West Dean Gardens at a leisurely speed

When I teach at West Dean College I have a couple of hours to myself on the Saturday and it’s always an opportunity for me to head out into the gardens, camera in hand. On this occasion I took my pinhole camera along, with no particular agenda and simply photographed what caught my eye.

An ancient sprawling tree, waiting for the warmer spring weather to arrive along with its leaves.

A perfectly espaliered fruit tree in the walled gardens.

It may have been early in the spring, but there was plenty of blossom to be seen in the glasshouses.

Magical light falling through the folly…

Photos taken 15 March 2025

Houses and gardens with style

After my not so successful photos from Nymans last month I returned on my next journey down to Sussex for another try.

The house and Nymans suffered a disastrous fire in 1947, destroying a lot of the internal structure. Some of the rooms were restored, but a large part of the building remains just a shell to this day.

My ultimate destination was West Dean College, where I was due to tutor a recorder course. Naturally my camera got some exercise there too, especially around the gardens.

Two early morning photos of the River Lavant from a stroll before breakfast.

I’ve photographed this huge curving sculpture before but this time I got really close to accentuate the lines - my camera was just a couple of inches from the end of the structure!

A ghostly self portrait under the arch in the garden. In a couple of months time this will be covered in climbing plants.

During our morning playing session my group of recorder players gave me permission to capture a slow motion group portrait, which took forty minutes!

After lunch on Saturday I explored the glasshouses. The first image looks quite bare at the moment, but these strawberry and peach plants will soon be covered in fruit.

A much more verdant scene in one of the tropical glasshouses.

Photos taken 10 & 11 March 2023