Bodnant Gardens

Bodnant House 2
Originally uploaded by Let Me Show You What I See

It's getting to be quite a habit at the moment going to National Trust properties. I think it's because I've recently noticed how much it is costing me to be members and I need to get some value from it. We've been members since the girls were small so it must be nearly twenty years.

So Bodnant Gardens is in North Wales a few miles South of Conway and LLandudno. The Hall is not open to the public and has been owned by one family for over 125 years. The gardens are magnificent and there are two separate areas, the formal gardens near the house and the wild gardens down in the "Dell".

Within the formal gardens is the Laburnum Arch, flower beds, lawns, big trees, two lilly ponds and the white arched folly. In the dell is a stream, an old mill, lots of very big trees, a few bridges, lots of paths and a waterfall. I would highly recommend a visit and I hope you like the photos I have put on Flickr. Click the photo to take you to the rest of the pictures.

Dunham Massey

House Across the Lake
Originally uploaded by Let Me Show You What I See

It's a couple of weeks since we visited Dunham Massey and I've finally posted all the best photos to Flickr. We had a good day with a good walk around the deer park in the morning and then a picnic followed by a walk around the gardens in the afternoon. When we first arrived there were a few deer very close to the house which were very tame and allowed us to get quite close up to them to take photographs. Later in the day when we returned to the same place the deer had moved away, probably because of the number of people about.

The deer out in the deer park were much less tame in it was hard to get too close to them. The little rabbits seemed quite brave and the photos of them are quite clear considering they were in the shade of some big trees. In the park we also saw a little brown stoat running along one of the paths. Unfortunately it was too far away and running too fast to get a decent shot.

The gardens were very well laid out with lots of different areas with different themes. There was even a moss garden, which to be honest was not terribly exciting or particularly interesting. However it was quite cool in there under the trees.

The buildings were quite nice too including the main house, the stables next to the house and the orangery. Out in the deer park there were a few other barns and buildings scattered around. Close to the house was a little water mill with working wheel inside. Click on the photo to link to Flickr where you ca see the rest of the photos from Dunham Massey and the rest of my photo stream.