Apples at Acorn Bank
I don’t often take my camera to National Trust sites anymore. Normally they are now reserved for family trips where the camera is left at home and I focus on family time rather than compositions. This trip was a little different though. It was one of those rarities for us… A National Trust site that we have not yet been to.
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A cottage near to Acorn Bank, National Trust, Cumbria
I think this site has to be one of the most aptly named National Trust properties which we have visited. The ground was carpeted with acorns, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many in one place in my life before! Unfortunately they were slightly passed their best, and no longer very photogenic.
On the plus side, I think we probably hit the peak colour for a lot of the tree for this region of the country at the right time. Whilst some trees were still yet to turn, there wasn’t too many that had already lost their leaves, as demonstrated in the above picture of the cottage.
The Watermill at Acorn Bank, National Trust, Cumbria
We wandered through the woodland and down to the old Watermill, where they still produce flour that you can buy. The children had great fun looking for items on an activity sheet, including leaves with certain shapes and identifying types of tree. If you were to ask my son, every tree was a Silver Birch. Ever since I have great fun pointing out Silver Birches on subsequent walks! (He’d do the same to me if roles were reversed!)
Acorn Bank, National Trust, Cumbria
The buildings around the site are beautiful. The building with the clocktower was housing apple pressing at intervals through the day, whilst to the left there was a display with hundreds of types of apples grown in the grounds.
Acorn Bank, National Trust, Cumbria
I loved the light in the room with the apple display. I was able to utilise it in a couple of portraits of my little ones. If I’m ever back here I’ll be sure to remember the spot for portraits again. (I have a couple of windows for this purpose in my memory bank elsewhere as well, such as Pockerley Hall at Beamish).
As you entered the day there was a display of gourds and seasonal vegetables, but it was clear apples were the star. There were several tables laid out with sheets of paper, each holding 3-5 apples with the name of the variety labelled. I quite enjoyed shooting through some of the apples near to the edges of the tables back towards the window, as per the first of the three images above.
The apple theme then continued around parts of the site, from the pressing in the clocktower, to the selections in baskets near to the coffee trailer that were available to purchase on an honesty box policy, and then the exploration of the orchards.
Looking back towards the house at Acorn Bank from the orchards.
Whilst there was plenty more to explore at the site, such as the mine and down towards at animal hide (including a tree you could climb inside) I think in terms of photos I never quite got past my overload of apples, both from the house and the garden!
There is a further selection of images below in a gallery format from our wander around Acorn Bank.
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