26th September 2021
Going to Dunham Massey was my opportunity to see the Fallow deer at one of the National Trust properties, where the deer are in a sanctuary, so kept as wild as possible within the grounds of the Estate.
Although they are relatively close to the families visiting, the deer are out of bounds, as are any activities that might encourage the deer to seek human food or be fed leaves. So there are areas within the park that are for picnics and of course several options for something yummy, like Rum & Raisin ice-cream cone.
The house stands proudly looking over the deer park with a long driveway to herald guests arrivals. The house is available to go into, but today, we were concentrating on the grounds so that Alex could stretch his legs.
I would like to return to visit the house, which also served as a hospital during WWI and also call into the town of Dunham, in which all the buildings have been owned by the same family for 500 years, which allows the village to be kept as untouched by modern life as possible.
Leaving the carpark, we passed through the visitor centre and headed alongside the canal that passes alongside the house. It would be lovely to have a lake alongside the house.
I thought the weather was not going to clear up for our visit. However, despite the sky being pretty cloudy, it stayed dry while we were there. Which was good, as there wasn’t any shelter once we started the walk. Alongside the canal was a very old tree, believed to be over 500 years old, still alive and growing.
We walked past the house and then started our hike. It is all pretty flat paths around the property, which is good. It isn’t as grand looking as the house at Lyme Park, from the outside.
It didn’t take long to find some of the deer, who were resting under the trees alongside the path. They are beautiful young male Fallow deer and Alex was interested in seeing them.
Although there was a fair amount of dead leaves on the ground, the trees are still green. I can imagine how pretty it will look as Autumn comes around. Nat has booked us in to visit at Christmas time, when hopefully there might be some snow, but also the park will be lit with Christmas lights. It looks like it will be beautiful. Here’s the link if you are interested.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunham-massey/features/christmas-at-dunham-massey
The female deer were quite a bit harder to spot as they lay in the long grass. It was generally their twitching ears or tails that caught our attention.
Alex liked that there were several animals carved out of tree stumps that were all about his height.
As we walked around the meadows we saw more of the deer and also where the effort to control the bracken was being undertaken by bruising it, allowing other plants to grow. I didn’t know what that meant, but it appears it is a process that is done regularly to damage the stalks of the bracken, making them weaker and also weakening the system of roots and rhizomes underground. They even have small machines that can be pulled by a tractor that will apply the pressure needed. Bracken is very hard to control, because the strength of the plant is underground, so just chopping off the leaves won’t stop it. It looks like they are doing a pretty good job here in the deer park.
It was pretty walking around the perimeter of the park. We passed a lot of other families out for the afternoon. Lots of people with their dogs, on leads, which was a requirement to protect the deer.
As we started to head back towards the house, the suggestion of an ice-cream was a really welcome one. The stables had been converted into an upstairs restaurant and a very busy ice-cream shop.
My Rum & Raisin single scoop ice-cream was very nice and the Dutch chocolate one was enjoyed by Alex with help from Nat. It was a lovely treat for our littlest hiker who had done so well on our long walk.
It was a lovely simple afternoon.
Life is a Journey 