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!

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

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

Boring beetle trap

Seems to follow us wherever we go

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