SCULPTURE BY THE LAKES

Mr. HCB and I have had a wonderful day out today and I don't think any words of mine will adequately describe the wonderful sights we have seen. We set out from Boscombe at about 10 a.m. and arrived at Sculpture by the Lakes at Pallington, near Tincleton in Dorset just after 11 a.m.

Then our "walk of wonder" started - along wide verges of mown grass walkways, bordered on both sides by lakes, rivers, woodland and beautifully kept gardens - every corner we turned we were stunned and amazed by the wonderful sculptures that greeted us. We stopped for a picnic lunch in a tranquil spot overlooking Rainbow Lake and then off we went again - wandering round until about 4.30 p.m.

The sun shone, there was a light breeze and there was plenty to take in - so much, in fact, that we know we will visit again to see more. The beauty of the place is that it only allows about 30 people per day, so walking round the 26 acres, we saw relatively few people, which allowed us to appreciate the sculptures in their natural settings.

We did stop and speak to Sam, a young gardener, who has worked there for a year and Lin, who has obviously worked there for much longer. We complimented them on the beautiful gardens and while we were speaking to Sam he was dead-heading the Thrift around one of the sculptures with a small pair of scissors - he said it was the only way to do it and so far it had taken him 3 days!

Just before I took this shot, Mr. HCB told me to close my eyes, then he guided me down a grassy bank, sat me on a seat, and then told me to open my eyes - what a joy to behold this beautiful pelican sculpture and it was an added bonus to see the swan gliding by too. I won’t tell you how many photographs I took in total, but it was a VERY hard decision to choose just one!

Simon Gudgeon, a Yorkshireman, and one of Britain's leading contemporary sculptors produced all the pieces we saw - you can see more here and if you can, do go and visit - you won't be disappointed.

We saw this quote on a sphere near the pelican sculpture:

Use what talents you possess;
the woods would be very silent
if no birds sang there
except those that sang best.
Henry Van Dyke

P.S. For those interested - when you see Molton Brown soap and hand cream in the 5* toilets, you know it’s going to be good!!