Easy hikes and walks around Biddulph

lovely pond in the middle of the park

worth the steps to see the view- recommend coming down the steps to get the best views

Great little spot adjacent the car park to have a break. Wheelchair accessible table provided.

Great little dam wall separating the two bodies of water.

Egypt is home to 5 sculptures by sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse-Hawkins - 4 sphynx and Thoth, the ape god of botany. It is surrounded by a beech hedge, the only non-evergreen hedge in the garden which comes alive in autumn, glowing golden orange in the watery sunlight.

Dahlias are planted in tiers between huge buttressed yew hedging and provide a dazzling display of colour. Yew is used throughout the garden to create bays and 'rooms'. Biddulph Grange is thought to have been the first garden of its era to have used the concept of 'garden rooms'. Biddulph’s most spectacularly colourful showpiece The dahlias are planted out in June after the danger of early frosts is over and they flower spectacularly, reaching a peak in early Septemer. Many types of dahlia are planted, such as pompon or ball, which would have been available in the late 19th century but some more modern types such as collarette are included. Once the dahlias are lifted in late October, the beds are filled with a mixture of bulbs to provide a riot of colour in the spring. Shade at the south-east section of the Walk has proved too difficult for the sun-loving dahlia and here the borders have been planted with shade-tolerant perennials such as Ligularia przewalskii, Japanese anemones and Toad lilies. It is the powerful arrangement of dark yew hedges that defines this garden and to see it in winter is to appreciate just how dominant they are. Beside every change in gradient, stepped buttresses of hedging jut out to meet the path and appear to support the hedges that enclose the terrace gardens above. It is a massive green construction. The buttresses also serve another purpose, in winter they hide the prospect of end-to-end bare soil. The buttresses recede like wings of scenery in a theatre, focusing the view at the lower end on a bed of architectural planting, and at the upper end on the Shelter House with its inviting arched entrance and Venetian window above. In late October, after flowering, the tubers are lifted, turned upside down so that excess water drains out, cleaned and stored on newspaper in crates covered by sawdust. In February they are put into trays and covered in compost. When they start to shoot, cuttings are taken and potted on so they grow into healthy plants. James and Maria Bateman lived at an interesting time in the development of dahlias. They had been introduced to Europe in the late 18th century and by 1860–80 these flowers truly came of age, moving from being just an attractive garden flower to something highly-bred, sophisticated and the subject of serious competitions. The Batemans constructed the walk to house dahlias, the new tender exotics from Mexico. Sadly, in the 20th century the Dahlia Walk fared less well. During the hospital era, it was filled in completely when the new wards were being built, providing a less dangerous open space for the children. Excavating and reinstating the Walk has been one of the National Trust’s most important projects at Biddulph and its replanted yew hedges are now as substantial as ever they were in the Batemans’ day.

The  first pile of tree roots actually to be called stumperies are generally thought to be those at Biddulph Grange in Staffs and its quite close neighbour Arley Hall in Cheshire. They both date from the 1850s. In October 1856 Gardeners Chronicle in an article on Biddulph refers to “a rustic root garden” and a continuation piece  in December elaborates the description at considerable  length and uses the term ‘the Stumpery’ for the first time. The Biddulph Grange stumpery was clearly a deliberately planned ‘architectural’ construction, rather than just a random heap, and was designed as a space for particular plants to grow in, on and over. Even today it is impressive, although after 160 years of natural decay not as high or angular and jagged as it was when it was first constructed. James Bateman may have had roots available as the result of clearance on the Biddulph site but they were clearly insufficient in number. In 1841 he  wrote  thanking William Hooker, the Director of Kew, for a box of ferns and telling him that “Mr Dean (my gardener) has already scoured the country for old stumps for their accomodation.” But wherever they came from what is clear is the effective use to which they were put, and how they fitted in to Bateman’s overall  eclectic but eccentric garden  plan.  Earlier in the articles there were  lengthy description of his fernery and pinetum but the section on the Stumpery  is included  in a much longer description of the Chinese garden, “the last and most recently formed division of this place.”

The monkey-god Thoth, Buddha-like, squat, hands on knees like a seated man, but with the head of a baboon. Thoth (/θoʊθ, toʊt/; from Koinē Greek: Θώθ Thṓth, borrowed from Coptic: Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ Thōout, Egyptian 𓅞𓏏𓏭𓀭 Ḏḥwtj, the reflex of Ancient Egyptian: ḏḥwtj "[He] is like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat, and his wife was Ma'at. He was the god of the moon, wisdom, writing, hieroglyphs, science, magic, art, and judgment. His Greek equivalent is Hermes.