Return To Llandudno And The Welsh Riviera, 2026

Somehow the thought of "the Welsh Riviera" never fails to crack me up...but that's exactly what it is, a late Victorian seaside resort, frozen in time architecturally, Wales' answer to Brighton, perhaps. We were there, in Llandudno, in 2022, and thought the place most interesting and amusing. Only a few miles from Bodnant, so we had to go back again.

The 3 or so mile sweep of the bay and beach; reminiscent of Nice, but,
um, way less expensive, and less warm; also less fashionable...and also...

Gorgeous old hotels

Miles of them

Looking the other way, to the pier and amusement park

And another grand old hotel

The beach, a combination of shingle, pebble, and sand; and cold
water, even on a hot day

Ample historical/interpretive info

Interesting place; plus Nice doesn't have a pier and ferris wheel

Bodnant Garden, 2026, Part The Second

Even a bit past prime, Bodnant is still the best...

Sequoias in the parklands

Down by the old mill

Must work on our rose scent recognition...

Largest poppy ever...

Not part of the garden but a great backdrop...another favorite, unforgettable place

Bodnant Garden, 2026, Part The First

As early as our final weeks in Paris, we had feared that we might have scheduled our visit to Bodnant a bit late for the rhododendron bloom. It had been a spring of climate irregularities, and there was the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation* too, which warms the Isles and particularly those lands, like Wales, bordering the Irish Sea. Blooms might come earlier there than in the south. Alas, our fears were well-founded, and our visit to Bodnant this year was not our best. Still, we think of Bodnant as the best all-around of all the British gardens we have seen. And we were hardly late for its most iconic piece, the Labernum Arch. The best Bodnant pix are from 2022:

https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2016/06/bodnant-gardens.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2022/05/bodnant-garden-2022.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2022/05/more-bodnant-garden-2022.html.

In the Labernum Arch, 55 meters of golden glory

Been there for a while

The rhodos thinning but still there

Celebrating an anniversary of Bodnant's rhodos...
they were more into breeding than collecting (as was
Exbury)

Some spent

Some not

And plenty else to look at

Among Bodnant's many big trees

Allergies anyone?

*known to persons of our vintage as the Gulf Stream

Erdigg Hall, 2026

After Chirk Castle we also did a quick visit to nearby nearby Erdigg Hall. I took many pix, as always, and will post a few, but if you want a more comprehensive view of Erdigg, especially its people and the 30,000 artifacts that came with it, have a look at our 2016 posts:

https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2016/08/erdigg-house-great-good-and-um.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2016/08/erdigg-house-service.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2016/08/erdigg-house-gardens.html.

Erdigg Hall

Patriarch, Yorke clan

It would be a stretch to say the Yorkes treated their servants
like family, but, unlike many houses, they at least treated
them like fellow human beings, keeping excellent records
of them, photographing them in the later 1800s...

One Yorke master even wrote a poem about each of his
employees; much more of this in the 2016 posts

The servants also served as guards

Still in the service area, a Victorian foot-pedal-operated
vacuum cleaner

"You rang, sir?"

Now upstairs

Every great house had a music room, but few had an organ there

Play room

Victorian shower

Among the cabinets of curiosity; this a replica of a ruins,
done in paper, by one of the servants

In case the monarch ever decided to pop in

Chapel

Curiosities...

The gardens warranted a full post in 2016

Best ever so far bug hotel...a replica of the great house itself...
Trust employees and volunteers are amazing!