Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield.

Hardwick Hall is now an hotel recently much expanded from what was a fairly modest country house. In fact the house had to be modest since so much was spent on landscaping the grounds and building follies. The Park has undergone extensive restoration with a visitor's centre, the main lake refilled, old footpaths cleared and new built though care has to be taken not to disturb the wildlife which thrived in the overgrown state. This rejuvenation has taken a several years and millions of pounds. Cleverly they knocked down the old loos before the visitor's centre was finished but, apart from that, things seemed to go well.

HHallPanorama1. A view across the big lake towards the Hall.

P1010418. Looking east from the Serpentine Lake bridge towards the Ruin folly with the statue of Neptune in the foreground.

P1010579. Great Crested Grebe nesting on the big lake. The other parent was usually somewhere on the lake but I never saw the... chicks? Grebelings?

P1010647. Grey Heron on the big lake.

P1010790. ...and again a few days later.

P1010808. The nursery pool.

P1010812. I thought herons were solitary. I think at least the nearest one is a juvenile- they certainly bred. As the year went on you might have seen a heron if you were lucky, then you'd probably see one or, later, both by the big lake and when this was taken they were all over the place.

P1010815. Looking along the Eastish-Westish arm of the Serpentine Lake. The statue is very similar to the one in Durham Market Place but not identical. It was installed as part of the ongoing restoration of Hardwick Park and replaces a statue that has been missing since the '20s or '30s.

P1010816. Neptune and the Ruin.

P1010823. The Serpentine Lake bridge.

P1010826. ...and again but with a better view of the reflections.

P1010830. Aaaah...

P1010834. The Ruin across the Serpentine Lake.

P1020075. On the big lake.

P1030405. What's up duck? A contemplative looking Tufted Duck (I think) surveys the Serpentine Lake.

P1030459. That thoughtful (dare I say reflective?) duck again some days later. Or a different duck in the same mood- who can tell?

P1030439.

P1030846. In late October the Temple of Minerva folly catches the last of the afternoon light. Pity about the fence.

P1030850. Low sun shining through the trees near the bridge. Pity about the fence. Again.

P1030864. Golden hour view of the Hall across the lake. Only the central section is original- the large wings are a very recent addition.

HHallPanorama2.

P1030880. The footbridge over the outlet from the Serpentine Lake into the big lake.

P1030885. The Serpentine Lake.

P1040161. The Temple of Minerva folly in silhouette across the big lake.

P1040163. ...and again with some foregound.

P1040165. As above but with a tighter zoom.

P1040620. The Temple of Minerva peeping through the trees to reflect in the Serpentine Lake.

P1040648. Looking across the big lake into a low sun.

HHallPanorama3. Another view of the Temple with a splendid sunset reflected in the frozen lake.

P1060298. Azure Damselfly at rest. In 2009 there were hundreds of Damselflies and many Dragonflies but the population seemed to crash over the next couple of years.

P1090571. Black-Tailed Skimmer Dragonfly at rest. A photo' I wouldn't even have attempted with film this is the one decent shot from about twenty taken on full zoom with the camera held out at arm's length.

P1110009. OK- it's just another view of the Gothic Ruin and Neptune but they are casting some pretty reflections and this won a prize at Great Aycliffe Show.

P1120061. The squirrels at Hardwick are up a tree as soon as they see you just like squirrels everywhere else... except near the wooden walkway through the Fen Carr (a marshy area) where people leave nuts and birdseed on the railings. This one sat on its branch and looked at me with disgust for not having anything for it to eat.

P1120094. The Gothic Ruin through trees.

P1120135. The Temple of Minerva from the Serpentine Lake.

P1120986. Having noted that Herons are shy meet Henry. He (or perhaps she- I don't know that anyone's actually checked) was a juvenile in 2012 and is simply not shy of people although he has the good sense to avoid dogs. Like the swans, geese and ducks he'll come over if he sees you feeding other birds and, when this photo' was taken, was coming within arm's length of someone handing out anchovies.

P1130250. Henry has particularly taken to loitering near the kitchen door of the new Visitor's Centre and has had to be shooed out on at least one occasion when it was left open.

As noted elsewhere these are thumbnail pictures. Most of the originals are saved in .RAW format and are at least eight megapixels. All of them are available at my discretion. For reference each caption begins with the photo's filename

Re-using these pictures as presented on this site (i.e. preserving my contact details and this site's URL) for any non-commercial purposes is fine, indeed welcomed, so if you need a picture to illustrate your own site and like one you see here help yourself though please do let me know. If you want to edit off the contact details then print and sell hundreds of postcards move along.

If you have a non-commercial use for an unbranded thumbnail, or even one of the originals, you can but ask. The worst thing I can do is say no and I'll try to be polite even then.

If you have a commercial use for any of these pictures you are still very welcome to get in touch. In fact I'll be tickled pink.