The mystery of the day was the police range rover, which together with a police motor cycle, suddenly whizzed out of a slip road on the southbound A3 just before the M25 interchange and nipped into a blocking position in the middle lane, holding us all down to speeds varying between nothing and 30mph. After a while they sped off again, leaving us to think that maybe the idea was to stop anybody being on the bridge over the M25 while a very important somebody was going under it. Perhaps President Putin had been paying a private visit to his mate Abromovitch at Chelsea's Cobham training ground and was on his way back to the Channel Tunnel.
Making it to an excellent position in a quiet car park at Wisley, it being only 1000 or so, the attraction of the day was Battleston Hill where we admired large numbers of magnolias and camellias in flower. Some of the former were large and I am starting to like the latter. Still not my favourite flower, but I am coming to see the point. One of them, for example, exhibited flowers in every stage of development from tight bud to floppy fall, with some handsome flowers in between, a lesson in botany if nothing else. An interesting pinky-red colour, although I am unable to find anything that suits at http://www.workwithcolor.com/; perhaps closest to but not really alizarin.
There was a stand of eucalyptus trees, from the ticket on which we were surprised to learn that the eucalyptus regnans was a very large tree indeed, growing in its native Australia to a height of more more than 100m, as tall as a mature giant redwood. The striking illustration of some of them after a forest fire is provided courtesy of http://www.humboldt.edu/ who have a fine collection of tree pictures on offer. And from the ticket under a metasequoia glyptostroboides, I learn that these trees, of which I am fond and there being good examples at Hampton Court, have been knocking around for maybe 100m years.
There were also lots of helebore. Lots of bergenia, although none as grand as that noticed on Garratt Lane (see 20th March). Lots of euphorbia (known to some of us as spurges), of interest because following a sighting of a fine specimen in East Street, I have decided that I want some. Of interest also because they had some in the dry part of the large hot house which looked nothing at all like our spurges. They also had lots of different sorts for sale in the shop, but I desisted on the grounds that it is not a good plan to move plant when they are flowering, even when they come with a root ball.
All in all, rather a botanical day. There was also a lot of spring colour in the form of massed daffodils all over the place and lots of small flowering trees, of the ornamental stone fruit sort.
Lunch at the first class restaurant, where they were doing a good trade. I find on checking that lunch was very similar to that we had last time and while I still prefer the gnocchi they do at Ewell, the waiter at Wisley did manage to process the instruction to put less cream on them. They also had a decent selection of wine served by the 500ml which suits us better for lunch than a full bottle. They failed at finding a screwdriver to screw my spectacles back together again, but as franchisees they had the excuse that they were not plugged into the maintenance men who might have had something suitable.
Not too impressed that one of the eateries is called the 'Honest Sausage', all a bit too much like a visitor attraction, reinforcing the impression given by the giant souvenir shop through which one make one's exit. They need to be careful that they don't get obsessed with visitor numbers and cross that tricky line into a theme park.
Exit from the now much fuller car park, complete with sundry coaches. Schools rather than tours.
PS: possible sighting of a nuthatch in Battleston. Did not get more than a glimpse but the shape and colour was right. Woodland habitat right?
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