The Great Country Estates of Britain: Holkham Hall Revisited 1 of 5

Having studied and blogged about Holkham Hall previously, I was pleased to have the chance to visit it last year on our country house tour. Over the next two weeks I shall share some of the photos I took of Holkham. 

We arrived at the estate by the north gate, having stayed the night at Wells-next-the-sea (that was another story in itself, having arrived there to find no accommodation available we almost had to stay on a fishing boat over night!)

Above: The North Gate

Below: Detail of the wrought iron work in the gate

We drove through the deer park, parked the car and arrived at the visitors centre.

Above: Small side gate and gate houses.

Below: One of the lead rainheads. Peter was quite under-whelmed by the brown brick, expecting the hall to have been fashioned from large slabs of stone like Chatsworth or Castle Howard.

The visitors centre which housed a cafe and gift shop...

As it was a lovely day we decided to see the park and gardens first. We departed by a gate to the right in the above picture and strolled around the hall anticlockwise... 

We came across two large bronze lions...

and the Leicester monument...

before coming to a small weir on the estate lake. 

From here we looked back towards the hall to notice a terrace with a large fountain....

Looking over the balustrades of the raised terrace lawn we could see the remains of a neoclassical orangery...

Unfortunately it appears it was necessary to place signage requesting people not to 'jump the fence'...

It was quite an attractive wall actually...

with the occasional self sown beauty...

Here are some photos of the large fountain, which unfortunately was not in operation...

To the right of the orangery there was a small classical belvedere...

We then walked back towards the lake and on to the walled garden.

on the way we passed the old ice house...

and fields of free-ranging pigs...

To be honest the walled gardens were very disappointing. Having just seen the fabulous gardens at Houghton the day before, the gardens at Holkham were looking very much under-loved...

There were parts where they had started to tidy them up...

In the next post we will venture inside the hall to see the marble hall, statues, dining room and kitchen.

Take me to a park that's covered with trees...

... tell me on a Sunday please.

Well, this Sunday I spent a leisurely afternoon catching some rays in the newly greened-up park down the road. I packed a little picnic lunch and a jug of iced Sangria and tried to make the most of a few spare hours, in preparation for an upcoming island holiday. Peter arrives in 2 weeks, and after an autumnal cocktail party, we are off to Penang for a much earned week of R&R.

There were a few graceful Ibises about in the park too...

As well a the occasional screeching swarm of cockatoos overhead. It looks much different from back home where an offical state of drought has been declared across 5 different major regions of the country...

 Above: My cousin James, who has been helping Peter with the farm work since he injured his hand. He is holding one of the weaner piglets. We have another litter due any day now (below). You can see how barren the land has become. Luckily they have water and loads of fresh vegetables daily, and the rest of the anilmals are living off the hay we harvested last month.

Above: A sow with a well-descended under carriage. It can't be more than a day or so now.

"A state of drought has been declared for the entire North Island, and the West Coast could soon follow suit. Farmers are being hammered in what is the most severe drought in at least 30 years, which is estimated to be costing the economy millions of dollars.

The West Coast sent a drought declaration request to the government on Thursday, hours after Primary Industry Minister Nathan Guy made the drought declaration about the North Island.

The official declarations will mean farmers have access to financial assistance and other help.

Mr Guy said he was keeping watch on the South Island where some areas were very dry.

Federated Farmers confirmed the West Coast request. "The West Coast of the South Island is today forwarding its request," said the federation's adverse events spokeswoman Katie Milne.

When he announced the North Island drought declaration Mr Guy said some rain was forecast for the weekend but more would be needed to set up for winter and spring.

Drought had previously been declared in Northland and North Auckland, South Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay. Mr Guy says communities are pulling together to help each other out. Federated Farmers is operating a `Feedline' to match farmers with feed supplies. "Many rural people can be reluctant to ask for help, but it is important for them to know that support is available," he said. "This is a difficult time for rural families and they need to know that the government and all New Zealanders are behind them. " The govenour of the Reserve Bank said that if it doesn't rain soon the drought could shave 1% of the economy."

Pig Hilton Mark 2...

After 2 years of breeding Wessex Saddlebacks, we were in need of a larger pig sty. Pig 'Hilton' mark one was a rectangular ark made of plywood, open at one end - functional but not pretty. I did some research into traditional pig stys, ones that would look at home on an English-styled farm. There were several which caught my attention...

Above: A Traditional Welsh Pig Sty

I like the look of the old traditional pig stys, but they are impractical, non-transportable, and designed for non free-range pigs.

Having seen some of the shelters on the market...

And some old stone huts...

...I struck upon the idea of making a stone-look sty out of wood. So, my grandfather and I set about building Pig Hilton mark 2 - out of completely recycled materials. 

We had some timber from previous projects lying around, and we pulled the plywood lining off the inside of the current barn (knowing that it is going to be demolished to make way for the driveway next year). One of our neighbours gave us a whole lot of spare roofing iron, and so we were set to start building.

Above: Old Timber which we used to create the floor (below)

The floor size was 7'x10'. 

Above: Putting the framing for the walls up

Below: Starting to make the trusses for the roof

The finished roof framing

Below: Cutting the roofing iron

Putting on the roof...

All the way through my grandfather taught me heaps of helpful hints and tips that I will be able to apply to any other buildings in the future.

Almost completed project - structurally finished with gate latched back against wall. Now we just need to find some stone coloured paint and set about adding the finishing touches.

Below: The old pig sty, with the brook swollen with water due to all the rain we have had.

I'll post an update once we've painted it. Now I've learnt how to build a gabled animal shelter, my next project is going to be a potting shed for the middle of the potager garden.