Beckenham Place Park

Ancillary buildings and autumn trees at Beckenham Place Park, 30 November 2013.

Autumn and winter views at Beckenham Place Park.  This is a municipally owned golf course, with at one side buildings dating from the 1760s.  Surrounding the course are ancient woodlands and further away, some meadows forming the flood plain of the small River Ravensbourne.  This view across the golf course shows the small formal gardens.  Work on the roof of that building is obviously under way.

The mansion in Beckenham Place Park across the golf course.  20 December 2013.

In this view of the mansion, three weeks later, only a few leaves are left on some of the trees.  In the centre are some Crataegus, related to Hawthorn but with much larger berries.  I don't know which species or variety these are, but they look good.  This is still part of the golf course; the holes run between double rows of trees.  The mansion currently contains a visitor centre and a café.

Dead oak in Beckenham Place Park, 20 December 2013.

I thought this tree looked quite spectacular against the sky.  The brush around its base is placed there by park management, I suppose to protect it from golfers.

A final pic from elsewhere in the park:

Stinking Iris, Iris foetidissima.  Beckenham Place Park, 30 November 2013.

The bright orange berries of the Stinking Iris.  When crushed, its leaves have a strong smell which has been compared to roast beef, though I would not really care to eat beef that smelled like that.  And you can tell from both its common and Latin names that the smell was not generally thought to be pleasant.