Eden's Garden

I've just finished reading a wonderful book by Juliet Greenwood called 'Eden's Garden'.  I saw it first in the gift shop of Llynnon Mill when we spent a day on Anglesey on our last visit to Wales in September.  I remembered the details and wrote them down in my notebook so that when we returned home I could reserve the book from our local library.   I had read the blurb on the back and just knew it was a book I would enjoy.  Written in two eras the present and the late 19th century it is about two families from a small village in the Snowdonia region of Wales, one family from the big house 'Plas Eden' and the other family from its local village 'Pont-ar-Eden'.  It is about family commitments, duties and loyalties, gardens and garden design, art, sculpture and the search for ancestors.  It is about  people in both eras who are just meant to be together.  The stories of  both families intertwine right to the end as the present day characters seek out their ancestry and this journey of discovery takes them from Wales to London and a hidden garden in Cornwall.

I was even more intrigued when I read the author's  acknowledgements at the end of the book because the house and garden that had inspired her was so very close to an area we have been visiting, for many years now, staying at our neighbours' holiday home on a holiday park up in the woodlands in the village of Prenteg which is on the road between Tremadog and Beddgelert.  In the nearby village of Garreg,  approaching from Prenteg you pass over the Welsh Highland Railway near the RSPB Osprey viewing site, are the wonderful gardens of Plas Brodanw.   The gardens have always been open on an ad-hoc basis to locals and those in the know with an honesty box at the gatehouse but this year they had opened on a more permanent basis with brown signs on the road and a lovely new tea shop.  The house was the home of architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis who is responsible, among many other things, for the village of Portmeirion which is not far away, just through the next village of Penrhyndeudraeth, on the Porthmadog road.  Below are   a few of the many photos I took of the gardens on our visit earlier this year. 

The modern wooden sculptures you can see were part of an Art Trail that was taking place across the district.

It was a magical place, with little hidden areas and spectacular views and the coffee and toffee fudge scones we had for afternoon tea were quite delightful too!