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Today's walk: The Lower Cuckmere Valley
This was a walk from a book we’ve had for years - Waterside walks in Sussex. The walk is ticked off at the front and has a date of 2012. No idea if we’ve done it since then.
The day started with a little rain (!) and felt a bit cooler, so we thought we could get away with a longer walk with Breezy without her overheating. This isn’t quite how it turned out. Sadly she had one of her episodes while we stopped in the shade at the visitor centre at Seven Sisters. She recovered quickly enough as she usually does and seemed to enjoy the walk. And it was lovely to see her so tired later in the day.
It was a lovely walk. And unusual in that from the end (and the start if we’d known where to look) we could trace all the paths we’d walked along
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Bargello Work at Parham House
While walking from the garden at Parham House towards the house itself I spotted a sign about a needlework exhibition. So we headed in to take a look. I’d never heard of Bargello work before, so didn’t really know what to expect. What I found was a riot of colour, all beautifully worked to coordinate with either a flower, a piece of fabric, or an aspect of a picture within the house.
Inspired by tulips in Parham Garden
Inspired by tulips in Parham Garden
Inspired by a portrait of Susan Villiers
Inspired by James II’s saddle
This piece I think is the odd one out, as it isn’t clear what it responded to, but I rather liked it anyway. There were a few pieces like this pinned out unmounted, along with a piece still in progress that my friend, who is partially sighted, could pick up and look at more closely without blocking anyone else’s access to the wall mounted pieces.
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Parham House and Gardens
A number of years ago, after a choir rehearsal, one of the ladies and I were chatting about interesting places to visit in Sussex. She mentioned Parham House and Gardens. The lady concerned is an artist, and I trusted her view and so it has been on a background list of places to visit ever since.
I’d been keeping an eye on the weather and once the temperatures had dropped a little I asked a friend if she fancied an outing. She did. So off we went. We started, as all good adventures do, with coffee for me, and a sandwich for her. We strolled around a bit of the estate before heading into the gardens.
It took us a little while to work out the Wendy House. It was built in the 1920s for the Pearson daughters. According to the information panel, the family still make use of it cooking sausages over the fireplace. What a wonderful place it must have been for the children.
We found our way into the greenhouse. It was magnificent. Long, open, not unbearably hot, and full of things that made us stop and look closer. While exploring the garden we spoke to one of the gardeners who explained that the garden mainly grew flowers suitable for use in flower arrangements, and that when we walked around the house we should keep an eye out: every room has a unique arrangement which is refreshed at least weekly, but at the moment twice a week. Impressive.
The house itself was an interesting place to walk around, and far older than I’d imagined, having its foundation stone laid in 1577. There are many, many portraits of various Kings, Queens, Dukes, Earls, Countesses and Viscounts. This highlighted how poor a grasp I have on history, especially the Kings and Queens: not knowing the orders of many of them, or who married who from which other European Royal family. I’m not sure that this is information I necessarily need to know, so I shall acknowledge my ignorance and live with it!
The Long Gallery at the top of the house is indeed long, with a fantastic decoration on the ceiling.
We spent a happy three or so hours exploring the house and gardens. I would happily return to look around the gardens again sometime, and perhaps even make use of the public footpath that runs through the estate to put together a Breezy-friendly walk (the gardens are dog friendly). It may have taken me a number of years to get around to visiting, but I’m glad I did.
