Last Saturday my wife and I were invited to stay overnight at this lovely country manor house in Surrey to celebrate her recent birthday. We arrived in the early afternoon and as the warm sun shone down on this beautiful landscape.
I decided to spend a bit of my very precious time wandering around the manor's 16 glorious acres of grounds to give you a glimpse of the place.
Hartsfield Manor
As you can see the Manor is quite a substantial building and the grounds were truly amazing and well cared for. It was full of trees from all over the world, bushes and tons of wildlife. Even as we arrived and got out of the car I could hear a Woodpecker pounding away in the distance.
Country walk
I followed the country path for a short while and then turned to cross the large open lawn at the back of the manor and in the distance I spotted this Rabbit trying to stay really still and make itself invisible?
Plump Rabbit
To the right of the Rabbit there was a copse of trees and sneaking along in the dark undergrowth looking for a tasty snack was this Fox.
Hungry Fox
I stopped dead and raised my camera to get the shot of both animals but as soon as I shot the Rabbit the click and whirr of the camera motor spooked the Fox and it ran off. Good news for the Rabbit but not much fun for the hungry Fox.
I carried on with my walk and took a few more photos of other buildings on the land. This house in the trees below looks pretty nice too.
Another country house in the grounds
And this looks like a small hamlet in the grounds with a few houses and barns. Probably for the workers of the estate.
Small Hamlet in the grounds
On the last leg of the walk back to my room I passed loads of schrubs and flowers and here are just a couple of them. It's always nice to see some flowers.
Schrubs and flowers
All in all it was a lovely walk in very pleasant surroundings but watchig the Rabbit and the Fox reminded me of the fragility of life and how things can change in an instant.
In just a few hours time this idylic scene would change drastically as we witnessed the aftermath of...
A MURDER!?
A walk around the lake
A walk along the cliffs in Cornwall
Meet the ancestors
Another great find for @steemitworldmaps I was the first steemian to visit and record this place. That deserves a woo hoo!
What a beautiful place to go for a Wednesday Walk! And a great place to celebrate a birthday. And you leave us with a mystery. I can't wait to hear more.
It was a dark and windswept night with rain pattering on the windows....wait that's tomorrows post 😂😂
Ha... Now you must start it that way! 😃
Oooh what a magnificent looking Manor @molometer I'd love to stay in a place like that. Did you get any photos of the interior to share with us?
I'm glad you took the time to talk a walk around the grounds and capture both flora and fauna. That rabbit did a great job of 'playing possum.' A lovely post.
Hey Trudee,
The Rabbit lived to chew another day 😃
My follow up post to this was all about the interior of the Manor. I wonder if you would still like staying in this place knowing that a Murder took place while you were having dinner? 😃
https://steemit.com/busy/@molometer/murder-at-the-manor
https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmZ3tm6Far2kegRWSS24PYgZA4W3TZgJ4LjXKHcKRmNKa3
I was going to say without a doubt i would stay there the place has so much character and those grounds are so beautiful, HOw cool to come across the rabbit and fox, well as you say maybe not so much for the fox who may have missed a meal
But then you finish off with A Murder, Hmm maybe I will have to wait till I see that post before I say I would happily stay there
Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk :)
All will be revealed tomorrow. It is a stunning place but things did go bump in the night! 😂
0f course yes it seems a nice play but we all should be cosplayer like downtown abbey characters 😉
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That would be a great idea for a steem meetup. Everyone comes as there favorite character. Great suggestion.
If you could get rid of the wires, straight out of Thomas Hardy. Happy for the rabbit. The fox will live to eat another meal :)
I thought about PSing the wires out but then thought meh 😂 it's more authentic with the wires.
Thomas Hardy country for sure. I could imagine Tess walking up the path.
The Rabbit owes a life debt to Canon 😀
Wow, nice place and amazing view of natural beauty.
Thanks, not sure the Rabbit was to keen to be exposed in the field though.
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haha! howdy sir molometer! what a beautiful place, amazing. Can't wait to see what happens in the manor next!