Erddig House, Well Worth Saving after Subsidence

This palatial 1720s house near Wrexham has magnificent state rooms, comprehensive servants quarters, Chinese wallpapers, and exquisite furnishings.  The house was passed down through the Yorke family until March 1973, when it was given to the National Trust. This followed the collapse several years earlier of a shaft from the nearby coal mine (Bersham colliery) under the house, causing subsidence of 1.5 m, which seriously affected the structural security of the house to the extent that, without suitable underpinning, it would have become a ruin. It was strengthened using compensation of £120,000  from the National Coal Board. The restoration was completed on 27 June 1977. Outside there are stables, coach-house, smithy and joiners' shop illustrating estate life. The 18th century gardens are set around a canal, and there is a parterre and a yew walk. The grounds include woodlands and a cylindrical waterfall.
First six images infared; rest Lightroom monochrome conversions

Chirk Castle and Its Sculptures

Chirk castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Edward I's chain of fortresses across the north of Wales. It guards the entrance to the Ceiriog Valley. In the entrance, there was a display of ten 'identical' green bottles with flowers from the estate. In infrared you can see there were two types with different glass properties (on closer inspection they were a different make as slightly smaller).  

In the grounds are four bronze nymphs by Andrea Carlo Lucchesi, (1860 – 1924) an Anglo-Italian sculptor born in London. The statues were installed in the gardens by Lord and Lady Howard de Walden, who leased the castle from the Myddelton family from 1911 to 1946. Lucchesi was an exponent of the late 19th-century British New Sculpture movement, a school based on naturalism and symbolism. Three of the statues are in the open and easy to admire and photograph while the fourth is hidden in foliage by the pond.

Flies etc at National Botanic Gardens of Wales

 A variety of Hoverflies and one Bee (on the pink flower) taken at National Botanic Garden of Wales last Friday using 300mm f4 lens with 12.5 or 25mm extension tube. I was testing what aperture would give sufficient depth of field. At the largest magnification (25mm ring), it required f22 to get sufficient depth. Shooting with the 12.5 ring or without rings and then cropping in much tighter in Lightroom resulted in more depth of field so some here are shot at f11.

Senedd building Cardiff Bay

I took the train to Cardiff Bay from Rhiwbina station, which is close to the Travelodge in Whitchurch. It was only £2.05 there and back including a stop off in Cardiff City Centre.

It is two and half years since I visited the Senedd building. The main public building of the National Assembly is an open building into which you can walk, have a cup of coffee in the Oriel on the upper level, and go into the public galleries from the Neuadd on the centre level. It is a sustainable building, built of traditional Welsh materials such as slate and Welsh oak. It is also sustainable in the way it is heated; for example, the earth exchange system uses heat from the bottom of the old dock, on which the Senedd stands, before it became the area which is now Cardiff Bay. The large funnel recirculates the air in the building.

Aberdare

Went for a walk around the Dare Valley Park, Aberdare, previously the site of several coal mines including Bwllfa Colliery. The river has been diverted to form a large lake and the various coal tips landscaped. I enjoyed the trees, water and ferns.

Newport Wetlands Centre

Visited Newport Wetlands Centre, which is run by the RSPB, in the company of Steph who I reckon I haven't seen for about 20 years but didn't look any different. It is a very large area of reed beds under the shadow of the Severn Power Station. There were several Cetti's Warblers singing but not a lot of birds to see as the tide was low. Still many butterflies on the wing in the warm sunshine. We also disturbed a grass snake - as I didn't have a suitable macro lens, tried the fush eye and quite pleased to have captured snake, Steph and her delightful dog.