As the Autumn Season is well and truly here beautiful days out are becoming less and less frequent. This morning the sun rose over Haywards Heath in West Sussex revealing a gorgeous, clear and sunny but chilly day. With not a cloud in the sky and a small gap in my schedule before my next landscaping job, today gave me a prime opportunity to visit one of my favourite National Trust Gardens. As it is only a ten minute drive away from my home I dusted off my Canon 450D, got in the car and took a well earn't trip to see what pictures I could capture of this glorious time of year.
Sheffield Park Gardens is a magnificent informal landscape garden. It was originally laid out in the 18th Century by the iconic 'Capability' Brown and was developed further in the early 20th Century by its current owner at the time, Arthur G Soames. The original garden was based around four lakes that form the main centerpiece of the gardens. The grand cascade has to be one of my favourite places to get spectacular views accross the main lake. The autumn colour is starting to appear and you also get a beautiful view back towards part of the original house. Sheffield Park Gardens is definitely one to visit with the family or that special loved one, with different year round attractions. There are dramatic shows of daffodils and bluebells in Spring and the rhododendrons and azaleas are spectacular in the early part of summer. Autumn and winter brings stunning swathes of beautiful copper and aurbun tones from the surrounding rare trees and shrubs.
Anyone looking for more information on opening times and directions to the gardens can visit the new webpage that is currently being worked on to give it a more modern and up to date feel. Also if you are one of the many millions of Apple i Phone users there is a great little app available from The National Trust that will make finding gardens near you even easier.
Happy garden hunting!
