Woburn: Wood, Water and Stone

27 November 2004

Location:

Woburn, Bedfordshire, OS Explorer 192

Woburn Abbey boasts wide grounds, grazed by deer, and large artificial lakes with water fowl on them. The house is home to the Duke of Bedford, but I was more interested in his ancient trees and vistas. Going in on foot costs a pound and if you've got a tripod, the friendly chap from Security will ask some questions to make sure you're not a commercial photographer. It was well worth the trouble.

I've been here before, in December of 2000.

Weather:

Overcast with low light levels. No rain.

Instructions:

Click the thumbnails for a larger version. Some images also have a much larger version at 1024 by 768 pixels. You can download them one by one, by clicking on the wallpaper link next to the image. Alternatively you can download a zipped archive of all of them. The zipped archive includes instructions for making a screensaver of the images.

Coming on the public footpath from the free car park in the village of Woburn, the stables are the first interesting buildings you see. This is a lodge opposite the stable quarter. I think it's used for meetings.

A view of the front of the lodge opposite the stable

Seeing the timber-framed building from the front, it's even more obvious how it is dwarfed by the elegant tree to the left.

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The stables are a business unit of their own. Here is the grand entrance to their offices.

The weather vane on the stable depicts a horse

The weather vane on the stable buildings is shaped like a horse, of course. There was hardly any wind this day, so it was easy to take pictures of.

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Between two large oaks, the church tower can be seen in the distance

Between the large, mostly bare oaks, we spot the church tower of Woburn.

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Framed by oak branches, the church tower can be seen in the middle distance

A closer look. The church looks ancient but is in fact from the nineteenth century.

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A bare oak to the left of a pond.

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An oak with brown foliage to the right of a pond

An oak with brown foliage to the right of the same pond.

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An oak with brown foliage takes up all of the picture

A much heftier oak with lots of foliage. All brown, though. It won't last.

An old fashioned, double-decker carousel in the courtyard of Woburn Abbey

Behind the actual manor, there is a set of courtyards and gardens with shops in them. Today there was a holiday fair. That's why this pretty carousel was there.

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On the other side of a lake, an oak stands. There is water fowl on the lake.

Returning, we get another look at the beautiful oak we saw earlier. This time it's on the other side of the large lake.

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Panorama of the great lake at Woburn Abbey. The oak in the picture above is on the right of the panorama.

If you follow the road in the panorama to the left, you come an ornate bridge where you can cross the lake. Here I've focused on one column of the bridge.

A peaceful view with a brick shed in the distance

The last picture of the day is very peaceful. It's dusk and there is no wind. In the middle distance there are some oaks and a brick shed. Even further away, a horse is grazing. It's time to go home.

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