Monday 7 July 2014

Wedding Anniversary lunch at Bailiffscourt

Reception at The Rutland Hotel, Sharrow, Sheffield, 7 July 1973
We often talk about doing something special to celebrate our wedding anniversary, but things usually overtake good intentions. This year we decided to have lunch at Bailiffscourt. I had first seen the hotel and grounds when a Hoopoe drew flocks of birders to Climping and Bailiffscourt in March. The old style look of the stone buildings in lovely grounds made it look very enticing and I thought Sue would enjoy the ambience. We dined in a lovely old fashioned room with wooden vaulted ceiling and the service was very hospitable. Sue admired the orchids in a silver bowl which adorned the window sill. Afterwards we walked in the ground, passed a Peacock and enjoyed walking along a border of lavender with Meadow Browns fluttering around. My attention was then drawn to a Hummingbird Hawk-moth which visited the lavender flowers,  allowing an unusually close view. The last time I had a view like this was in 1983 in Dhahran when these moths would draw nectar from the Lantana plants that surrounded the Ballpark Flats.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth, Macroglossum stellatarum on Lavender

Peacock, Pavo cristatus
Happy couple 41 years later!

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