Rivington terraced gardens

After our walk up to Rivington Pike in July which took us through the edge of the terraced gardens, I really wanted to go back for a proper look. We eventually did so on the lovely sunny Sunday of the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The first part of the walk takes you through Breres Meadow where the tree line marks the start of the gardens. The Terraced Gardens were built by William Hesketh Lever, Lord Leverhulme, in the early 1900s. Before he planted trees and shrubs, and built waterfalls, rockpools, terraces, bridges and towers, there was nothing but open hillside and moorland.

We were following a self-guided trail using the red waymarkers to show us the route.

At various stages there are numbered posts to show you where there's information in the trail guide.

Here we're looking at one of the many garden shelters. It was built in 1922 to look out over Breres meadow, though there are too many trees to see the meadow these days.

Next stop is the Ravine.

All of the waterfalls and the stream going down the hillside are completely manmade, all designed by T H Mawson. Some areas you could guess have been constructed but others, like the part above, look really natural.

The lake is part of the Japanese garden, built in 1922, which was surrounded by exotic plants and shrubs and flamingoes! I don't know what they would have made of a windswept hill in Lancashire!

There would also have been ornamental lanterns and tea houses but these have long since disappeared.

At one time the area had been completely taken over by rhododendrons but most have been cleared away: there are just a few remaining.

Time for a quick sit down to consult the map before we continue onwards.

Next on the trail are a range of ruined garden buildings which would have been storage sheds.

Tansy

We're now at the bottom of a flight of stairs known as the Long Walk.

Just through the archway, there's an open area. To the right, a garden shelter overlooking what was once the tennis courts.

You'd struggle to find your ball among all the bilberries now!

On the right, another garden shelter.

This one overlooks what would have been the Great Lawn, where Lord Lever held several open days.

Continuing on to the top of the Long Walk and turning left, we arrived at the site of the main house, known as 'the Bungalow'.

All that remains of The Bungalow are areas of tiled floor.

Sneezewort

Below the site of the Bungalow was a bowls and croquet lawn.

In the far corner, only the base of the sundial remains.

Continuing on, we're reaching the highest point of the trail.

And arrive at the Pigeon Tower, constructed in 1910.

The lower floors housed ornamental doves but it's believed the top floor was used by Lady Lever as a sewing room. Would you ever be able to concentrate on sewing with those views in front of you?

What goes up must come down, so we headed off on the final part of the trail.

Another garden shelter. They all look a bit spooky with the entrances and windows covered with bars.

The last landmark is a large pond known as the Swimming Pool as Lord Lever apparently liked to take a dip each morning while in residence. He must have been a hardy soul!

And here's the man himself with his lady wife.

While writing this post, I learned that Rivington Terraced Gardens were recently named as one of the ten best 'secret lost' gardens by BBC Countryfile magazine. I also found out that an application is being made to the Heritage Lottery fund for money to preserve the gardens and to repair and conserve the buildings. The intention is not to restore it to its original state but to maintain the air of 'faded grandeur and mystery', which seems to me an appropriate approach to take. I do hope they're successful - they can definitely have my regular unwinnings anyway! x

Cookery book challenge : weeks 29-32

It's been back to work this week after a couple of weeks off. With that and busy evenings, there's not been much time for blogging though I do have lots to show and tell. However, first it's my regular cookery book challenge update. Those of you who are new to this series of posts can find out how it all began here.

Week 29 : Return of the Naked Chef - Jamie Oliver

I think this is the third of Jamie's books to appear in the Challenge and there are still more to come! There was lots to tempt us this time.

Mozzarella, mint, nectarine and prosciutto salad

The original recipe had peaches which you were supposed to peel. That seemed a faff and I don't like the fuzzy skin of peaches, so I used nectarines instead. It also didn't seem to be substantial enough for dinner so I fleshed it out with some cucumber and broad beans given to me by a colleague who has an allotment. A lovely combination of flavours and another dish which leaves you feeling smugly healthy. Well, until I had the fruit pie and ice cream for dessert :)

Tray-baked cod with beans, prosciutto and pine nuts

I think I've said before that one of our favourite Jamie recipes is his tray-baked salmon, so it was an easy choice to try a different version. This one is just as delicious and particularly with the addition of my home-grown yellow courgettes. The yellow beans were home-grown too.

Week 30 : Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons - Diana Henry

I own three of Diana's books and this one is probably the least used. I think some of the ingredients were probably harder to get hold of when I first bought it and the Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern inspired recipes probably didn't seem as appealing at first glance. It has very few photos which I can find off-putting in a cookery book. That said, I've made her Greek herb pilaf with prawns and feta many times.

Arab-Andalusian monkfish with saffron, honey and vinegar

Chickpea has clearly been watching far too many cookery programmes because, when I asked what she thought of this, she replied that it had the kind of 'flavour profile' she enjoys, sweet with a hint of spicy warmth. Flavour profile! It tasted better than it looks but I was underwhelmed. However, if you share Chickpea's taste in food, you can find the recipe here.

Moroccan chicken with tomatoes and saffron-honey jam

On the surface this is a very similar recipe to the one above as they both use saffron, honey and cinnamon. However, the addition of the tomatoes mean they taste very different. This one is much more my flavour profile ;)

Week 31 : The Kitchen Diaries - Nigel Slater

As the title suggest, the book is written in the form of a diary but concentrating solely on food: what he eats and what he buys. This is one of the very few cookery books that I've read the whole way through. Apart from a quick glance at all the pages, I read it over the year following him through the months and seasons, which seems the perfect way to do it. I also pick it up every now and again just to see what he would have been cooking at that point. As it turns out though, the recipe we chose came from March...

Chicken with mushrooms and lemongrass

A lovely warm and fragrant Thai-inspired dish. I added some soya beans for a bit of added green veg and, as Nigel didn't suggest an accompaniment, I chose to serve it with noodles. I'll definitely make this again.

Week 32 : Delia's How to Cook Book 2 - Delia Smith

This book contains probably my favourite cake recipe of all time: preserved ginger cake with lemon icing. It's worth buying for that reason alone though you can find the recipe here. No cakes today though, just a savoury course.

Marinated pork with jerk seasoning and grilled pineapple salsa

A tale of two halves. We really liked the marinated pork but the pineapple salsa just wasn't to our taste. If you feel differently you can find the recipe here.

And that concludes this update: next one in a month's time.

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We had the excitement of the arrival of a new washing machine yesterday! Unfortunately that means I'll have to do all my own laundry again: Mum and Dad had been washing, drying and ironing it all while I've been waiting for delivery which has been wonderful!

It's a gloriously sunny day so we'll be spending time outside, hopefully fitting in a walk but also going to watch Dad in one of his last crown green bowling matches of the season. The photo was taken on Tuesday on a walk with my yoga group. We've really enjoyed walking together over the summer and will definitely continue it next summer. For now though it's back to our regular yoga classes.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. x