National Botanic Garden of Wales
20th August 2022
The National Botanic Garden of Wales is located in Middleton Hall, Llanarthne. In addition to specialist garden areas, there is a large lake and numerous walks through the forested countryside. And, some rather striking statues as shown below.
We were also pleased to discover the gardens had a Bird of Prey Centre which puts on displays regularly throughout the day. I didn't have my zoom camera lens with me today, so taking photos of these birds was a little frustrating. I had to remind myself to forget the camera and just enjoy watching these beautiful agile creatures. The show started with a small bird (sparrowhawk?) which darted across the sky to catch a lure being thrown in the air by the trainer. This bird was far too fast for my camera but a real pleasure to watch. Then we saw a huge owl who's size was making it a little difficult to fly into the wind which was quite strong up on the hilltop site. And finally we saw a black kite and a red kite, although most of the time I could not tell which was which! They too were extremely agile in the air.
As we walked around the gardens, we could not help but notice Paxton's Tower on the hillside in the far distance. So we drove up more narrow windy roads in the late afternoon to check it out.
Paxton's Tower, in the village of Llanarthne, was built over 200 years ago in 1805. It is a folly, designed to commemorate Admiral Nelson and impress the people of the valley. It was built by Sir William Paxton who owned Middleton Hall and the site of the current National Botanic Gardens of Wales.
The view from Paxton's Tower was impressive and quite windy! For a brief moment, the sun shone on the mound which is the site of Dryslwyn Castle See photo below). Visiting this castle was on my to-do list, but the glorious weather and extensive views everywhere kept us lingering at fewer places. It was only on our last day when the clouds emptied, so we were very lucky indeed.
