Revisiting an old haunt - Burton Manor

Driving back after being part of a Massage stand at a village show in North Wales yesterday, I unexpectedly found myself on a rather familiar stretch of motorway. Although normally I was coming from the other direction and on every previous occasion had been driven (rather than driving myself), the signs towards Hoylake were unmissable. In a matter of seconds my intention to visit Dunham Massey (which had been a rather non-committal intention) was ditched in favour of returning to an old haunt - Burton Manor. I hadn't been since December 2010 but had been thinking of it recently and after a non-starter trip in May, today, unexpectedly, was the day for my return.

I was introduced to Burton Manor by the NO HANDS Mastery Programme in 2007. For 4 years I came here four, sometimes five, times a year, seeing the seasons and gardens change - and seeing the grounds at what felt like every time of the day and night! The days were long (I remember one morning getting up at 6am to walk the length of one of the lawns incredibly slowly, before our 7am Massage; and the late nights were innumerable!) and filled with learning on every level. But the privilege of coming to such a beautiful place and having the gardens to walk in was amazing.

In April 2011 the Manor closed (it had been an adult education residential centre since 1948) and since then the buildings have remained closed while negotiations to sell it (it's currently owned by Liverpool City Council but there have been ongoing negotiations with the University of Chester over the purchase). In the mean time, having secured significant funding and with a team of dedicated volunteers  the gardens have been cared for with several features (notably the walled garden and glass house, and the restored ice house) now open to the public which, when I was last here, were in a very poor state of repair and inaccessible to visitors like me.

The telltale sign that the building is out of action comes in the form of the ivy over the grand face that overlooks the formal gardens. Previously a feature, it's now encroaching on the windows and doorways, in some cases obscuring the glass altogether. There's a sense of the ivy beginning to encase the building and although not overgrown in the way derelict buildings are (and with the juxtaposition of the cared for gardens) the building does feel "quiet". Interestingly, I could quite imagine a group coming out of a door, or sitting down to a meal in the dining room. All the furniture seems still to be in place, laid out almost as if a course is in progress. And yet - no course. No meals. No activity in the house.

Knowing the building has been closed for these past few years makes the change in the gardens (which are generally in a better condition now than they were when I was here before - the main exception being the central borders in the boxes of hedges to either side of the pond which have gone to seed) particularly poignant.

Burton Manor will always hold a special place in my heart and is filled with memories of people, laughter and tears, revelations and achievements. Coming at the end of such an amazing week away somehow feels like exactly the right time for this visit - when or whether I'll be back again remains to be seen but the ghosts it holds for me are certainly happy ones which I'd be happy to revisit again should the opportunity arise.