365 Day 64 - Linders Country House Hotel Grounds

365 Day 64 - Linders Country House Hotel Grounds

It seems to have been all crocuses and waterfalls of late and today is no exception.

I spent the day at Linders Country House Hotel in St Briavals, a lovely 19th century house which sits in 9 acres of grounds on the English side of the Welsh border, in the heart of the Wye Valley. The hotel is run by the Christian Guild and hosts retreats, conferences and a series of themes spiritual breaks but we were there on an 'outreach' day run by the Breast Cancer Haven in Hereford, the aim being to raise awareness of the support available to anyone affected by breast cancer in any way. The group consisted of people currently undergoing treatment, some people whose treatment finished several years ago but still call on the Haven for support from time to time to some who had just come to support friends and it was a really good day. We had a lovely lunch and speakers on nutrition, stress management, counselling and acupuncture, the last of which my friend and I opted out of in favour of a walk in the grounds and this is where todays waterfall and crocus came in. To get to the hotel, we descended a very long, windy, steep road so it was no real surprise to see a series of water falls in the gardens, not as high as my last two have been but plenty of water just the same. It didn't occur to me to take my tripod with me so I had to make do with a fairly rickety fence post to enable me to use a slow shutter speed and still get an image which is reasonable sharp.




There were lot of spring flowers in the gardens, and at their best, crocuses, mostly growing amongst the mossy roots of very large trees. I didn't even have a problem with harsh shadows today as the sky was overcast and again, despite not having my tripod, I am much happier with the results.