Laburnum arch

Thursday
Wonderful day today. We went to Conwy in North Wales, accompanied by Roger's sister Janet. We first visited the castle, built between 1283 and 1289 during King Edward I's second campaign in North Wales. Conwy replaced Deganwy Castle, an earlier stronghold built by Henry III that had been destroyed by Llywelyn the Last in 1263. Having explored the castle, we went for a stroll along the river, before having lunch, overlooking the water. After lunch we walked the city walls and explored a little more of the town, before driving to nearby Bodnant Gardens.

Bodnant Gardens are situated above the River Conwy and overlook the Conwy valley towards the Carneddau range of mountains. This important garden occupies an area of over 80 acres surrounding Bodnant House, most of which was first laid out by Henry Davis Pochin, a successful industrial chemist, from 1874 onwards until his death in 1895. Bodnant House had been built in 1792 but was remodelled by Pochin and on his death it was inherited by his daughter. The garden, but not the House or other parts of the estate, was presented to the National Trust in 1949. The Garden has two parts. The upper garden around Bodnant Hall consists of the terraced gardens and informal lawns shaded by trees, and includes the magnificent laburnum arch shown in my Blip.
The lower portion, known as the "Dell" is formed by the valley of the River Hiraethlyn and contains the Wild garden, with masses of rhodedendron and azaleas. So many beautiful things to photograph, it was tough choosing what to blip today!

One year ago: Peony