Following a few years when the Menai Bridge and District Civic Society were unable to hold a garden party, we were honoured to host their 50th anniversary celebration at Plas Cadnant on 28th June.
The role of the Society is to see that as the town and district develop, those developments respects the beauty, unique character and culture of Menai Bridge and the surrounding area; so it was wonderful to see such a great turnout.
Many of our visitors will be familiar with our Alpheus water feature that feeds into a collecting pool and is flanked by white anemones. Alpheus was in Greek mythology a river-god who transformed himself into a river to unite with his love who had metamorphosed herself into a well. Each year we donate all the money from Alpheus to a local charity. Last year's visitors generously gave a total of £130.00 that we presented to the charity that raise funds for the local cancer and haematology unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor. Thank you very much to all who have given, and we hope your wishes come true.
It may be a month since our gates closed for the season, but our garden team have been hard at work preparing the grounds for next season. They've been toiling away dividing, lifting, pruning and doing tree work to ensure everything is just so when we open our gates for our 2023 season.
We are very pleased to announce that we have been assured by Visit Wales' Quality Assurance Scheme. We are even more thrilled to add that our tearoom has been awarded the Quality Food & Drink accolade.
National Moth Night 2022 is something of a misnomer as it in fact took place over three nights 19th, 20th and 21st May. The identified theme this year was woodlands, so what better place to conduct a moth-trapping session than Plas Cadnant! As well as being the perfect habitat, it has the additional benefit of being safe and secure for the quite expensive equipment the moth-trappers need to leave out overnight.
Thursday had the best weather forecast of the three nights; moths prefer warm, calmer nights where possible. Four moth trappers, including Anglesey’s official County Moth Recorder, arrived on Thursday evening and put out six different moth traps across the site. These traps have a variety of special bulbs which emit an ultra-violet light, which in turn attracts the moths. The moths get funnelled down into a secure box where they rest on egg boxes (used because of their rough texture and their network of little chambers for the moths to hide). They stay there quite happily until the morning when they are identified and released unharmed.
Species ranged from tiny little micro-moths just 4 or 5 millimetres long (which can themselves be spectacularly marked) to the beautiful Eyed Hawk-moth over three inches across. Several moths we trapped have only been recorded from three or four localities on Anglesey because of the scarcity of their food plant on the island. For example, the Clay-Triple-lines requires beech woods, and the Seraphim aspen and poplar. These scarce island habitats make Plas Cadnant all the more special.
It has been a full quarter of a century since work began on restoring Plas Cadnant and we would like to say a huge, heartfelt thank you to everybody who has supported us in our endeavour. To mark the occasion we had a small celebration to thank those who have been involved over the years and without whom the restoration would not have been possible. We were also delighted to have music provided by the Menai Bridge Brass Band; the Nota Bene Choir; and harpist, Michael Richards.
We are delighted to announce that we will be reopening the gardens to visitors on Thursday 1st April. We will be open from 12noon to 5pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays in April and May. There is no need to book in advance.
All gardens and outdoor areas will be open, Temporarily, the tearoom will be running a limited takeaway service in accordance with the Welsh Government Covid-19 regulations.
We will once again be implementing 2m markings to ensure socially distanced queuing and a one-way system will be in place around the gardens. Additionally, we will be collecting track and trace details upon entry and encouraging card payments.
Covid travel restrictions do apply, therefore we ask that you only travel to Plas Cadnant if you are permitted to do so from your local area. We also ask that all visitors adhere to Welsh Government Covid-19 legislation at all times.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and we look forward to welcoming you back to Plas Cadnant.
If you are missing the gardens and can't wait until Thursday, then keep an eye out for them during this Sunday's 'Dechrau Canu Dechrau Canmol' Palm Sunday special at 7.30pm on S4C. If you happen to miss the episode, then you can catch it again at Clic | Home (s4c.cymru).
We are thrilled to announce that thanks to all your wonderfully positive reviews on Trip Advisor, we are a Travellers' Choice winner. Each year Trip Advisor comb through reviews, ratings, and saves from travellers everywhere, and use that information to award the very best. This award means that we are in the top 10% of attractions worldwide based on visitor reviews.
UPDATE: Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic we have had to postpone this year's open air theatre. We are sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment this may cause. We hold the safety of our visitors and staff as our number one priority and are grateful for your understanding.
We are thrilled and honoured to announce that the Hidden Gardens at Plas Cadnant have been short-listed for the Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award 2019.
This prestigious national award, sponsored by Christie’s, recognises the importance of the country’s most spectacular historic gardens.
Plas Cadnant and seven other UK places will be going head-to-head to be named the nation’s favourite country house garden.
We were delighted to welcome ITV Wales News to the gardens to cover this exciting nomination. Take a look at the interview here (approximately 22 minute mark).
Voting is now closed and the winner of the 2019 award will be announced at the Historic Houses AGM in November 2019. We would like to say a huge thank you to everybody who voted for us.
We would like to thank Kick in the Head Productions for once again putting on a marvellous show with 'Three Men in a Boat'. The weather couldn't have been more ideal with barely a whisper of wind throughout the evening and the rain holding off until everyone had departed. We would also like to thank all those who attended and hope they had as wonderful an evening as we did hosting. We look forward to welcoming Giles and his team back in the future, so keep one eye on our events page in the new year.
The gardens at Plas Cadnant have been restored with the hope that future generations can enjoy them and we would like to do our bit to help spark an interest in gardens in the younger generations. Children can now complete a free quiz as they explore the gardens to receive a prize once they return their completed quiz to the Visitor Centre.
