Sizergh Naturally

Holeslack Farm and a new-laid hedge

A toddler kisses the moss on a  low wall at Sizergh gardens.  He purses his lips to show how it's done, up close and intimate, look, smell,  touch and taste moss saturated after overnight rain. It's heart-warming to see parents encouraging  small children  to  discover nature for themselves.   
The new-laid hedge bordering the orchard at Holeslack Farm has tightly packed branches that will leaf and create a dense hedge, inviting to wildlife.    I'd like to see the National Trust training young people in the traditional craft of hedge-laying.   There's a much longer stetch of slashed hedge along the track from the cafe to Brigsteer Wood and that would be an excellent project.
 As we walk toward Holeslack Farm the sun appears and in a moment we feel its warmth as it illuminates this rural landscape.  Raindrops linger on twigs.   Bluebell leaves appear amongst the snowdrops which are at their finest.
So what may be the highlights (and lowlights) of a morning exploring part of the Sizergh estate? 

In the kitchen garden Charlie the cat is a welcoming creature who delights small children.   For all who love quizzes I offer this challenge- name these plants from their seed-heads in the season of February fill-dike.   Frosted seed-heads can make beautiful patterns and the science of seed-dispersal is full of interest.  What were these flowers that attracted bees and butterflies and how do they ensure their seeds  will disperse safely and grow?  SIzergh kitchen garden and the herbaceous borders are wondrous.  There are discreet plaques to name flowers and fragrant shrubs like daphne.   We meet others leaning toward the earliest flowering shrubs to breathe their fragrance.  From horticulture to the flora of ancient woodland there's so much to discover across the Sizergh estate. 

 I'm all for curiosity, for discovery and for seeking to understand the science.  For encouraging others to look and learn.  The small children we see today are doing that,  in their own ways.  A  long trail  of bold and inescapable  information boards advertising books and the cafe,  telling of mysteries hidden underground isn't  attracting their attention.  There's a large image of a bright yellow car along the countryside track to Brigsteer Wood. Leave cars in the car park. There's a  big double barn next to the cafe,  an ideal place for an exhibition. The cafe itself is a good place to advertise books on sale. But please, don't spoil this historic track  with majestic ancient trees with a series of display boards  that kids aren't reading.   Let nature be, let it speak for itself and let kids discover through their senses,  through what is immediate.   
I reiterate the words of Octavia Hill co-founder of the National Trust
The right of access to beauty and nature is an essential element towards the wellbeing of every man, woman and child. 
Throughout the year there are wonderful seasonal highlights,  NATURALLY.   Frost patterns, frogs in a mating frenzy heading for the lakes,  house martins and swallows mustering, butterflies, and moths.   A toddler made our day, and his, when  who he found  'caterpillars' beneath a hornbeam.  

There are hornbeam in budding catkin close to the cafe, just out of shot of the long yellow ruler of the soil project that imposes itself before a bank of snowdrops. 
Catkins are beautiful and the child who thought they were caterpillars made a delightful mistake. If it were a mistake.  Caterpillars of the winter moth may coincide with hornbeam catkins.  The remarkable buff-tip moth caterpillars come later in the season.  And a shower of frass (caterpillar pooh) could fall onto the grass below the trees.   Arboreal butterflies and moths, caterpillars of the tree-tops,  there are always mysteries to unravel. 

Soil is indeed key to seeing Sizergh gardens thrive.  In itself, this is a valuable project.  The question is - how best to present it, and where.  Last year, there was a splendid exhibition on ancient trees in the great barn.  Then visitors could walk the estate and discover such trees for themselves.  There was choice- you could opt to visit the exhibition or be out there at Sizergh discovering Nature as she is, for yourself.