Dead Calm

An evening in Llandudno with the sea so calm, with not a breath of wind. 

Bodnant Garden – the Bath.

The oval pool, dating back to Victorian period, lies just below the Front Lawn of Bodnant Hall, tucked away behind high sheltering walls and hedges. Gardeners are transforming ageing, shrubby planting into a miniature exotic paradise, filled with lush foliage and brightly coloured flowers which can take advantage of the sheltered microclimate. It’s the finale of two years of renovation in the area, following devastating winter storms of 2013. The Bath was created by Henry Pochin, who founded Bodnant Garden as we know it when he bought the estate in 1874. In his diaries of 1880 Pochin said: “We have finished the bathing pool and the archery” (referring to the now-famous Laburnum Arch.) The surrounding walls of the Bath were added later at the turn of the 19th century, probably by Pochin’s grandson Henry Duncan McLaren when work began on the construction of the nearby Italianate terraces.

Brown Howe Bay

A beautiful day to be in the lakes this week, we stopped at Brown Howe Bay to give Bailey a splash in Coniston Water.

Bodnant in July

Pin Mill

Situated above the River Conwy, with spectacular views of the Snowdonia Range, Bodnant Garden is one of the finest in the world and the holder of four National Plant Collections. Bodnant Garden has many impressive features including a series of five Italianate-style terraces: Upper Rose Terrace, Croquet Terrace, Lily Terrace, Lower Rose Terrace and the Canal Terrace featuring the Pin Mill. The Dell, formed by the valley of the River Hireathlyn, contains the Pinetum and Wild Garden and features 200-year-old native trees together with the tallest Giant Redwood in the UK.