We are excited to announce that we are featured in a new book, 'Island Gardens: Havens of Beauty Around the British Isles' by Jackie Bennett with images by Richard Hanson.
The British Isles consists of more than 6,000 islands scattered around the main islands of Britain and Ireland. More than 100 of these British off-shore islands are inhabited – and where there are people, there are gardens. Tidal gardens, gulf-stream-soaked tropical gardens, windswept remote gardens with gnarled and ancient trees, and gardens surrounding castles and monasteries of historical significance.
The book is a fascinating read and will make a great gift for any garden-lover. Available to buy from our Visitor Centre at £25.00 (hardback).
Despite unpromising weather, our Fungi Foray on October 4th yielded some fascinating finds. 20 species of mainly saprophytic fungi, which rot dead leaves and wood, were recorded. Highlights include the scarce Leucoagaricus georginae which was found in the main garden under bushes and which stains deep red when handled. According to the British Mycological Society’s data base this is only the UK’s 60th record. Much commoner but memorable was Yellow Stainer which bruises deep yellow and a fine specimen of the Mycena polygramma, one of the Bonnet Cap Fungi was discovered. Also, the quantity of Lepiota fulvella was notable. Our thanks to Nigel Brown for leading the foray and to Charles Aron for determining several of the specimens.
We were delighted and honoured to welcome HRH Prince of Wales to Plas Cadnant on Friday 14th July.
Prince Charles ended his Welsh Week with a tour of the Gardens followed by a reception at the main house with dignitaries, guests, staff and volunteers.
During his tour of the Gardens HRH planted an Acer ‘Seiryu’ to replace one lost in the Boxing Day Flood.
After being presented with various gifts including a Hydrangea macrophylla 'Doctor Jean Varnier' he unveiled a plaque to commemorate his visit.
So far this season it looks like everything is a week or two early, our bluebells are no exception. At the moment they are carpeting the Valley Gardens, woodland and Upper Garden (beside the main house, can be seen when driving in). This first week of May is the perfect time to see the bluebells at their best and from now until the end of September the Gardens will be open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 12noon to 5pm.
We are also honoured to once again be participating in the Festival of Gardens North Wales. This year the Festival will run for 16 days from Saturday 27th May to Sunday 11th June. Pick up a leaflet from our Visitor Centre or visit the Festival site by clicking here to find out which gardens will be participating and what they have planned.
We kicked off the new season with a (not so) little celebration for invited guests to mark the Gardens' recovery following the Boxing Day Flood 2015. We were staggered by the support within the local community and from around the country and wanted to say a little thank you.
As part of the restoration work a brand new seating area has been constructed around a new water feature in the Upper Valley Garden giving visitors another peaceful area to sit and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the garden.
We are delighted and honoured to announce that plantsman, gardener, author and broadcaster Roy Lancaster CBE, VMH, will be officially opening the Festival of Gardens North Wales 2016 here at Plas Cadnant on the afternoon of Saturday May 28th.
The gardens will be open to ticket holders from 3pm. Roy Lancaster, CBE, VMH will then officially open the Festival at 4pm before leading a walk and talk around the gardens. Pimms and canapés will then be served from 5pm, followed by an illustrated talk on plant collecting overseas by Bleddyn Wynn-Jones of Crug Farm Plants at 6pm.
Tickets must be purchased in advance and are now available from our Visitor Centre during normal garden opening times, priced at £35.00.
For further information please email [email protected] or call our Garden Office on 01248 717174.
One of the joys of restoring an historic garden is rediscovering long-forgotten features. We have recently uncovered a large quartz uplift beside the waterfall in our Lower Valley that had been mentioned in a book by geologist, E. Greenly in 1919, but was lost when the gardens fell into decline. The rock was rediscovered while clearing brambles on the opposite bank of the River Cadnant and the bright white quartz has once again become a feature of the Lower Valley Garden.
This is just one of Plas Cadnant’s many interesting geological features that will be explored on the guided geological trails throughout the summer. See our events page for further details.
The Gardens and Tea Room will be open for the main season from Wednesday 23 March, in time for Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday when we will be open from 12noon - 5pm. We are also planning a series of events over the season, please see our events page for further information.
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the 'Hidden Gem' accolade by Visit Wales. We are thrilled to be one of the ten ‘Hidden Gems’ in Wales and we would like to congratulate Rib Ride Adventure Boat Tours of Menai Bridge who also received the award.
As many of you may be aware Storm Eva has caused devastation to parts of our Walled Garden and Valley Gardens.
During the early hours of Boxing Day, like many areas of the country, very high levels of rainfall fell onto the already saturated land. The fields above the gardens funnelled a great volume of water into the gardens. Existing overflows were soon overwhelmed. The 200 year old wall, which had survived until now without harm, acted as a dam causing the Walled Garden to fill with flood water. Finally the bottom section of the wall breached. A massive torrent of water and rocks, surged down the through the Valley Gardens, destroying everything in its path and carrying two stone obelisks and our new ‘eye catcher’ bench with it.
We have already started the mammoth task of restoring the gardens and will begin to rebuild the 200 year old walls. Fortunately nobody was hurt and our holiday cottages have not been affected.
We have been overwhelmed with messages of support and offers help which have helped us in our resolve to make good the damage as the Gardens are so clearly valued by those who have visited.
Coverage of the aftermath can be seen at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wale...
