Nature & Environment

There is a wide variety of trees, wildflowers, birds and butterflies to be seen and the best way to describe them is to take you on an imaginary walk along one of the nature trails.
Leave the Yard at the lower end of the Byre (No. 9) following the “sunk fence”, incidentally an excellent example of a “Ha-ha”, to the “Garden Wall Planting”. Here you will find mature Beech and Oak with younger Cypresses, Western Hemlock, Red Oak, Norway Maple and Noble Fir. Beneath the trees, depending on the season, look for “Windflowers” (Wood Anemone), Scillas growing wild, Primroses, Violets, Wood Sorrel and a variety of Ferns. In the branches above you may see finches, wrens and jays with perhaps a kestrel overhead. Earlier in the season there will have been Snowdrops and Winter Aconites.
Turn left along a grass path to the Avenue and then turn right passing Scots Pine, Norway Spruce with a large Sitka Spruce planting behind, and recently planted Beech and Oak in tree tubes. Lining the Avenue are more Oak and Red Oak, with Sycamores, Maples and Cypresses. Turn left again along the “Holly Walk”, notable for a complete absence of Holly trees though there are plenty everywhere else, and pass sheets of Bluebells, white, pink and blue, and clumps of primroses under the trees. You may see here and elsewhere on your walk, and again depending on the time of year, the common varieties of butterflies and also Peacock and Red Admiral if you are lucky.

At the end of the “Holly Walk” turn left again along the “Forbidden Walk”, enjoy masses of Foxgloves in the wood on your right, then the dark water of the “Old Lake” and bear left round the path to a view of the house across the main lake. This freshwater lake is fed by an underground stream and is home to a wide variety of aquatic animals, ranging from Daphnia to Dytiscus. Pond plants, such as the Broad Leaved Pondweed can be seen in the brown water, while the marsh plants include Yellow Flag, Water Plantain, Rushes, Sedges and Marsh Horsetail. On hot sunny days Dragon-flies and Damsel-flies hover over the water.

On the Island, beside the lake and in front of the house are many varieties of daffodils. Along the nature trails you may see rhododendrons, including some early species and a variety of hybrids. There are many varieties of wildflowers and flowering shrubs which include cowslips in a special place, Yellow Pimpernel, Oxeye Daisies, Orange Hawkweed, Honeysuckle, Dog Roses and Traveler’s Joy; a profusion of woodland, marsh and hedgerow plants.
There are all the common birds on the estate as well as several Buzzards. A pair of Ravens is often in residence, which are recognizable by their extraordinary “tok” noise. Although you are unlikely to see them there are Foxes, Badgers, Stoats and at least one Otter. Swallows and House Martins nest in the Byre and there are too many jackdaws.