Walk at Ty Glyn.

No sea mist today, quite a bit of sun instead.

After a slightly earlier Sunday breakfast than usual I bravely set off on the 23 mile drive to meet up with the walking group for a visit to the walled garden of Ty Glyn. We did not visit the house which is now a hotel. I can't find a site that gives the history but the original house was built in 1620 and remodelled in 1768 with extensive gardens and parklands. The last owners left the gardens and some buildings to the Ty Glyn Davis Trust which provides self catering holidays for families with special needs children. The sensory garden is also open to members of the public ie us.

Having carefully worked out my route and checked out the junctions using Google Street View I had only got as far as the main hill into Aber when I heard a loud rattle or crunching sound as I drove. It sounded as if a plastic cup but heavier was being dragged under the car. (At this point I should mention that I prefer to drive with the window open so that I can hear what is going on outside.) I was getting very concerned but did wonder if the noise might be coming from a souped up car that had been driving behind me and then went past. In case it was me I drove to Lidl's car park. There was nothing caught under the car that I could see but just to make sure I thought I'd check inside the engine compartment to see if anything was loose. Wasn't able to do that as I couldn't find the lever to open the bonnet. That sounds really bad but when I asked somebody on the walk who has the same car she didn't know either. I will get Peter to show me as it's silly not to know. (I have changed car wheels and not infrequently changed the extra large battery in my old landrover.) I drove once round the car park with no noise and carried on.

Apart from that I found my way to the meeting point without any problems. 

Twelve of us set off on our walk which at first took us through wooded tracks and past picturesque properties.

Eventually we found ourselves walking through part of the woodland that had been planted with ornamental trees including Sequoia. Under the trees were great carpets of snowdrops.

Then it was into the walled or 'Secret Gardens'. After hundreds of years of cultivation the gardens fell into complete wilderness until work began on restoring them in 1997. Although at first glance it looked as if everything was still in winter dormancy a closer look revealed many new shoots, bright bunches of snowdrops and crocuses and clumps of hellebores. Plenty to see for those of us that are keen on gardening.

There were also many whimsical statues. While I felt many were lacking in artistic merit they would certainly amuse anyone visiting the gardens.

Plenty of places to sit and today we ate our lunch seated on chairs around a table under a handy shelter.

For the more active there was robust play equipment. Many shrieks of laughter as some of our more daring members tried them out. I confined myself to attempting to walking along a swinging chain until it got too wobbly.

It was only a short walk today, just three miles but I'm glad I went. It was a boost to my confidence to travel further afield and hopefully I can persuade Peter to return later in the year when the garden is more alive. We could park near to the gardens so he wouldn't have to walk over rough ground and then maybe we could visit the seaside town of Aberaeron which is only four miles away.

My journey there had invovlved turning off the coastal main road onto a back road up over the hills. On my way home I stopped to take some photos of the village of Llan-non and the coast back to Aberystwyth. It was sunny all the way home and then grey clouds and rain swept in from the sea.