Lynford Arboretum at Thetford Forest

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A few weeks ago I paid a visit to Thetford Forest, in particular, to Lynford Arboretum, a beautiful spot located in the North East corner of the forest, and somewhere I’d not been to before, so I was keen to give the old camera a bit of an airing and to see what I could see.

Owned by the Forestry Commission, it is the UK’s largest man made lowland forest and covers over 18,700 hectares, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The forest was created after the First World War to provide a strategic reserve of timber, since the country had lost so many oaks and other slow-growing trees as a consequence of the war's demands.

Oxburgh Hall - Part two

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In part two of my visit to Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, I take a wander around The Wilderness, stroll through Home Covert and I encounter some very charismatic trees.

Wilderness gardens were created in deliberate contrast to the rigid formality of gardens immediately surrounding country houses. Clumps of shrubs, specimen trees, meandering paths and the dappled sunlight of surrounding woodland created a romantic illusion of an untamed landscape, in which people could walk and experience nature.

This part of the estate also contains a large boulder, about a metre across, that is composed of hundreds of fossilised oysters, and has been dated back to around 165 million years ago. I didn't take a picture of it, as its picturesque interest is of a somewhat limited value.

Oxburgh Hall - Part one

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Last week I paid a visit to Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk. Despite being built during the Wars of the Roses, Oxburgh Hall was never intended to be a castle but a family home. It was completed in 1482 for Sir Edmund Bedingfeld and the family have lived at Oxburgh ever since. It is now run by the National Trust, although the family still lives there.