When we moved to the countryside we quickly signed up for National Trust memberships, granting us access to all sorts of places nearby for an entirely reasonable monthly fee. We don’t use it anywhere near as much as we should, but that’s a whole other story.
One nearby National Trust property is Nymans, which is basically the ruins of an old mansion surrounded by some beautiful gardens and grounds. The sort of place where I get some interesting photo opportunities, whilst my kid has lots of green to run around and play hide and seek in.
Our first visit was in May 2023. Spring was in the process of sprunging, so things were looking rather pretty. On this first visit, I was in semi-childcare mode, so I was carrying my Sony DSC-RX100IV, entirely on the grounds that it was more easily pocketable.
The centrepiece of the location is the ruins of the house, which makes for good photographing in the spring sun.
That said, the gardens are the true star. Partly, I presume, because they didn’t burn down, unlike the house.
Being a ruin, there were all sorts of angles that attracted me to the house.
The grounds were great for a toddler to run around in. This may look like a maze, but it’s just hedgerows.
Also in the grounds are a few statues, just weathered enough for a bit of texture.
The ruins of the house look almost stereotypical for a ghost story. I wonder what it’s like to visit in October, after dark.
In the gardens, there is a tap, which I also decided I liked the look of because of its rusty textures.
Also in the grounds is a fountain, one that is at a great height for me to take photographs of the surface without hurting my back.
Our next visit was a few months later, in September last year. By this point I was making use of my EOS R6 Mk II for family trips and had figured out how to wrangle both a big camera and a toddler.
We arrived early enough in the day for some autumnal dew to still be on the ground. Perfect for a toddler to run off into.
This time we explored some of the other areas of the grounds we didn’t visit on our previous trip. We found a wooded area set up as a playground.
Or, if you just looked up, it looked like an ordinary forest.
The fountain was still there. This time, with a camera I was more familiar with, I made some attempts at getting some longer exposures.
Without any sort of ND filter it was a bit of a challenge. I also went for a wider, more carefully centred shot.
Finally, I randomly grabbed a shot of a flower in the grounds.
The next times we visited Nymans ended up being more child days, and I didn’t take any photos, such is sometimes the way as a parent. That is, any photos that didn’t end up confined to the family album.
I’m sure we’ll go back before too long.