Exploring :: North Wales ... Plas Brodanw

Hi there everyone 😃

As you will all know Martin and I love a garden visit and get quite excited when we find a new one that looks worth a look … even more so if it’s a National Trust property or one where we can use our Gardeners’ World two for one voucher.

When we were at our lodge in June we watched a local programme on the TV where they were visiting the family home of Clough Williams-Ellis, creator of the Italianate village Portmeirion. A quick Google search showed it was only about half an hour away so we decided it was definitely worth a visit, even though it wasn’t National Trust or part of the Gardeners’ World two for one scheme. 

The property really is tucked away, down narrow lanes, away from pretty much everything. As we pulled up to park we could see it was set in the loveliest of spots … this was the view of the surrounding countryside from the car park …

… and this was the view looking towards the house and garden …

It costs £2 to park, but the cost of this is refunded if you pay to visit the garden or buy something in the café. For some reason we found the car parking machine a bit complicated and were pleased to find we weren't the only ones.  Once paid up we headed towards those tantalising touches of turquoise to see what we would find …

We were soon in and exploring what is actually quite a small garden ...

... though it does feel bigger ... as it really is hard to tell where the garden finishes and the landscape begins ...

We wandered along the paving, edged with lush green ferns, leading us to the end of the garden ...

The levels of 'green' were a real treat as we'd being in the throes of a heatwave back at home. We'd had a summer where the majority of green had disappeared.

At the end of the garden there were glorious views looking out over the countryside ...

... and back across the rest of the garden ...

... and the side of the house ...

Other than the infinite number of shades of green there wasn't an awful lot of colour in the garden, but it didn't make it any less beautiful ...

The hydrangeas did give a few splashes of bright colour ...

... and there were a few hidden corners to explore ...

... and I just loved this view of the countryside beyond the garden wall, framed by the trees...

Having explored the garden it was time to check out the tea room, which was just the job. We weren't hungry enough to eat, but it's definitely somewhere that would be great for an al fresco, or indoor, lunch. The food all looked great and you can also visit the café, without having to pay to visit the garden ... 

Whilst we were sat at the café one of the ladies serving told us not to forget that we could also visit the house, which was open. Refreshed from our breather we headed along the pathway to the front door ...

We didn't actually need to ring the bell to announce ourselves, but isn't it fabulous ...

Inside it was light and airy, with some quirky features ...

... and some lovely views out across the garden and the wider landscape ...

It is only a small property and garden to visit, but so perfectly formed that it's definitely worth a look and a lovely way to while away a couple of hours on a sunny afternoon. We will definitely be back ... even if just for lunch 😀

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Exploring the South East #8 ... Homeward Bound and Cliveden

Hi there everyone 😀

It has certainly been a strange couple of weeks over here in the UK. We are holed up in our holiday lodge in Wales, where we have been glued to the TV watching history unfold following the passing of our Queen. 

Whilst I prepared a stack of blog posts before I came away it’s not really felt appropriate to release them until now … as the country has been in its official mourning period. 

It kind of feels like it’s time to start to get back to normal so here we go … finally … the final post from our trip to the South East, where many National Trust properties and gardens were definitely the order of the day ... I don't think we've ever packed as many visits in during a one week period.  

It was Saturday and time to head for home ... but not without squeezing in one final National Trust visit. 

Having watched films and a recent drama series about 'The Profumo Affair' I was really keen to visit Cliveden, which featured in the series.

We had tried to visit once before, when on our way to Windsor, but had found the estate closed as a result of a fallen tree across the entrance driveway, this time there was no such hindrance, so I managed to tick another place I'd wanted to visit for ages off the list.

Cliveden is a huge estate and, as we were stopping off on the way home, we had to be a bit choosy about how much of it we wanted to explore.

We started off in the water garden, which is fairly close to the car park ...

From here we decided that we couldn't leave without at least seeing the house, though we couldn't see inside, as it is now used as a luxury hotel and can only be visited on certain days of the week ...

We walked around the front of the house to the South Terrace ... for views across the Parterre and the wider estate ...

We did walk down to the bottom of the Parterre for great views across the Thames and back up to the house ...

Whilst it was all very impressive I couldn't help but be a little disappointed with the planting. It had gone over a bit but, compared to the surroundings, it just felt a bit 'underwhelming' ... especially when compared to some of the other gardens we'd visited. I guess it was just a bit more formal.

We headed back up past the house to the rose garden, which was lovely and so very fragrant ...

We did pass a more of an informal border on our way back to the Grand Avenue ...

... where a good while was spent trying to get pictures of the Fountain of Love, with no other visitors in the shot ... which was no mean feat ...

So that was it ... time to head for home. We'd had a fabulous week exploring Kent and East Sussex and we'd really packed in lots of lovely places. I think we needed to go home for a bit of a rest 😉

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