There is quite a lot to see within the park, a miniature railway that you can ride, plus a boat that does trips on the lake , a nice little cafeteria at one end of the lake and a pleasant restaurant at the other.
The whole area was once owned by the 2nd Duke of Sutherland and the grounds were laid out by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. It is now owned and run by Molem Properties who are carrying out extensive renovation work within the park and they plan to restore it to its original state, this is a huge task, but on each visit I can see much progress being made with lots of woodland clearing taking place. I particularly like the way that nature is taken into account and many habitats and features have been created by using the trees that had to be felled or the coppice wood. Free reign is given to local wood carvers to turn the tree stumps into works of art, I have posted many pictures of these previously, some are still there, others have started to decay and there are a few new sculptures in some places.
One of my favourites are the 'wire frame' Fairies that are dotted around the lake, around 15 in all and finding them all can be quite a task.
There is one fantastic example much larger than the others that is holding a Dandelion 'clock' that is blowing away in the wind, a truly imaginative and beautiful creation, I always call this one 'The Queen of the Fairies' although I think its proper title is something to do with dreams. It is still there on it's own plinth near the top of the lake.
Queen of the Fairies
but I was pleased to see that nearby a new clump of much larger Dandelion 'clocks' made in the same style were alongside a path by the lake.
The park also includes a Monkey Forrest in which you can walk freely amongst a fairly large troop (about 140) of Barbary Macaques that inhabit the enclosure, a large security fence surrounds an extensive woodland area. On passing this fence at one point I was drawn to a plaque informing visitors that the once locally famous Trentham Lido was now inside the perimeter fence of the monkey forest.
Although now no longer functioning I can recall visiting it as a child on a family outing and having to wear my knitted and very itchy swimming trunks. I also remember how cold the water was, England does not exactly have a tropical climate, but seeing the sign and the picture did bring back forgotten memories.
There is a plan to create a 'Stumpery' complete with ferns, I have seen these in other stately gardens where they use the old stumps complete with roots of trees that have been ripped up for woodland clearance, they can look very artistic when finished.
Nearby was a small depression that was filled about two feet deep with composted horse poo, apparently it was being planted with Giant Himalayan Lilies, should look nice when they are fully grown.
There are quite a few of the large trees remaining from the original Capability Brown planting, amongst them are some nice Giant Redwood trees. This stand has a nice stream cascading down through the rocks and into the lake, again a part of the original park plans.
There are still some lovely swathes of Daffodils remaining although most have gone past their best by now. One such planting is at the other end of the lake near to the restaurant. I find this part particularly picturesque, maybe because of the old bridge that leads to a winding path that takes you towards the Italian Formal gardens. More art can be found here such as these wicker work Snowdrop flowers, a nice place to stop for a rest and a very large Cappuccino coffee.
We ended our day as the clouds began to gather so we had been lucky in avoiding the rain. We passed the 'Queen of the Fairies' on her plinth and walked towards the bronze statue of Perseus slaying the Gorgon Medusa. This lovely statue is located at the top end of the lake and was intended to be seem when viewed from the top end of the Italian gardens in front of the (now demolished) Trentham Hall. The gardens are still in their Winter mode, so not much colour about until later in the year and the drizzle was beginning to come down. Annie with her newly shorn coat was having none of it and was keeping up the pace in order to get out of the rain, so we quickly skirted the remains of the old buildings and headed back to the car just as the heavens opened. Sorry for the picture quality, but it was a very dull day.
As an afterthought I should mention that this estate has large surrounding woodlands and a new 'Diamond' wood comprising of native Oak trees was planted to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee. There are around 2300 new trees in this wood and all are dedicated to someone by means of a donation, I am always happy to think that my dear wife Anne has a tree dedicated to her memory growing in this new woodland.
we are easily amused over here 
