Hodsock Priory - Snowdrop Time

Last year I visited Hodsock Priory to take photos of the snowdrops in the woods. In order to get a reduced price entry ticket I went online and became a friend of Hodsock. They haven't sent many promotional emails throughout the year so I hadn't thought about it being snowdrop time again until I opened an email from them asking for volunteers. 

'Why not,' I thought. Wages were poor, well none, but I got tea & coffee and lunch for free and 2 free entry tickets. So, I kept a close eye on the weather and I was really pleased to see that the day I had chosen to volunteer for was forecast to be really good.

Last Sunday I reported for duty and waited for the other volunteers to arrive. While I waited I was introduced to George Buchanan, the owner of the house and his father, Sir Andrew Buchanan, a real live Baronet and a real old fashioned gentleman. 

The role of us volunteers was varied and during the day I did everything from fetching more milk cartons, helping direct traffic in the car park (field) and pestering people about their visit. Oh, and whenever passing, checking the loos to make sure there was enough loo paper.

The weather was glorious and after several wet and windy days it seemed everyone had decided to take advantage of the lovely spring sunshine. There were coach loads of people plus so many cars. The tea tent and woodland cafe were soon crowded and the few volunteers were rushed off our feet. 4 hours flew by and before I knew it my day volunteering was over.

So, today I returned as a visitor to use one of my free tickets and to take some photos. The carpet of woodland snowdrops seemed better this year than last, although individual clumps were past their best, but I found a few.

There is a woodland cafe in the woods, with a real live bonfire for you to sit around while you tuck in to bacon butties and hot, steaming coffee and every afternoon the owner of the Priory, George, does a talk on the history of the Priory, which is really interesting. Firstly, the Priory has never been a real life Priory. It was previously just known as Hodsock, but when Ann Chambers took over she added the word Priory to make the property seem more important.

Secondly, Henry VIII visited in 1541 and you can imagine his entourage entering through the gate house, which looks lovely against the spring sky.

Lots of people stopped to talk to me while I was doing my photo, and i met some really nice people.  

After a couple of hours I took a break, settling myself on a wooden bench across the lake watching everyone milling around when I was aware of a group of people helping a man to the bench next to me. He had, unfortunately, fallen into the lake while taking a photograph and had hit his head on something, which had left quite a large mark. He had lost his camera in the lake and seemed very shocked by the accident, but we all rallied round and got help. The paramedics came and took him to be checked over, poor man. Hopefully, he is okay, but it certainly cut his visit short.

So, another enjoyable day out with my camera.