Hi there everyone 😀
So … can I count a garden visit as a walk? I think so. There was definitely plenty of walking … we did about 7000 steps in total … so it was a decent walk for us. It was more of a woodland wander than a more traditional type of garden visit and we both really enjoyed it.
We’ve driven past Glynllifon more times than I can remember and we have even had a drive in to see what we could see. We have never felt up to exploring … as it looked like there would be a lot of walking … up until now …
It was a lovely day weather wise, it’s not too far and it’s included in the Gardeners’ World two for one scheme so we decided to give it a go.
From the minute we parked up and saw the bluebells and the children’s grove we were both really looking forward to exploring and seeing what else we could find …
The park, formerly belonging to Lord Newborough, consists of a grade I listed building … that once held the ball of the investiture of The Prince of Wales, now King Charles III … surrounded by spectacular gardens and woodland, which have been designated grade 1 historical garden status.
In the gardens and woodland are all kinds of interesting things to see … follies and grottoes, an old flour mill, cascades and a fountain, art installations, outdoor sculpture, waterfalls, the prettiest river and an amphitheater with accompanying stage.
We could not wait to explore and were soon on our way …
The park map was really useful and showed us where all the footpaths were and where all of the points of interest could be found.
We didn’t want to miss a thing and started off at the old flour mill. From the mill it was into the gardens …
… and we soon heard the tumbling of the Afon Llyfon for the first time. We just had to head towards the sound to see what we would find. We were not disappointed and found the first of a good number of cascades and waterfalls …
We followed the river to the old boathouse which was used by Lord Newborough’s nine children, whilst boating on the pool. Apparently, the little tower conceals a miniature privy …
As we got back onto the path we soon found ourselves in front of the mansion house. It was huge …
Coming to a bit of a fork in the path we had a decision to make as to which route we took around the park. We opted to start by taking the bat walkway which would take us clockwise and hoped our route would enable us to see everything.
The walkway took us up and through the woodland, passing some wooden sculptures along the way … not really sure what they were all about, as the carvings were all in Welsh, and there was no information board …. but they looked great for sure …
Descending from the walkway it seemed we were en route to the amphitheater …
The path took us alongside the river …
… and through the woodland …
And then … all of a sudden there it was …
It was beautiful. There is seating alongside the river … with the stage set on the estate’s yew tree island …
We were really looking forward to exploring but we were saving that for later in our walk … when we would return on that side of the river.
We carried on through the woodland. It was the perfect warm and bright spring day … with plenty of blue skies …
We could constantly hear the river .. either gently babbling along or rushing over waterfalls and cascades …
Our next point of interest was the caves and grottoes …
Walking up to the top of the grotto there is an art installation … inspired by the works of Welsh novelists raised in the nearby slate-quarrying communities …
It was a really lovely, peaceful little spot and there were plenty of interesting things to see …
… including the views over the wider countryside and across to the mountains …
It was time to start wending our way back along the other side of the river … soon ending up back at the amphitheater …
… where this time we had a really good look around …
… and a sit in the sunshine …
Next stop was The Hermitage where, originally, a single man was paid to act as a hermit. More recently stained glass windows were added and it was used as a chapel for holding funerals for the family’s pets …
From here we made our way back down to the river alongside the cascades …
We were heading for the only working fountain left in the park … and it was pretty impressive …
In this picture to the left of the fountain and up in the woodland you can see the full drop of the cascades …
We were nearly back where we’d started but there were still a few more things to see …
The Children’s Mill was another folly built for the Lord’s children to play in … it has been taken back by nature now, but what a wonderful playground …
Our last stop was the Cromlech stone structure. Another folly built purely for fun … based on ancient Celtic megaliths …
Oops sorry … our actual last stop was the caffi for a well earned cuppa and a sit in the sunshine …
It had been a brilliant visit and a really good walk. There had been so many unexpected finds and it had been lovely to visit on such a quiet day. We had almost had the place to ourselves … just the way we like it 😜
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