Copper on Origano

These little butterflies are incredibly photogenic. For the last three years my best butterfly pictures have been of these little guys.Taken at Chirk Castle.

Chirk Castle - Inner Court Yard

 

Started in the late 13th century, Chirk Castle was never planned as a family home. Instead, it was one of several medieval Marcher fortresses along the Welsh-English border, built to keep the Welsh under English rule. 

The White Garden.

 

The White Garden  at Bodnant was created by head gardener Troy Scott-Smith in 2014.

Carneddau ponies

 The Carneddau Mountain range in the Snowdonia National Park is home to a small population of around 300 semi-feral Carneddau ponies whose history is thought to date back to the Bronze Age. Although they are not designated as a rare breed, they are genetically distinct from the Welsh Mountain pony and carry genes specifically related to hardiness and waterproofing.

Newborough Warren

Newborough Warren, the huge network of sand dunes at the south western corner of Anglesey, is home to a population of Welsh mountain ponies, sheep and hardy cattle which keep the vegetation under control.

Marram Grass sculpture, Pen Lon, Newborough

 

The small car park at Pen Lon features this sculpture created by Caernarfon-based Ann Catrin Evans representing stooks or sheaves of marram grass (Ammophila arenaria). Marram grass is particularly important in Newborough’s history: it was a major source of income from mat, basket and rope making; and it protected the village from being buried by the vast dunes

Bridgewater after the drought