Bodnant Garden
Date
21 March 2020
Location
Bodnant Garden, Tal y Cafn, Conwy
SH 80019 72289; 53.23402°N, 3.79903°W
Bodnant Garden
Tag Archives: National Trust
Sizergh Castle
Sizergh Castle
Date
27 August 2019
Location
Kendal, Cumbria
SD 49904 87863; 54.28391°N, 2.77098°W
Information
Aira Force
Aira Force
Date
24 August 2019
Location
Aira Force, Aira Beck, Cumbria
NY 39949 20524; 54.57632°N, 2.93049°W
Information
Aira Force is a 21-metre-high waterfall on the river Aira Beck, which flows into Ullswater. It is one of the most visited waterfalls in the Lake District and is situated within Gowbarrow Park, 300 hectares of grounds purchased in 1906 by the National Trust. The grounds were landscaped and an arboretum planted in the 18th century by the Howard family of Greystoke Castle, which is located some 7 miles to the north.
Further Reading
Anglesey Woodland Festival
Anglesey Woodland Festival
Date
29 September 2018
Location
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey
SH 52085 69639; 53.20317°N, 4.21601°W
Information
Anglesey Woodland Festival;
Plas Newydd;
More posts in the Plas Newydd series
Penrhyn Castle
Penrhyn Castle
Date
4 August 2018
Location
Penrhyn Castle, Llandegai, Bangor
SH 60219 71962; 53.22624°N, 4.09534°W
Information
Plas Newydd
Plas Newydd
Date
7 May 2018
Location
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey
SH 52085 69639; 53.20317°N, 4.21601°W
Information
Bodnant Garden
Easter (sponsored by Cadbury)
Date
1 April 2018
Location
Bodnant Garden, Tal y Cafn, Conwy
SH 80019 72289; 53.23402°N, 3.79903°W
Information
Anglesey Woodland Festival
Pizza oven
Date
23 September 2017
Location
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey
SH 52085 69639; 53.20317°N, 4.21601°W
Information
Anglesey Woodland Festival;
Plas Newydd;
More posts in the Plas Newydd series
Chirk Castle
Standing guard…
Date
26 August 2017
Location
Chirk, Wrexham Country Borough
SJ 26890 38042; 52.93476°N, 3.08920°W
Information
Powis Castle – Roman Emperors
Vitellus [sic] Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Augustus
CE 15 – 69, Roman Emperor for eight months in CE 69
The Herbert family bought a total of 12 marble busts of Roman emperors in the 17th century as souvenirs of their trips to Italy. Each bust weighs 150 kg.
Date
23 August 2017
Location
Powis Castle, Welshpool
SJ 21494 06513; 52.65063°N, 3.16188°W
Information
Powis Castle
Powis Castle
Date
23 August 2017
Location
Powis Castle, Welshpool
SJ 21494 06513; 52.65063°N, 3.16188°W
Information
Slate or State, Penrhyn Castle
Slate or State in the Grand Hall, Penrhyn Castle
Date
2 July 2017
Location
Penrhyn Castle, Llandegai, Bangor
SH 60219 71962; 53.22624°N, 4.09534°W
Information
The installation, entitled Slate or State, is on display in the Grand Hall of Penrhyn Castle from 1 July until 5 November 2017.
“This sculpture was developed as part of a year-long residency by artists Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich. It is a symbolic object; its form is drawn from Victorian paintings and sketches of Penrhyn Quarry, the quarry once owned by Lord Penrhyn.
“The choice of material for the sculpture draws inspiration from the history of protest, and large-scale inflatables that since the 1920s have taken to the streets in collective actions that have called for a fairer society.
“Walker and Bromwich are known internationally for their large-scale participatory events and exhibitions that invite audiences to imagine better worlds. Their residency at Penrhyn Castle was the final act of a three-year collaboration between Arts Council Wales and the National Trust, and their brief was to “interrogate the castle’s controversial history, the stories surrounding it and its relationship with local communities”.
“The focus of the work is the Great Strike of 1900-03, a bid by the men of Penrhyn Quarry to improve their working conditions.
“Walker and Bromwich have worked with individuals, schools and community groups in the quarry town of Bethesda to develop this sculptural work. This sculpture was the focal point of a symbolic event that paid tribute to the local community, which staged the longest strike in British industrial history.
“On 1 July 2017 the Penrhyn Choir processed this sculpture from Bethesda into the Grand Hall. During this performance the original demands of the Great Strike, combined with demands of today, were sung by the choir: colliding in time two points in history where working conditions have been at the forefront of social change.”
