Our Guide Joe Hawkins with an old, old piece of stone
Joe Hawkins is a visionary academic, advocate of the eighteenth century landscape, combined with the huge physical capacity for rolling up his sleeves and getting the hard work done. We were lucky enough to hear him chart the evolution of the works so far at one of our lectures. We then went on to enjoy a tour of the park with Joe as our guide which allowed us to see for ourselves things we had seen in the slides.
Gazing at a perfectly square stone.
Joe explained how eighteenth century landscape designers played with our senses of space and perception and we were able to experience this for ourselves emerging from ‘gloom to light’.
Top of the Hill looking down towards the Hall
A wide-angle shot of the restored bridge
We saw too the numerous cascades and drainage structures emerging as divining rods throw up more reliable results than geophysical technological explorations.
A medieval castle. Actually just a folly.
When zoomed in, you can even pick out people on the bridge if you look carefully
We climbed to the ‘ruined castle’ and then descended to stunning views of the house and church in its landscape. A a magical end to the visit.
The Hall and the Worcestershire countryside
We departed for cups of tea but the unstoppable Joe had a programme of watering to ensure the survival of recent plantings.
