Glamping again - Lichen Cabin, Tintern

Last year I took the plunge, tried glamping for the first time in a cabin next to the river Nene - and loved it. So much so that when Canopy and Stars had a special Christmas promotion, buy a £200 gift voucher and get £50 one free, we treated ourselves, so this year we'll have TWO glamping trips.

This was the first - Lichen Cabin near Tintern in the Wye Valley. A lovely spot to take things easy for a few days. I'd hoped to catch the orchard in full blossom and the woods full of bluebells but I was a few weeks too late for their full glory. This didn't detract from our wonderful stay though. We hadn't intended doing much, and did even less.

The location was secluded without feeling cut-off from people, the cabin equipped with everything we needed - a squashy sofa, a comfy bed, a small but well-equipped kitchen, a properly plumbed bathroom. All in all, a lovely place to relax, and listen to birdsong and trees swaying in the breeze. The lichen on the apple trees attests to how clean the air is here. 

Up the Wye Valley Path

We spotted a green woodpecker in the orchard (first time for me) and animal tracks in the woods (probably roe deer but possible wild boar)

We called in at the cabin owner's sculpture gardensculpture garden where preparations were underway for a summer exhibition, stopped at the  Brewery a little further on, walked down the hillside to Tintern Old Station, now an information centre and tea room, along the banks of the Wye upstream to Brockweir one day and down to Tintern Parva and the vineyard there another, and up the hill following the Wye Valley Way for a short distance. 

Tintern Abbey

The only time we moved the car was to go into Tintern itself, a mile or so away, one evening after a walk along an old sunken road ended in slipperiness and flooding.

Flower-filled lanes

Brockweir

This, I think, is the future of my holidays. Off grid but with all the important facilities. Peace and quiet. Just me and the wildlife. I'm looking forward to my next Canopy and Stars holiday.

 

Erddig

Monday came around, and it was time to set off home.Not by the most direct route but with various stops and detours along the way. 

First port of call was a beach cafe at Pensarn, Abergele, for a second breakfast and short walk along the shingle beach. I'd hoped for sand and a chance to paddle but maybe the tide was wrong. 

On then to Erddig near Wrexham, the fourth National Trust garden of our weekend, and (almost) a new place for me. We've been once before but on a wet day, too early for the house to be open, and too unpleasant to wander round the garden while waiting, so we moved on elsewhere. We'd sort of forgotten this previous visit but remembered instantly on seeing the orchard car park.

Erddig Hall itself is a late 17th century house rescued by the National Trust, but I was more interested in the garden - a Grade 1 listed 18th century 'Dutch' formal garden of long alleys leading away from the house.

In some respects it was a little too formal for my tastes - I prefer a slight untidiness and rampant roses - but the borders and a small walled garden by the hall gave me flowers to look at, and the alleys made for peaceful walking.

And even ruler-straight lines of trees can hide things - this pond for example - 

and tucked away to one side a thatched 'wendy house'.

 All in all a more interesting place than it appeared at first sight. There's also a wider estate to explore via way-marked paths, a play area for children, and, for those interested in old farm machinery and the like, a glimpse into the working side of the estate with restored sawmill, stables, joiners' workshop and smithy.

Llandudno

You can't have a weekend (or even a day) at the seaside without fish and chips, can you? Well, I can't, at least. It's not sophisticated or fine dining, but no one can deny it's fun. So in the evening we headed to Llandudno in search of a chip shop, then sat by the sea while a brass band played further along the promenade.

Llandudno faces north, nestled between two headlands, the Little Orme (pictured here) and the Great Orme (home to the famous goats who roamed the streets during the first covid lockdown).

 

This isn't a place which developed organically over time but a purpose-built resort built in the mid-nineteenth century.Grand hotels line the promenade along the beach, and the palms and other salt-tolerant plants give it a Mediterranean air (says someone who's never been to the Mediterranean). 

Perhaps it was just the weather, but in comparison to my memories of former visits, everywhere seemed bright and gleaming in the evening sunshine.

The town's associated with Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland, and there's a trail around the town to be followed, although I only realised this after our visit. We just met the Mad Hatter.  

And, of course, like any self-respecting British seaside resort, Llandudno has a pier, and a small funfair . 

I'd thought we might walk out to the end of the pier but it had been a long day with a lot of walking and the distance just proved too much for me. Something to do another time ...

I hoped the day would end with the sun dramatically sinking below the pier but instead it sank from sight hidden by the Great Orme.

 

Bodnant gardens - laburnum and roses

This gorgeous sight was my main reason for wanting to visit North Wales at this time of year. 

The 55 metre-long laburnum tunnel at Bodnant flowers for a fortnight or so in late May/early June, and although I've visited the gardens before I've never managed to time it just right. 

It seems like everyone else has the same idea, and for the peak flowering times the National Trust website advises booking in advance. Even so, I was surprised how many people were there. Like me, they all wanted a million photos, whether just as memories or to fill their Instagram posts, and it was hard to get a shot without people in the background.

 It's an absolutely wonderful sight - a tunnel of flowers curving into the distance, the sun slanting through the foliage. I don't understand how the trees are pruned to achieve this. My single laburnum flowers erratically, and never in this profusion. 

The tunnel was both our first and last stop in our walk round the gardens, as towards closing time I hoped some of the crowds would have departed - and it paid off. The area wasn't empty but it did give me chance for some good shots without intruding on others' privacy..

There's more to Bodnant though than a laburnum tunnel, no matter how magnificent it is.

From this high point in the garden we wandered across lawns to the terraces in front of the house, filled at the moment with gorgeous roses, and with views out over the lower levels and pond, past the Conwy valley to distant mountains.

Dropping down to the lower terraces I came across another wonder, almost invisible from above - a rose-covered pergola on the grandest of scales.

The roses clamber up and over walls and pillars, twine round columns and sprawl over arches like a scene from Sleeping Beauty.

I can't be certain but they appear to be the same Alberic Barbier rose I have in my own garden, where it uses a birch tree as a climbing frame.

The rose pergola leads down to this lowest terraced area with lily pond, and beyond here the garden style changes to a looser, wilder design.

In the hope of finding the lower cafe open we followed the winding paths down the hillside to the stream at the bottom, but we were out of luck. The garden continues up the opposite hillside but for me it was time to turn round and head uphill for one more look at the laburnum.

Back at the upper cafe we were in more luck. The actual cafe had closed but a hatch was still open serving takeaway drinks and ice cream (raspberry and pannacotta; very nice). It's a sensible solution to a problem I often have - namely that I like to finish my visit with a drink or something light to eat but cafes tend to shut at the same time if not earlier than the visitor attraction. I like this takeaway idea, and wish more places would try it.