Archive for 20/01/2014


Green Monday

Filed under: This and that — 2 Comments
20/01/2014

From the RHS:

‘Blue Monday? Not for gardeners! A new survey has shown that Brits truly are a nation of gardeners with 77% saying they garden and 82% saying it makes them feel happier! A whopping 70% also said that given the choice, they would prefer to spend their working day in a garden. Inspired? See our films of horticulturists explaining their jobs make them happy, and join us on Twitter all day tweeting with ‪#‎GreenMonday‬: http://bit.ly/1b1PJcu’

I’ve just come in from some garden foliage clearing – crisp, sunny afternoon, wonderful sunset….happy.

Old School Gardener

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Help build the policy case for play

Filed under: Play, This and that — Leave a comment

Rethinking Childhood

This post asks for your help in building the case for play. I am writing a report – aimed at Government – that gathers together evidence for the difference that play facilities and initiatives can make to children, families and communities. And I need your help in pulling together this evidence. I hope you agree this is an important and urgent task, given the scale of recent cuts to play facilities.

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Drama at Quinta da Regaleira, Portugal

Filed under: Great Gardens, Heritage Gardens & gardening, Portuguese Gardens — Leave a comment

IMG_8203

So, this is it, the final stop on our final day in Portugal (well, at least this visit). The Quinta da Regaleira is one a group of grand palaces with grand gardens and estates in the mountain top resort of Sintra, a few miles from Lisbon, and famous as the retreat of the royals and the rich.

It consists of a romantic palace and chapel, and a luxurious park featuring lakes, grottoes, wells, benches, fountains, and a vast array of exquisite constructions. The palace is also known as “Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire”, from the nickname of its first owner, Antonio Augusto Carvalho Monteiro. The estate has had many owners through time, but in 1892 it was purchased by Carvalho Monteiro who then set about creating a place where he could gather symbols that would reflect his interests and ideologies. With the assistance of the Italian architect Luigi Manini, he installed in the 4-hectare estate a range of enigmatic buildings, believed to hide symbols related to Alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar and the Rosicrucians. The architecture is an eclectic mix of styles, constructed in the first few years of the 1900’s and completed in 1910.

Beutifully carved stone adorns the many structures in the gardens..

After a number of other owners, and a period in which it fell into disrepair, the estate was bought by Sintra Council in 1997. Extensive restoration was undertaken, and the palace and surroundings were opened to the public one year later.

Most of the estate consists of a dense woodland park crossed by many roads and footpaths. The woods are neatly arranged in the lower parts of the estate, but left wild and disorganized in the upper parts, reflecting Carvalho Monteiro’s belief in primitivism. Decorative, symbolic and leisure structures are dotted aorund the park and there is also a mysterious system of tunnels, which have multiple accesses including via grottoes, Chapel, Waterfall Lake, and “Leda’s Cave” beneath the Regaleira Tower. Their symbolism has been interpreted as a trip between darkness and light, death and resurrection.

The “Initiation Well” or “Initiatic Well” (sometimes referred to as the “Inverted Tower”) is a 27 metre staircase that leads straight down underground and connects with other tunnels via underground walkways.Water is a frequent element with two artificial lakes and several fountains and the Aquarium, built as if it were naturally embedded in a rock.

The Initiation Well- looking up…
..and down…
..accessed via dark grottoes and tunnels…

I loved the playfulness of the park and children of course love its quirky touches, secret passages and tall towers. Quite a place and a fitting end to our latest Portuguese trip.

Superb detailing inside the palace..
Luigi Mannini

Source: Wikipedia

Old School Gardener

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