Getting lost in Trentham Gardens, Stoke-On-Trent
Ok, Ok..having been wanting to visit my cousin for a long time, I finally packed my bags and jumped on the train heading to Stoke for the weekend. Being meticulosly organised, we had already planned to visit The Trentham Estate for the day.
Trentham Shopping Village
After getting lost *looks at the Sat Nav*, we arrived at the Trentham Estate. Next to the car park, we walked through the Trentham Shopping Village. The shops were in timber lodges selling a range of products from pottery, homeware, clothes, toiletries, rather similar to a shopping outlet. The wooden lodges added a lot of character and reminded me of a alpine resort minus the snow. You can find some really quirky gifts here, I picked up a ceramic cup crumpled in the shape of a plastic cup - my new pen holder! I particularly liked the 'local food store'. inside you will find eggs, cakes, cheese from the local area and mostly organic produce.
There arent many places to eat here and I would suggest looking around first at the prices or even bringing your own picnic or you will be like us attempting to eat the most flakiest sausage roll in the world. Talk about the pastry mess!
Trentham Gardens
In the middle of the shops, there is the entrance for the Gardens. If the weather is nice and sunny, it is definetly worth having a family day out here. There is an admission fee and the amount will depend on the number of attractions you want to visit.
The Italian Garden
You cannot tell from this picture but the swans are not real! We assume they were made out of steel. It did capture the striking poses of the swan from launching to resting.
These were found hanging in the trees, they looked like brown woven straw baskets, perhaps a home for an animal?
Trentham Hall
Trentham Hall was an elegant mansion built in the 1830's and was the home of nobles and dukes at the time.
There are proposals to rebuild Trentham Hall as a five star hotel.
Anyone for a spot of tea?
 |
All images and material on the Under the Olive Branch blog are copyright protected and all rights reserved. Images and material are for personal viewing and evaluation only and are copyrighted @Undertheolivebranch unless otherwise indicated.