Roving Reporter Review: Stowe Visit 23rd October by Claire de Carle
On Wednesday 23 October BGT members and their guests gathered in the Bennett Room at the New Inn, Stowe for the last garden visit of the year. It was a beautiful autumnal day with blue skies and sunshine perfect for our stroll around the landscape culminating in the Grecian Valley to see the stunning spectacular ‘Standing with Giants”, a memorial installation consisting of 1,475 silhouettes representing the military personnel killed on the 6 June 1944. Stowe has been selected as the only venue in the UK that would host this event during the period leading up to Remembrance Day, the silhouettes had originally been created for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day and had been displayed in Normandy during the summer.
Following coffee, we were given a brief introduction to the gardens and the installation by Kathy Jackson Bucks GT secretary and Stowe Landscape Gardens guide. As we left the New Inn we bumped into Barry Smith and Anna Tolfrey who head up the gardening team, everyone at the National Trust commented on how busy Stowe had been since the installation had opened a few weeks earlier, with 3,000 plus visitors per day at weekends and it was also very busy on weekdays too. Kathy had also volunteered to lead some of the ‘twilight tours’ which proved very popular.
Our visit commenced at the Bell Gate; we briefly looked at the house across the Octagon Lake and then we made our way to the Temple of Friendship via the avenue of Plane Trees, we then turned off the path to visit the Chinese House and the Lamport Gardens which are often missed by visitors.
The Chinese House is attributed to William Kent and is the earliest surviving example in Britain. The Lamport Gardens are named after the nearby lost village and are a tranquil nature haven, the main feature being the rockwork with a cascade created by a Mr Brown, however, not the one who was known as ‘Capability’.
We noted some of the significant trees from the list prepared by Michael Hunt, a Cedar of Lebanon, a Weeping Beech and Small Leaved Limes. However, the Yellow Buckeye ( aesculus flava) generated the most interest as you could see where it had been grafted onto a Horse Chestnut ( aesculus hippocastanum). Nearby was a fine Red Oak which has already lost all of its leaves.
From Lamport we rejoined the path and headed over the Palladian Bridge, taking in the view of the Gothic Temple, then the British Worthies and Captain Cook Monument, finally arriving at the Temple of Concord and Victory where we could take in the sight of the soldiers in the Grecian valley. It was a very moving display, and you could walk down the valley for a more immersive experience, the group could spend as much time there as they wished, and most then returned by the land-train which took them via the boundary of the pleasure ground.
The visit was thoroughly enjoyed by all, from our youngest participant a grandson of a guest who spent his time looking at the nature to one of our older members who enjoyed the view of the soldiers in The Grecian Valley from her golf buggy.
A huge thank you to Kathy for leading an excellent tour and to Michael Hunt who was unable to attend but kindly prepared the tree notes for us.
