Newark Park Snowdrops

It seems hard to remember last Thursday, when there was no wind and brilliant sunshine all day, after the wild weather of the last couple of days caused by storm Ciara. My co mother in law, Sue, and I went to look at snowdrops at Newark Park, a beautiful National Trust property set on the Cotswold escarpment, looking down into the Ozleworth valley, with fabulous views from the house.
It was a perfect day for taking photographs, I'll start with this one of the house from the lower terrace:

 I love that view of the house, and then Sue pointed out this topiary which I love seen against the blue sky

But getting back to our visit! We started walking along the Georgian carriage drive, with some delightful areas of snowdrops, in the first one, they looked particularly good because the surrounding vegetation had been cleared

 In these two views, there are drifts of snowdrops in the grass

we turned left at the Sham Castle folly, along the Crinkle Crankle wall along  by the lakeside garden where there were lots of perennials in quite an advanced stage of spring growth, including this fuchsia in flower:

 The Summer House is very photogenic

 These crocuses were lovely, but haven't photographed well.

 More snowdrops on a bank

 and another large clump on the lower terrace

 On the walk back to the house, there's an uphill section well covered in bark, making walking easy, and footwear was kept clean. We did take a seat in the small covered area with this plaque at the back of the seat. I have been able to find it written about previously, but can't find it this time. It features a woman with long hair sitting on a lion, and wording I couldn't read underneath. If anyone can reveal more information, I'd be grateful, it's a lovely secluded place to sit, and isn't mentioned on plans of the garden.

Inside the house, the south facing side was wonderfully warm and there were plenty of comfortable places to sit, in the Drawing Room. Although the house had been acquired by the National Trust in 1949, it wasn't until the arrival of Robert Parsons in 1970 that the place was rescued from dereliction. He spent the rest of his life renovating the house and garden until his death in the year 2000. He also redecorated and refurnished the interior, and it's amazing to think the place is really the creation of one man, although of course he didn't build the house.
 I think this wonderful wall decoration seen below was in the Dining Room.

and this painting was behind the bed in one of the bedrooms facing south.

In the Gallery Room, there's a photographic exhibition based around Newark Park giving some interesting insights into various parts of the place, both in the house and garden. It's well worth a visit.