Talj’s Blog

Garden Open Day May 25th 2008

Hall Place, Leigh

The House was built in 1872 by well known local Victorian Architect George Devey for Samuel Morley replacing the original house on a new site and is still occupied by members of the family. Part of the house was burnt in a fire in 1940 and has subsequently been turned into a house garden by the late Lord Hollenden.

Flower Frame

The Garden is open in aid of the National Garden Scheme in the spring for the daffodils and camellias and early summer for the late rhododendrons and roses.

A place to rest

Arthur Hellyer, writing in Country Life in 1989 ranked the garden among “The best 19th Century gardens in the country”.

Summer house

Among it’s fine features is an 11 acre lake, home to large numbers of waterbirds. The mile long walk gives ever changing views of the house and grounds.

Waiting for the roses

Sunday 6th April 2008

Wildlife Spotted

Lots of Deer and Stags, Cormorant, Highland Coos and Baby coos (VERY cute)…and sheep!

I had a pretty decent nights sleep and my bed is lovely and comfortable! I was up at about 8am and made MBF a cup of tea and a bacon sarnie, the perfect way to wake up!

Today, G a friend of ours from TRn is coming over to stay for a couple of days. I enjoy MBF’s company but it’s also nice to see the odd other friendly face every now and again G joined us on Mull in October 2007 and we had a great couple of days so I was looking forward to seeing him again

We had a lazy morning watching all the different coloured birds enjoying the feeders on our balcony and trying our best to use the bird book to identify some of them!

Around 1pm we set off to Craignure to meet up with G. The next couple of days would mainly be ‘boys stuff’ which many might think quite boring, however, I do actually enjoy admiring the scenery from ‘my’ side of the car G disembarked from the ferry right on time and it wasn’t long before we were heading into the mountains and straight into a rather heavy snowfall! In normal circumstances I am a huge fan of snow but on this occassion it was just a little scary as at times we couldn’t really see too far ahead of us! Looking out for deer etc was quite difficult and it slowed our pace some what…but pretty soon it was gone! Not much to report from the drive apart from one little incident with a larger vehicle, not sure now if it was a van or some sort of small lorry. Unfortunately it came towards us just at the point where there were no passing places, never a good thing on a single track road, and made worse by the fact that we were right on the edge of a cliff with nothing but a few blades of grass between us and…well…the end of this diary! As much as I would like to praise MBF for his excellent driving abilities I’m afraid this time he pushed things a tad too close to the edge for my liking…G was behind us and said we had about 12″ or so before the back wheel would have slipped over the edge, but, all I could see was the sea which looked a very long way down and in my mind meant our luck had run out!

After escaping the nasty barrierless cliff edge we were pleased to see a brickwall between us and the sea and pretty soon we were back at the house. The shot below is of the 3 of us chilling out in the lounge…

On our last trip to Mull we brought the video camera along and I managed to capture a little footage of a one of the drives we did with G. Just to give you an idea of what we got upto this trip I have posted a video clip below…warning, this ends quite suddenly as all four wheels of the car leave the ground flying over a little bridge! I wasn’t prepared for this and needed soothing gel rubbing on my lower back for the rest of the week!!

A fairly quiet day photography wise today When we arrived back at the house we had a little rest and then I cooked steak for us all for tea and we took a little walk to the Bellachroy (again) for a wee dram and a little baileys for me before bed

Holiday Hints and Tips:

Roads: The map below shows one of Mull’s greatest drives and is the way we drove today! Through the mountains, along some of the most beautiful coastline Mull has to offer and ending at the oldest Inn on the island! I would highly recommended this route for anyone who enjoys driving (oh and a must for all Roadster owners!)

Saturday 5th April 2008

5am! Yes, we really did get up at such a horrendous hour! We were off to meet A for some sunrise shots at Roker Pier. It had been far too long since we had seen A and this photography ’shoot’ was well over due. We arrived at the car park around 5.30am but sadly Sunderland had ordered….SNOW!

A arrived shortly after us and after a little chat we decided the weather didn’t look like it was going to change for awhile so we headed back to the B&B for a cup of tea and a catch up. In a way I am glad the weather wasn’t so great as it was good just to talk and laugh together again. It also meant we just had to stroll down the corridor for breakfast before we set off for Oban.

Saying goodbye to A came around far too quickly but I had to make sure we didn’t get lost on our way out of Sunderland so there was no time for tears!

The journey from Sunderland to Oban took around 6 hours and we went through some beautiful scenery including Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. Unfortunately, having stayed awake for most of the boring motorway, I fell asleep just as we were driving through the nicest parts…there was always the way back!

When we arrived in Oban I was quite excited and finally felt like I was on holiday! It amazes me that the ferry to Mull always seems to be busy! We were booked on the 4pm boat and after a small delay we finally drove on to the boat and into a ‘disabled’ spot next to the lift.

On our last trip we went up on to the open deck to look at the scenery and take a few photos but unfortunately the lift wasn’t working by the end of the journey and I had to walk down 3 or 4 steep flights of stairs so this time we decided just to head to the bar and have our first holiday beer

Just to show you all the sort of views you are greeted by as the ferry travels over to Craignure here’s a photo of Duart Castle taken from the boat…

The 40 minute trip passed extremely quickly and both MBF and I couldn’t wait to get on to the island and start enjoying the roads! It may sound silly to most but I love being driven around in MBF’s ickle car, it’s difficult to describe why…it’s just great fun and with the single track roads I think he enjoys it too

The sign above is the first thing that greets as us we disembark from the ferry and begin the half hour drive to Dervaig where we will be staying for the week. We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled into the drive and saw the house…

Situated just a few minutes walk from Kilmore church and the Bellachroy pub, Half Moon House is a beautifully presented upside down house! The bedrooms are on the ground floor and the kitchen, dining and living areas are upstairs. This allows you to enjoy the fantastic views across Dervaig and also to watch the many different types of birds that visit the balcony all day long to chomp on the feeder!

After two very long days of travelling MBF and I were very tired so after unpacking the car we headed over to the Bellachroy for a bite to eat and then home for an early night

Holiday Hints and Tips:

Travel: Caladonian MacBrayne Ferrys – There are 3 ferry routes between the Isle of Mull and the mainland with the Oban to Craignure ferry being the biggest and busiest. We haven’t managed to make an early ferry but have been told that the breakfasts are excellent!

Accommodation:

April Guesthouse – Lovely B&B within minutes walk of Roker pier (at least I think it’s a pier!). Great breakfast and very friendly owners.

Half Moon House, Dervaig – for anyone who intends to visit the island as a group or family this house is absolutely perfect! John, the owner, is extremely helpful and if you are seriously thinking of a trip to Mull I would recommend visiting the website and dropping him an email

Food & Drink: The Bellachroy – The oldest inn on Mull offers a warm welcome, great food and an excellent Malt Whisky Menu! Defintely worth at least one visit when staying on the island