Gathering ideas for a garden project

A cafe courtyard garden, Castleton, Derbyshire

At the moment we're thinking of creating a new seating area underneath the fig tree which will be surrounded by plants in containers. Our small, completely enclosed back garden is L-shaped and sheltered by a cedar hedge on three sides with the double garage, the covered yard and the house on the fourth.  Most of the borders are given over to 'cottage garden' plants, but we would like to create a small corner with a more Mediterranean-style of planting.  The front garden, too, needs some thought.  It's rather mixed in style at the moment with another fig tree, jasmine, lavender and some vines growing on the original dry stone wall that was once part of the old estate of a local manor house. There's a raised bed which was put in by a previous owner, but which also might get a makeover in the Autumn. Everything is at the thinking stage and gathering ideas from gardening books and looking at other gardens, which is enjoyable in itself. Nothing drastic will be done as my DH, 'The Gardener', could do with a bit of a rest from any sort of heavy work in the garden.

This is the area that we would like to create a seating area, moving some of the planting, retaining some of the shrubs and, of course, the fig tree.  The paved area which has been used to grow vegetables in containers will continue to be used in this way. DH was given a second box tree as a birthday gift.  The hare and the ornamental grass was a belated birthday gift given to our daughter by her brother and sister-in-law when she came to stay last week.

In the meantime we enjoyed spending time in a cafe during a recent visit to Castleton, Derbyshire where there was courtyard garden that had plenty of features to admire and inspire.

It was a wet day when we drove over to Castleton so after parking we went into the first cafe we saw on the high street.  It was a surprise to find the garden behind the cafe as all the buildings on the street have very narrow front gardens or none at all. On another, sunnier occasion it would be a pleasant place to sit out there. However, on that rainy day we sat inside in a corner of the cafe overlooking the garden and enjoyed our cappuccino and lemon drizzle cake.

August days: North Yorkshire coastal resort

We've been going out with the family during the last week on day trips around Derbyshire and Yorkshire, including a day spent at the coast.  Scarborough is one of the nearest seaside resorts to where we live, but it's quite a drive so we rarely go there just for the day. There are two bays and we headed for the quieter sandy beach of North Bay.

We had a fish and chip lunch at a cafe restaurant by the promenade before walking to the beach at the far end of North Bay.

Metal sculptures are becoming a common sight in many places and this one is of an old retired miner sitting and looking out to sea.  He was a friend of the sculptor and one of the first of the Allied Forces to go and liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.  The sculpture serves as a war memorial and also represents the ordinary person who serves in times of critical need. It was very difficult to get a photograph because, as you can imagine, there were many interested people, old and young, crowded around it. It must have looked like a giant to the very young children and there was one little boy gazing at the huge shoes and looking at his own.

We spent the afternoon on the beach before going on up to the castle on the cliffs and the area overlooking the other bay, St. Mary's Church and churchyard where Anne Bronte, the authoress of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey is buried after spending time in Scarborough with her sister, Charlotte, during her last illness. You can read about her life here. Since we visited last, a newly-engraved stone has been put in place by The Bronte Society.

One of the quirky-looking houses in the castle area and opposite St. Mary's Church.

There are beautiful views across the bay to the harbour and a good walk down steps or by a little winding lane to the old town. At this time of the year it's extremely crowded and we were pleased to have stayed in the North Bay and to have finished our day trip in the quiet area on the cliffs before setting off back home.