Plas Newydd, 2016

We stayed overnight in Holyhead after debarking the ferry, me none the worse for the hours at sea. Next day we drove to nearby Plas Newydd, a great house and garden we had visited in 2009 (http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/plas-newydd.html) and enjoyed. To our surprise, the National Trust now permits photos inside the house, and particularly of Rex Whistler's mammoth mural in what used to be the dining room. It is a 47 foot painting that depicts an old, fantasized, classical European scene, full of whimsy and illusion. Whistler was a theatrical artist who was well used to large scale and large scale illusion. Also at Plas Newydd, apart from its setting above the Strait of Menai and the overall charm, is a museum of the Napoleonic wars, since one of Plas Newydd's masters was Wellington's cavalry commander.

The house, on a hill overlooking the Strait of Menai, which
separates Anglesey from the mainland Wales

But first, a garden and parkland stroll

Wellington, close personal bud

Not open in 2009, the library, which was in use by a family
member until his death in 2013; see below for explanation

Comfy room

Miss Manners

Seriously; a Van Dyck too

As much of Whistler's painting as I could get in one frame; the
docent just wouldn't move

So I have done it in pieces

A detail...Neptune has just stepped out of harbor and onto land

Now in the Waterloo museum

Lord Uxbridge lost his leg in the battle; pictured is the artificial
limb he wore the rest of his life, walking 5-6 miles or more a
day

Dennis Dighton's Waterloo, 18th June 1815

After finishing Plas Newydd (see next post), we drove into
Bangor and spent the night in a quiet car park on the harbor