The penultimate day of April and our Wednesday excursion took us to the National Trust's Stowe Gardens. I cannot remember going there so early in the year, but with clear blue skies, we knew it would look great with the trees coming into leaf. We know our way pretty well, but we could have done with the map.
At the end of the half-mile walk to the entrance of the gardens, we turned right and followed the path to the Palladian Bridge.
Instead of following the main path, we headed up a grassy path to the Gothic Temple. Instead of retracing our steps, we went across a field before rejoining the main route.
The best part of the visit for me was arriving at the Doric Arch that is surrounded by ten statues. I have a vague memory of seeing these years ago but not in this spectacular position.
The statues are now complete with the newly installed Apollo in 2023, which stands with the nine muses. The originals from the early eighteenth century gradually deteriorated, and it's taken thirty-three years of planning and construction to reach this wonderful conclusion. See the Cliveden Conservation website.
From there we found our normal route, which eventually reaches Stowe House, as the top photo shows. We ignored an encouragement to go round the mansion and found our way back to the lake. There are a number of paths along the lake, including that one past the Temple of British Worthies.
We then found ourselves in a completely deserted part of the estate and had to ask for help in finding the route back. We found that we had been there well over two hours (probably around five miles), so we were glad to get to the cafe for a welcome late lunch.
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