– Sara Roberts, Curator
Further Reading
Penrhyn Castle;
Great Strike;
Penrhyn Quarry;
More posts in the Penrhyn Castle Series
Laburnum Arch, Bodant Garden
Laburnum Arch, Bodnant Garden
Date
29 May 2017
Location
Bodnant Garden, Tal y Cafn, Conwy
SH 80019 72289; 53.23402°N, 3.79903°W
Information
Further Reading
Furnace Hill, Bodnant Garden
View of Bodnant House and the Terraces from Lady’s Seat, Furnace Hill
Date
30 April 2017
Location
Bodnant Garden, Tal y Cafn, Conwy
SH 80019 72289; 53.23402°N, 3.79903°W
Information
In April 2017 8 hectares (20 acres) of previously private woodland were opened to the public at Bodnant Garden. The opening of Furnace Meadow and Furnace Hill was the culmination of a 10-year renovation project carried out to counter the effects of decline and disease in the area. The area is named after a blast furnace that operated there in the 18th century. With other previously private sections – Old Park Meadow, Yew Dell and The Far End – having been opened between 2013 and 2015, over 90% of the grounds are now accessible. A final area, Heather Hill, is scheduled to open in 2020.
Further Reading
Other posts in the Bodnant Garden series…
Welcome to Furnace Wood and Meadow (Bodnant Garden Blog)
Bodnant Garden
Bodnant Garden
Date
25 March 2017
Location
Bodnant Garden, Tal y Cafn, Conwy
SH 80019 72289; 53.23402°N, 3.79903°W
Information
Penrhyn Castle
Penrhyn Castle
Date
28 December 2016
Location
Llandegai, Bangor
SH 60219 71962; 53.22624°N, 4.09534°W
Information
Impressions of Bodnant Garden
Bodnant Garden
Date
13 November 2016
Location
Bodnant Garden, Tal y Cafn, Conwy
SH 80019 72289; 53.23402°N, 3.79903°W
Information
Waddesdon Manor
Waddesdon Manor
Date
27 October 2016
Location
Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire
SP 73135 16674; 51.84388°N, 0.93979°W
Information
A member of the Austrian family of bankers, Ferdinand James Anselm Freiherr von Rothschild (1839-1898) was born in Paris and lived in Vienna before moving to Britain. He was a hereditary baron (freiherr) in the lower Austrian nobility and in Britain was known as Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. He served as Liberal MP for Aylesbury from 1885 until 1898.
In 1874 Ferdinand bought the Buckinghamshire estate near Waddesdon village. Designed by French architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur (1822-1893) in a style based on 16th-century French châteaux, the Manor at Waddesdon was built from 1874 to 1889 to house Ferdinand’s art collection and for entertaining.
Ferdinand left the property to his younger sister Alice Charlotte de Rothschild (1847-1922) and it was subsequently inherited by their great-nephew James Armand de Rothschild (1878-1957), who left it to the National Trust. Although owned by the National Trust, Waddesdon is run semi-independently by investment banker Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild (b 1936) through the Rothschild charity The Alice Trust.
As well as being the National Trust’s second most popular visitor attraction, Waddesdon Manor is also used as a wedding venue and is hired out for location filming. The manor has featured in a variety of films and series, from Carry on… Don’t Lose Your Head and Never Say Never Again to Downton Abbey and The Crown.
Further Reading
Waddeson Manor (waddesdon.org.uk);
Waddesdon Manor (Wikipedia)
South Foreland Lighthouse
South Foreland Lighthouse
Date
26 October 2016
Location
South Foreland, St Margaret’s at Cliffe, Kent
TR 35938 43335; 51.14063°N, 1.37154°E
Information
The Goodwin Sands – a massive sand bank in the English Channel between South Foreland and Ramsgate – have been a hazard to shipping for centuries and there are records of lights on the White Cliffs to warn mariners of the dangers since the 14th century. In 1635 two open-fire braziers were erected at South Foreland and there have been two lighthouses there ever since. In 1793 the Upper Light was converted to use oil lamps and in 1795 the Lower Light was similarly converted. Both lighthouses were purchased by Trinity House in 1832 with alterations being carried out to the Upper Light in 1842 and the Lower Light being totally rebuilt in 1846.
By 1875 South Foreland was equipped with carbon-arc lamps making it the first lighthouse to use electric light. The lighthouse was also later used by Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) as a base for his experiments in radio transmission and it became the first ever site to receive a ship-to-shore radio message and in 1899 it also received the first international radio transmission (from Wimereux, between Calais and Boulogne in France).
By 1904 the Goodwin Sands had shifted by such an extent that the visual alignment of the two lights no longer provided an accurate indication of the location of the sand bank and so the Lower Light was decommissioned. The Upper Light was fully automated in 1969 and it remained in service until 1988 when it too was decommissioned, modern navigational aids having rendered it redundant. The National Trust took over the site in 1989 and opened it to the public in 1990.
Further Reading
South Foreland Lighthouse (National Trust);
South Foreland Lighthouse (Wikipedia)
Hughenden Manor
Hughenden Manor
Date
24 October 2016
Location
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
SU 86120 95395; 51.65075°N, 0.75660°W
Information
Located in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Hughenden Manor is a Grade I listed building in the care of the National Trust and was the country residence of Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), 1st Earl of Beaconsfield.
The estate dates back to the 11th century and the present house was built in the late 18th century. Disraeli inherited Hughenden in 1848 from his father Isaac, who had purchased it in 1847. The property was remodelled in 1862 by architect Edward Buckton Lamb (1806-1869).
Hughenden was sold by the Disraeli family in 1937 and it was used as a secret intelligence base during World War II. It was given to the National Trust in 1947.
