There and Back

We knew there were some old slate mine workings near our cottage, so on thursday we went for a walk in the woods near our cottage to explore these disused slate mines. I believe this one was called Common Wood Slate Mine, Ulpha.There is a group of these old quarries north of Ulpha. They may have been worked from the 17th century until about 1925. The road up to the quarries is built of slabs of slate on edge set into clay. As you climb the road(!!) you can see there was a stream running down it - probable in the wet weather. The path/road was lined by carpets of Wild garlic and on the descent, by bluebells as well. At the top of the track, the first thing you see is the ruins of the manager's house where William Casson moved in after his marriage in 1896. It may have been an early barn conversion. William Casson managed the quarries for the Ulpha Slate Company and the Ulpha Green Slate Company and finally on his own behalf as a slate dealer after the quarries wer...

Anglesey Abbey is a great place to visit and is very family orientated as well. A community of Augustinian canons built a priory here, known as Anglesea or Anglesey Priory, some time during the reign of Henry I (i.e., between 1100 and 1135), and acquired extra land from the nearby village of Bottisham in 1279. The canons were expelled in 1535 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The former priory was acquired around 1600 by Thomas Hobson, who converted it to a country house for his son-in-law, Thomas Parker, retaining a few arches from the original priory. At that time the building's name was changed to "Anglesey Abbey", which sounded grander than the original "Anglesey Priory". Further alterations to the building were carried out in 1861. Now it is a beautiful garden to visit, owned by the National Trust, and well worth spending the day here.  Heading toward the winter garden first, we encounter thes beautiful `touchable` trees Yo...