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Sunday, August 27, 2023

Topiary? What is that then?

It is a Bank Holiday and as I am working at the Rocks By Rail Museum tomorrow Mrs. Woody and me had a day out at a place called Elton Hall near Peterborough. Although the last holiday weekend of the Summer it was busy at the Hall but not crowded, if that makes sense? 

The Hall itself is a real mix of various ages of building with parts dating back to 1066 through to 1860 when the last major building work took place. Fascinating inside but being a house still used as a residency no photography was allowed inside which I can understand. We ended up taking about two hours to go through several rooms and had a good chat with the very friendly stewards. That did not leave a great deal of time for the gardens but what we did see was really nice - certainly much better then the WMD HQ gardens! 

Looking back on the Hall you can clearly see the various different stages of its development over the centuries. Despite the mish mash of styles it still looks impressive.

Elton Hall

The gardens are well known for their topiary which I had no idea about. However I soon learnt that is the art of shaping shrubs and trees into shapes and there were certainly some wonderful examples to illustrate the art of topiary like this dog that Mrs. W found to her taste.

Elton Hall

These peacocks also looked very impressive.

Elton Hall

I have talked about cutting hedges in this blog before but I certainly would not want to have to do this one!

Elton Hall

Pyramid shapes are a theme throughout the garden and make an impressive statement.

Elton Hall

Elton Hall

 Carrying on the pyramid theme, this water feature was my favorite part of the garden.

Elton Hall

Elton Hall

There are also those classic English country garden scenes to enjoy.

Elton Hall

Elton Hall

Back at the somewhat less glamorous WMD HQ I ignored the garden and the various possible locations for the establishment of topiary shrubs and retired to the safety of my Man Cave to do a bit more on the Panzer Ferry kit. 

Having sprayed the wooden deck I applied a coat of matt varnish to protect it and once dry the deck was masked up.

Dragon Kit 6669 Panzer Ferry

The pontoon was then sprayed in Vallejo Grey .

Dragon Kit 6669 Panzer Ferry

Dragon Kit 6669 Panzer Ferry

It is now drying and I will remove the masking once the paint is dry enough to be handled. 


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