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Thursday 19 April 2012

Tresco Abbey Gardens - Sepia Saturday

In 2008 our children took my wife and I to Tresco on the Scilly Isles to celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary. One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to Tresco Abbey Gardens.

Tresco Abbey - 2008
With the garden theme this week I now regret not taking more photos while we were there, but here's a few.

The Abbey garden is now one of the foremost in the country. The whole garden is protected by a belt of trees that were originally planted in the early 19th century by Augustus Smith who had leased the island from the Duchy of Cornwall. Up to that time there had been no trees growing in Tresco. In 1990 a series of storms culminated in a hurricane that blew down many of the trees; since then over 60,000 replacements  have been planted to re-establish the shelter belt.

Central path leading to the Temple of Neptune
Somehow it seems appropriate that there is a statue of an early Earth goddess,

Gaia
Then we came across this rather splendid tree, all I need is a guidebook to tell me what it is.


It has not been manicured in any way; this is how it grows.

Also in the gardens is a museum with a collection of figureheads from ships wrecked on the islands.

Valhalla
Valhalla is now managed by the National Maritime Museum.

Statue of Children
This statue can be viewed at the end of a path between the Abbey Garden's trees.






But I'll admit you can't see it at all clearly in this shot.

But outside the garden, near the island's refuse tip there is no mistaking this greedy lot waiting for their meal.

Expectant Gulls
For more garden treats you need to fly off to SS 122


18 comments:

L. D. said...

It makes for a nice visit while viewing you pictures. The mastheads were very curious for me to see. It is a beautiful area.

21 Wits said...

What a wonderful and most magical place they took you to. How sweet! I really enjoyed your garden tour for us, mine will come out tomorrow, no boats in it sorry, but you should enjoy it! A belated congrats on your golden (COOLEST) celebration, a few years back now!

alberta ross said...

Beautiful tree - lovely statue of the children playing and as usual splendid post,Bob.

Jenni Steel said...

Good evening Bob,
what a fascinating place to visit and such a lovely way to spend your Golden Wedding Anniversary.

I would certainly love to visit this place. The tree is amazing and I can visualize the children at the far end of the garden in my minds eye. I can't think of the name of the tree off the top of my head. You do visit some very lovely places.

Lovely post again. Jenni

Kristin said...

That garden must have been amazing in person. It looks so much a part of the whole.

Linda said...

Lovely post. That is an amazing tree, a modern sculpture in nature.

Wendy said...

As fascinating as that tree is, I'm taken with those figureheads from shipwrecks. Now that's a souvenir!

Little Nell said...

Tresco was one of my favourite places to visit.Those pictures could almost be from my album - except the birds.

North County Film Club said...

What a lovely place. It makes me wish that I could travel more and see everything there is to see. My favorite photo is the wonderful row of gulls.
Nancy

Postcardy said...

My favorite photo is the one of the goddess. Statues like that always look more interesting when they are surrounded by greenery.

I am curious about what the strange tree is.

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

Hi Bob, what a lovely garden post! How nice that you guys got to visit Tresco (not the world traveler, this is the first time I have heard anything about it).

Thanks so much for following me, and for your visits.

Kathy M.

Unknown said...

Quite a lot of lovely photos to look at. The Goddess is beautiful and that tree is amazing. English gardens seem like a mystical thing to me. A great post.
QMM

Christine H. said...

What a wonderful way to celebrate an anniversary. A fascinating landscape - and I love that tree that looks like a pagoda.

viridian said...

A wonderful tour of this beautiful place.

Marc Latham said...

Cheers Bob, nice collection, and some cool greenygrey ones too.
I've nominated your blog for a Creative Chaos award.
http://fmpoetry.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/creative-chaos-blog-award/
Hope you like it, cheers and have a great weekend, Marc.

Bruno Laliberté said...

I was certain the tree had been manicured, but you say it was not. Prat tell what it is, as I've never seen something like that. Splendid location, one I would definitely enjoy!!

The seagulls at the end were funny, if a bit scary, like an horror movie...
:D~
HUGZ

Wibbo said...

That looks like an amazing garden and the figureheads are beautiful.

Tattered and Lost said...

What a magical place to wander in and hopefully get lost for a little while. Huge gardens are so amazing.