Acer explosion

Another from Thorp Perrow. The acers were a stunning colour, seemingly a darker red than sometimes I've seen them. One or two of them were against a background that was uncluttered enough to try a 'Pep Ventosa' effect (basically several photos taken from different viewpoints, layered and blended to create one composite). Some people can create these in camera using blended multi exposures but my camera won't do that so I do mine in Photoshop. It produces a very similar effect, either way. 

Halloween #2

When I visited the gardens at Thorp Perrow, I couldn't avoid parts of the 'Halloween Trail', which I suppose is aimed at youngsters but certainly spooked this oldie! I nearly jumped out of my skin when I turned a corner to be greeted by the above piratical lot and my movement triggered a very loud, taped rendering of 'What shall we do with a drunken sailor?' 👀

I was less bothered by this slender being enjoying a bath. She seems to have pinched my shower cap! 😂

I didn't stop for a 'Psychic Reading'... No thank you! 

Apparently the estate only has a skeleton staff of gardeners. No wonder, when the trees harbour scary beings like the one below! 

The Bog Garden was inhabited by this toothsome hulk (!), making no bones about everything. It seemed he'd scared a couple of visitors so much that they landed headfirst in the bog! I made sure I didn't end up the same way, making a rapid exit to a less terror-filled part of the gardens! 

It's a good job I'm 70+ and not just 7. The displays might have scarred me for life. 

Thorp Perrow's water features

The gardens at Thorp Perrow have a couple of lakes, ponds and a stream running through. On a very drizzly, almost misty, day, it was interesting how the light rendered the water differently in different places, depending on the tree cover and adjacent colours. So... four images, four distinctive and diverse representations. 

Thorp Perrow Hall (above) is not open to the public. It was built in the early 18th century and remodelled in the 1800s. The gardens and arboretum were the creation of Colonel Sir Leonard Ropner (1895-1977) and still belong to his family, who I assume live in the Hall. 

Under the trees

There are paths at Thorp Perrow but you don't have to stick to them and are quite at liberty to meander wherever you like through the trees. That means that you can get right under the branches. Sometimes the best views of the colours and patterns of the leaf canopy come from looking 'through' and 'up', as I've sought to show in these images. 

The splendour of maples

Part of the gardens at Thorp Perrow are given over to ornamental maples (acers) and of course they look wonderful at this time of year. There is a magnificent avenue of them, aligned on Thorp Perrow Hall at one end and the gazebo memorial to Sir Leonard Ropner, the arboretum's creator, at the other.

The stone columns of the gazebo nicely framed another small tree: 

Elsewhere, the cascades of leaves in different tones and hues reminded me of a tapestry.

Autumn leaf studies

Thorp Perrow, being an arboretum, of course means it's all about the foliage. Native and non-native trees and shrubs have a huge variety of leaf forms and, at this time of year, colour too. Rather than taking lots of 'general views' of the gardens, I found myself wanting to focus on the details and the wonderful mix of shape and hue. So much to enjoy...

 

Thorp Perrow Arboretum

I planned to visit Thorp Perrow Arboretum, near Bedale, during the autumn, as the colour there is usually magnificent. I went last year in November, a little too late for most of the acers, many of which had shed their leaves by then. So I planned an earlier date this year. Sadly, the weather on my chosen day was dreary, with constant drizzle interspersed with heavier showers. Not what was forecast! The overcast skies, however, do cut down the glare so that it's arguable that the colours actually look better and more saturated. The damp was a bit energy-sapping, I have to admit. I was saturated too! I retired to the café after a while, to dry out with coffee and cake, so that perked me up again.

There are few places locally with the range of colour that Thorp Perrow offers. The trees are a mix of native and exotic, collected by the owners of Thorp Perrow Hall since the 1800s and developed into an arboretum by Sir Leonard Ropner from 1931. It is now considered to be one of the UK's finest arboretums. 

The several long avenues of native trees had not really started to turn colour, though there was a carpet of dead leaves underfoot. 

Not many flowers make it through to this time of year - and Thorp Perrow isn't big on flowers anyway, being an arboretum rather than 'a garden' - but patches of autumn flowering cyclamen had been naturalised around some of the trees. They look such a delicate plant but they are surprisingly hardy.

I can go a bit giddy on taking photos in these surroundings, so I'll be showing you more over the coming days! Feel free to scroll past...  

Arty autumn

Wandering the woodland at Thorp Perrow brought glimpses of bright colour through the trees and occasional hits of really vibrant scarlet. 

In one spot, where neighbouring acers, one yellow, one red, had shed their leaves, the resulting mix of colours looked like a length of fabric or fine carpet. 

Elsewhere there were cascades of leaves that looked like they'd been dipped in paint. 

This low-hanging branch with fiery red leaves caught my eye, glowing against its backdrop of darker, fallen leaves.

Autumn at Thorp Perrow

Just like photos of bluebells in the spring, I can get a bit carried away in an autumn woodland. I probably took a few too many photos as I was wandering through the arboretum at Thorp Perrow. Never mind, sit back and enjoy them, without many words to distract:

Painterly

I took lots of photos at Thorp Perrow Arboretum on a recent visit. The autumn colours are glorious there, though I was a few days too late to catch them at their peak. I was pleased with these two images. The first has a softly impressionistic feel and I love the 'warm versus cool' colours in the second one. 

Thorp Perrow

Adjacent to Snape village (see yesterday), Thorp Perrow Arboretum is always worth a visit. It is, of course, spectacular in spring and autumn but even at the height of summer there is a variety of colour in the foliage, especially in the younger trees. Its lakeside and pathways invite exploration. There is something very soothing about being immersed in woodland. Even though the car park was pretty full, the large gardens swallow up the visitor numbers and it still felt quite tranquil.

The 100 acre arboretum was the vision of Colonel Sir Leonard Ropner in the 1930s. It is still owned by his family, who have built it into the fine collection of plants and trees that we enjoy today.