Chirk Castle

Today we took things easy but ended up at Chirk Castle in time for a light lunch in the cafe.  I had a great sandwich with thick cut ham, Ro a baked potato with cheese etc.

Then we visited the garden.  It was not a long visit as the heavens opened! Showers but they were frequent! I was really struck by the fabulous topiary! 

The monkey came from a room called the Magistrate’s court.  The plasterwork being amongst the first in the castle.

We also visited part of the later interiors. Some really beautiful rooms.  It was from the window of the long gallery that I took the view of the topiary in the garden leading to one of the lead statues: Hercules.  Mars, the other statue is still lost, possibly still in the woods somewhere! 

Lastly the huge white gates: the Davies Gates.  According to one of the guides these were so imposing that they were one of the landmarks used by the Luftwaffer to guide planes to Liverpool.  They were painted black to avoid being seen! 

We left Chirk to go and see the bridge in Llangollen.  Visited a few shops and I bought myself a dragon!  By then we were both tired and made it back to the Airbnb!