Ightham Mote and the Bluebell Wood

Last week I visited a favourite National Trust (NT) property of mine, Igtham Mote in Kent. If you ever find yourselves in Kent it should be on your must see list. The property is one of the few moated houses which still exist in the UK and it dates from the 14th Century. It was left to the National trust by Charles Robinson a wealthy Canadian who saved it from ruin and re development.  After they inherited it in 1985 the NT spent millions bringing it back from the brink of decay. I visit this house most years with my parents and I have been delighted to see all the restoration take place. This is now finished and the house stands in all its glory.

The medieval house is completely surround by the moat.

The entrance of course is over the (now permanent and made of stone) draw bridge

It is a large house set around a quadrangle. The photo below is looking back from the inside to the photo above, if that makes sense?

The rooms are quite amazing and one of my favourite is the ancient chapel on the top floor which you can see from the outside in the photo above. You can see some of the stained glass there too.
The grand entrance hall has a picture of the lady of the house dating from the 15th Century.

There was a fire burning in the fireplace that day but the fireplace was a later addition. When the house was first built the fire would have been in the centre of the "hall" and there would have been an opening in the ceiling of the room. How cold these houses must have been in the winter. We also learnt that the reason the 4 poster beds had canopies was not just to keep the cold out but to stop the bat and occasional bird droppings falling on you as your slept ;0)

Here is one of the Selby family ladies. The family  lived in the house from the 1591 until 1889.
We have seen the inside of the house many times so I did not take lots of photos as the other reason we had come to Ightham was to see the renowned bluebells on their estate.
The grounds around the house are also worthy of a visit. Here are a couple of photos I took en route to the woods.

The one advantage of all the rain we have had is how lush and green the English coutryside is looking at the moment. I really love the photo above....Constable would have enjoyed painting that wouldn't he with those fluffy marshmallow clouds in the sky.

We walked the short walk up through the estate to the woods are were totally delighted at what we saw as the bluebells were out in all their wonderful glory.

There were drift upon drift of these amazing English bluebells and the sweet scent hung on the air. It really was a sight to behold and it took my breath away. I have mentioned this before, real English bluebells have their flowers only on one side of their stalk. Sadly the continental bluebell is fast hybridizing our gardens  so you really need to get out to the woodlands to find the original English bluebells.

Here is a close up and you can see how the flowers hang just on one side of the stalk. Sooo pretty.

There were lots of different blue shades

and we even found a patch of white..perhaps these are albino?

It was hard to tear ourselves away as it was so beautiful. However our tummies were calling us for our packed lunch which we sat and ate in the picnic spot whilst the birds sang from the trees to us. It was a wonderful day out in the English countryside.

My card today is inspired by English gardens and is one using a great digi stamp by Ladybug Crafts ink

This image has been very popular in my Etsy shop and I have sold several colour ways. This colour way just had to be blue, as inspired by the bluebell woods.
I have coloured it with my Promarkers and highlighted with my Prismacolor pencils.
I have used pretty Prima Papers from the Jack and Jill set.and added a LOTV sentiment.

It is for sale here in my Etsy shop and just for this week I am offering FREE shipping to anyone in the UK. Sadly I cannot offer this to my overseas buyers as postage is so expensive now but as a thank you to all my overseas blog readers I will take off £1.10 (the equivalent of the UK shipping charge). This applies to all my cards, jewellery and bag charms in my shop so do take a browse. The code to use is BLUEBELLS2013 for UK buyers. If you are abroad please email me or contact me via Etsy before purchasing as this code will not work for you. I will re list the item with the money taken off. If there are any problems I will refund any overcharged monies via PayPal.

I would like to enter my card into the following card challenges;

Whimsy card challenge anything goes #59
Papertake Weekly The sound of music My song inspiration just has to be the 1960s tune "English country garden" by Jimmie Rodgers...I can't get it out of my head now. Put it into Google and you will find it on You Tube.....LOL a real 60s classic ;0) I can remember it as a kid.
Natalie and Amy things with wings #9
The Cupboard trilogy Spring Flowers
Emerald Faeries Ribbon #43
Simon Says Stamp flower power
Crafts and Me Use a digi #133
I love Promarkers Simpy does it #168


Thanks for visiting me. Do remember that I have a candy running on this post. You could win the sweet baby digi stamp I used for my card there. Just leave a comment on that post and I will be back with the 2 winners and another of my Guest Design cards for Ladybug Crafts Ink on Tuesday.

I hope you enjoyed your virtual visit with me to the beautiful English countryside. All we need now is some sustained sunny weather...hmmm, that's another story I think. Enjoy the upcoming weekend. I have the day off from work as does my daughter. We are meeting half way to enjoy Ladies' lunch and a little retail therapy ;0)

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x