle Earth

I arrived at church quite early - even for me on a preaching day.  There was more to set up than usual. Slides and video.  Warner was already there.  Before prayer, we combined the video's and presentations onto the one laptop.  That meant only two to switch between.  Christ Church had some electrical work completed during the week to satisfy the requirements of the quinquennial (5 yearly building inspection).  As a result, the heaters had only just started, and it was very cold.  Then we found that the sound system wasn't working.  Happily (especially for me) it was all fixed between 9:50 and 10:00.  My sermon 'script' is here. I used to follow the script very closely, but I do that much less now, so the text is what I planned rather than what I said.  There will be a recording posted on the Christ Church web site soon.  I tried to encourage people to listen to what God had to say to them.  I do not think I succeeded, but we will see if anyone goes to the vocation's day.  They certainly enjoyed the video clip - watch the faces of the crowd and the judges if you follow the link in the sermon.

After lunch, we drove to Warley for the monthly walk. About 50 of us gathered outside Fords.  Although the Sun was bright, the day was cold, so we were all glad to get moving.  People who are not regular members of the church are starting to join us for these walks, which is excellent news.

We soon found ourselves in Middle Earth, somewhere in The Shire judging by the name on the gate.  (If you've never read Lord of the Rings, just ignore me for a bit!)  Our destination was Warley Place an Essex Wildlife Trust site that is only occasionally open to the public.  It was a house with a formal garden, but was sold to the trust who are letting it be reclaimed by wild life.  I spent a good while wandering round and talking to the trust staff.  The snow drops here are the biggest I've ever seen and put on a show to rival the blue bells (due in a couple of months).  I thought I'd better catch the others up, and returned to the entrance for what turned out to be a long wait.  A flask of coffee proved to be much more important than I had thought possible.  That and the walk back over still frozen puddles slowly warmed me up.

A very enjoyable day, the remainder of which was spent half awake in front of the television.  Stress and exercise had taken its toll.