Road to the isles, 25th June, sunrise, a short walk and Ascog Hall
I seemed to do well for sunrises on Bute and I woke up early to yet another display, although not quite as stunning as the day before. Following breakfast I went back to the walk of the previous day to show Alan and Rene the wild flowers. We walked a little way down the path through the bog and looked at all the orchids. Here we have a marsh orchid, pale butterwort, lousewort and tufted vetch. Our next outing was a quick car journey just up the road to Ascog Hall, a Victorian pile with a wonderful garden and a glasshouse which is used as a fernery and has a magnificent roof. You pay to look around the garden and glasshouse by putting £5.00 in an honesty box, but the house is out of bounds. The garden was designed by Bateman and the fernery was restored in 1996. The weather was now ranging from damp to pouring so the fernery was at least indoors.