OUR NATIONAL TRUST - The champion of heritage and nature - PART TWO

FRIDAY 19^th DECEMBER 2021 – Canons Ashby

(My Plant A Tree ‘Til Seventy-Three target as of today: 9 Actual: 23)

Following my visit to Stowe  which if you did not read you can catch up by CLICKING HERE Now I invite you to check out Chapter Two.

As part of my support for the National Trust's ambition to plant twenty million trees by the year 2030 I have my own little project PLANT A TREE 'TIL SEVENTY-THREE which began with my publishing a book on 3rd October.

From that day onwards until the end of the Trust's project - assuming I live that long - I am paying for a tree to be planted every single week.

I have now started a second piece of writiting to support The National Trust where I will write a diary entry every time I visit, a project which will operate until the end of 2022 then be published as a paperback on Amazon.

In addition to its ultimate publication I am going to blog each visit in the hope it  will encourage others to support this incredible organisation.

Canons Ashby is not the kind of place within The National Trust I would usually want to visit but within The National Trust Canons Ashby is a place I love to visit.

I am not into old houses although I thank and celebrate The National Trust for preserving our heritage, it the parkland and the heritage of nature that I love. As I make a visit to Canons Ashby today I will explain why although it is predominately a Tudor manor house why it  is so special to me.

It was driving along the Northamptonshire country lanes and looking at the trees the words I now use so often came into my mind:

TREES ARE THE FINGERPRINTS OF NATURE – NO TWO ARE ALIKE

Today these trees, now void of leaves, look even more spectacular and the drive from my home to Canons Ashby has put my heart into the mood for a special time.

So here I am sitting to the side of the old Tudor manor house looking at the giant Cedar of Lebanon Tree which dominates the entire estate. How old is that tree ? If only it could speak what stories would it tell ? What would it have to say about the storm of 1987 which tore down its branches and reduced its height by fifty percent ? Even at half its original size, as you can see, it is quite magnificent.

It is very quiet here, silent in fact. 10.25am Friday 17^th December 2021. December indeed but very mild, even warm. I  can see the wonderful National Trust volunteers digging and preparing the soil for next year, for Spring.

 I visited Canons Ashby, sitting on this same bench several times during the Summer. Looking at that giant tree I asked it to inspire me with a story I could set here but that inspiration never came. Adjacent to the Lebanese Cedar is a Mulberry Tree from which the lawn in front of the house takes its name; The Mulberry Lawn. It was that tree, here it is, which gave me the inspiration for my story.

The Mulberry Lawn forms the fourth story in my Book PLANT A TREE ‘TILSEVENTY-THREE which was published on 4^th October to launch my personal support for The National Trust’s ambition to plan twenty million trees by the year 2030.

But back to today. I have moved to sit on the other side of The Mulberry Lawn. Away to my right in the valley below the ha-ha sheep are silently and peacefully grazing.  How many are there ? One-two-the-four-five-six-seven-eight, yes eight of them. Let me take a photograph. But now looking down the valley now there are a lot more than just eight sheep, I have counted thirty. Some are eating the grass, some are sitting on the ground, dare I say sunbathing. Sunbathing in December ! We do have crazy weather patterns now, nothing like those the Tudors knew when the house was occupied by the Dryden Family.

Where is that photograph ?

 
Here it is.

Looking at the picture can you see the ridge and furrow dating back to times before The Enclosure Acts from days gone by ? 

I would like to walk down the valley but with Doggie Jake that would be unkind to the sheep. Sheep are beautiful creatures are they not. Let me introduce you to one in particular. I wonder what her name is. What stories could she tell ? Not a member of The National Trust herself but grazing on the land of National Trust Canons Ashby.

Is her eyesight as good as mine ?  Better perhaps. Can she see the nests high up in the trees.

10.50am and the cloud behind the trees in that picture are starting to break up, the sun is shining. Beautiful December sun.

Time for a walk through the kitchen garden. In the Summer this was an amazing place packed with produce which visitors could pick up and leave a donation at a table near to the entrance. Today the soil is bare, bare as the volunteer gardeners have made it ready for planting next year and for it to become another amazing place in Summer 2022.

I am feeling hungry, time to visit the café. To sit outside in the sunshine and enjoy a National Trust nibble. On an adjacent table there is a Robin nibbling at food left before someone comes from the kitchen to clear it away.

On my table there is a tiny ant looking to see if I will leave a treat for him.

 

It is beautiful creatures like these residents of Canons Ashby that draw me to the parklands of nature in The National Trust rather than the heritage of the houses. But within Canons Ashby and its house there is something which I want to find out more about, perhaps even one day I will even write a story about this.

Standing at the read door to the house and looking through an avenue of sculptured trees there is a statue of a shepherd. Did shepherds actually look like this, I rather think not but the story behind the statue pricks at my mind. The statue of a shepherd boy was made in 1713 and honours the actions of a shepherd during the English Civil War  of 22^nd  August 1642 to 3rd September 1651at Canons Ashby. It is telling me to write a story. Perhaps one day I will.

When you visit Canons Ashby, as I hope this little diary entry will inspire you so to do, go and look for yourself as the statute and see what story it wants to tell you. From the sheep to the robin, from the robin to the ant. From the Cedar of Lebanon to The Mulberry Tree and its special lawn enjoy some quality time with our very special National Trust. Support the Trust’s ambition to plant twenty million trees by the year 2030 the fast forward your imagination to picture your tree when it is as tall as the Cedar of Lebanon or as old as The Mulberry Tree.

 

www.maxrobinsonwriter.com