A wonderful day in Wales

I had a wonderful day in Wales yesterday! I travelled by train from Weston-super-Mare to Newport/Casnewydd, non-stop, through Bristol, under the River Severn, and arrived on time to be picked up by my chauffeuse, aka, daughter. Newport has some wonderful parks, previously I visited Beechwood Park which not only gave us a nice walk but also offered us refreshments in a delightful little café.

Yesterday I was taken further afield, first to Bellevue Park which Wikipedia describes as a large Victorian Park with “many features typical of a Victorian public park, including the conservatories and pavilion, bandstand and rockeries. Additional features were added to the park throughout the years… the Gorsedd Stone Circle erected in 1896, for the National Eisteddfod… bowling greens…  a Tea House…the bandstand and original series of cascades were restored in 2006.” The weather was perfect and the park was in wonderful condition, beautifully maintained. Naturally we had to take advantage of the Tea House as it was lunchtime, and I had a delicious bowl of leek soup.

This wasn’t the end of our adventure and we proceeded to Tredegar House Country Park. We didn’t visit the house, that will be for another day but it looked a magnificent building form the outside. There has been a significant property on the site from the middle ages, but the huge red brick mansion we walked past was built in the 1670’s by the Morgan family. Within a hundred years the extent of the lands attached to the house had increased to 40,000 acres, and as well as farming, mining made a significant contribution to the huge wealth of the family. The Brecon and Monmouth Canal was built in the 1790’s, no doubt transporting their goods to national markets.

We walked through parkland, woodland, and then along beside pools and ponds and I was captivated as ever by a favourite and inspiring combination – light through trees on water. I can’t really explain why I find this so… well… inspiring. I could stand and gaze at the water as it shimmers and changes, the reflection of the trees shivering and waving, the light glinting and sparkling. It’s almost hypnotic – not that I’m in a trance, I’m very engaged and connected, even if it’s only for a few moments as I glimpse it. We’d had a lovely day, and to have this – the sight of light through trees on water, was just perfect.