Penrhyn Castle

I did not like this place. It is a 19th century phony castle--bricks with limestone facade--lavishly furnished but without much of historic interest--built upon a fortune derived from Caribbean plantations, the slave trade, and the slate trade in Wales. It's a Trust property, costing millions to maintain, but well done for what it is.

Vicki did the roof tour

Nice views

Brick construction throughout

Mining slate in Wales

Oversized...easy access to slate

One of the family plantations in Jamaica

Kitchen

Phony folly too

In the garden...not phony

White fuschias

Pedal-powered rail carriage the workers used to get up to the
slate mines

Plas Newydd: The 5th Marquess of Anglesey

Every family has one, I suppose, especially families whose fortunes are so dissipated that all or nearly all is lost. The 4th Marquess died when Henry was only two, and his mother married an actor. Henry was fascinated by the theater and poured the family's wealth into converting the chapel into a "Gaiety Theatre" and organizing a theatrical troupe of 50 that toured in Britain as well as the Continent. All proceeds were given to charity. He was producer, director, and star, of course. A specialty was his "Butterfly Dance." He also had lavish tastes. The fun ended when he was still in his twenties, and all was sold, creditors getting 6 pence on the pound. Henry went into exile in France and died, age 30, his annulled/reinstated wife at his side. A sad story, I know, but the photos, more or less buried in Plas Newydd's basement bowels, are a hoot.

Extreme piercing

The Gaiety Theatre at Plas Newydd, once the family chapel

Click to enlarge for the fuller story

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