St David’s Day was the perfect opportunity to visit Powis Castle for lunch before a walk round the house and gardens. Later there was an opportunity for a naughty cake (almond slice) in the café next to the Ludlow food centre.

On the Sunday before Christmas, the day before Christmas Eve we had an excursion to Chirk Castle with one of Mr C’s friends. Before we set off on our excursion we briefly called in on someone else to exchange presents in time for Christmas.

Chirk Castle had a fun theme for their Christmas display “Christmas of Make-Believe”. The display took us in the footsteps of the six children of Lord Howard de Walden in the 1920s. The children grew up in their very own fairy tale castle:

John, Bronwen, Elisabeth, Priscilla, Gaenor and little sister Rosemary grew up playing make-believe, putting on Christmas pantomimes, and playing dress-up in a castle full of imaginary dragons and knights, princesses, and stories.

From 1923 to 1931 Lord Howard de Walden wrote six pantomimes, based on popular tales, for his children and their friends to perform at Chirk Castle.

The Chirk Castle Christmas display was inspired by the pantomimes and photographs of them being performed.

The weather was inclement so we chose not to venture into the gardens to follow the fairy-tale…

This left us with enough time to visit the Christmas display at Powis Castle. The the theme at Powis was “Portrait of Christmas”. Giant gilt frames had been erected to frame Christmas scenes revealing how the Herbert family spent their Christmas.

After our lovely day out we arrived home to find an unwelcome surprise on our doorstep, but that is a story for another day…

*Clicking on the collage photos leads to links where the individual photos can be viewed full size

Aesop

The east front entrance to Powis Castle has been closed to the public since the castle was donated to  the National Trust in 1952. In more recent years the stairs had started to crumble and one of the retaining walls in the terrace was in danger of collapse which could have undermined the structural stability of the entire east side of the castle.

In 2015 the National Trust launched a public appeal try and raise funds so that repair work could be undertaken. It hoped that £300,00 of the £500,00 needed for the project would be raised and that grants could be arranged for the remainder of the funding. In the event all the funding that was needed for the project was raised from the appeal. In addition the National Trust applied for additional funding from conservation trusts.

Following the completion of the conservation work, the donors were invited to an opening ceremony that took place today. Inviting donors was a first and Powis Castle was pleased to be able to do so.

Guests assembled at the top of the east front stairs where the property manager, Emma Thompson, explained about the project and pointed out key members of the restoration project team who were present for the opening ceremony. Following her address the ribbon was cut by one of the donors allowing members of the public to walk on the steps and stand on the terrace for the first time in more than 50 years.

The east front entrance has seen King George V, Queen Mary and Queen Victoria (as Princess Victoria) walk up the grand staircase and stand on the high terrace to enjoy the magnificent view over the Breidden hills.

After the opening ceremony, afternoon tea was served inside the castle. We were treated to daintily portioned cakes and scones with jam and cream, topped with strawberries, all accompanied by a glass of bucks fizz; what a delight!

A few years ago in December 2013 when the castle was only partially open to visitors, the door to the east front which was not normally open, was opened for visitors to step through to enjoy the view over the staircase and terrace to the Breidden hills beyond. I took some photos which I share with you so that you can see the extent of the repair work’s transformation.

Zohar