Llanerchaeron House

A cooler cloudy day today. After breakfast we drove inland to Llanerchaeron House a Regency country house designed by London architect John Nash in 1795, set in verdant parkland above the river Aeron, within a mile of where we reached in yesterday's walk. There's an ornamental lake, extensive farm buildings, a collection of antique agricultural machinery, and a 200m long walled garden, containing another kind of  collection - apple tree varietals from far and wide. The last owner to live here bequeathed the property and its furnishings to the National Trust having moved in after the first world war, so it's typical of an inter-war country gentleman's home. Down the land from the property is an 18th century parish church, bi-lingually advertising Sunday services.

We booked an arrival time-slot, permitting free entrance to the grounds. The small cafe restaurant, in a period piece corrugated iron green painted building next to the ticket office was serving food and drinks to visitors in a socially distanced outdoor picnic area. One way routes through house and garden were well signed, and visitors could move freely outdoors, only needing to queue for up to half an hour get into the house. It was lovely to see mostly voluntary staff happily welcoming visitors and sharing the story of the house, many of them were Welsh speakers.

Three hours of walking around the domain and having lunch al fresco left us both feeling tired, so we returned for a siesta, and then went for another walk around the far side of the port after tea. The tide was a long way out which gave an opportunity to walk down into the harbour bed and take a few photos of boats beached.

The fishmonger's stall on the quay was open today, and Clare bought some scallops and hake for supper, so fresh, so delicious - a delightful treat. Then I watched a couple of episodes of Canadian crimmie series 'Coroner' on More Four. I'm not convinced the complex story-lines add up when several key characters have mental health issues that would be bound to compromise their effectiveness in real life.