Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Chirk Castle, 2026

On May 25th we drove on from Powys to Chester, our basecamp for the next few days, stopping at Chirk Castle and Erdigg Hall along the way. We had visited both in 2016, and in this post and the next I will refer to the relevant posts:

https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2016/07/chirk-castle-1.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2016/07/chirk-castle-2_16.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2016/07/chirk-castle-garden.html.

Chirk is an actual Medieval castle of Edward I vintage, chartered to the Myddleton family by Charles II, and, over the centuries, converted to a family residence/palace. See the text in the 2016 posts for more detail. Also more and better pix.

Original gate to Chirk

We riff-raff are directed to the above lane...fortunately one-way...

Eventually one gets to the castle and the wild flower meadow

Wild flowers because...

Charles II's charter to the Myddletons

Assorted miscellaneous interior pix




We were in a bit of a hurry and didn't do the garden, which is impressive
especially for its topiary; see the 2016 garden post pix


The great hall...obligatory for this vintage renovation...for whatever
reason, the place was crowded...not so in 2016; Cromwell & Co. had
blown away one of the walls during the Civil War, later rebuilt
The King's Cabinet

Wooden pipe, a relic of the 61km pipeline from Hertfordshire to
London, built in 1609-1613, bringing London its first fresh (from
a spring) water; Sir Hugh Myddleton was chief engineer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRZpbNP76c0

Gorgeous old radio

One of the few known oil portraits of a servant

Now in the service areas




Monday, June 8, 2026

Powys Castle And Garden, 2026, 2

A walk in the parklands of Powys castle...

But first, a few clandestine pix from the castle...

Olympic-size pool table

Nailed-down grips on the ancient stairs


Easy to tell who took this pic

Powys is home also to the spoils of war of Clive of India, whose 
descendants married into the family; if you're interested in Britain's
conquest of India, have a look at some of them in our 2009 and 2016
Powys posts

Now out on one of the parklands' many trails

To our great pleasure, the rhododendrons out in full riot gear








One end of one of the largest chain-saw sculptures we've ever seen

Other end...saddled dragons, guarding the pet cemetery

Really big bench


Among the specimen sequoias


Powys Castle And Garden, 2026, 1

Powys has been among our favorite house and garden combinations, especially the garden and parklands, ever since we first saw them in 2009. We have returned on a couple previous occasions, and our 2026 visit did nothing to diminish our regard and affection for this amazing place. Previous posts include:

https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2009/10/powys.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2016/06/powys-2016.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2016/06/powys-gardens.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2022/05/powis-castle-and-garden-2022.html.

In case you've forgotten, Powys began as a Medieval stronghold of the Welsh princes, and after the English/Welsh enmity was over, it eventually came to the Herbert family and was converted into a fortified residence/palace, with garden and parklands that have not changed much in layout for several centuries. The fabulous sculptured yew trees have mostly been in place since the 17th century. Powys [also spelled Powis, and interchangeably by me] came to the National Trust in 1952. Almost unique among Trust properties, no photography is permitted of the interiors, which are owned still by the family; but there are excellent pix all over the Trust's Powys site. There are, as usual, some clandestine shots in our posts, too, especially 2016. Our two 2026 posts on Powys will focus mainly on the terraced gardens and then the parklands. 

Entrance

There are three terraced gardens, each running the length
of the castle

This is the Banana Belt of Wales; the orientation of the gardens, the
heat-retaining brick walls, the climate generally...we think probably
anything could thrive here (although we've not seen citrus nor cactus...
but haven't really looked)

Looking out to the parklands and the rolling hills beyond






A few of the mountains and clouds of going-on-4-centuries-old yew