Powis Castle and Oswestry

After lunch, Cathy and Charles drove us into Wales to Powis Castle - a National Trust building - and firstly we did a walk around the grounds as it gets dark so early and then we did a tour of the castle. Completely dark by 4pm.

Powis Castle is a real castle that suffered battle and siege during the medieval period, burnt and rebuilt several times and during the Civil War the western gates were blown up and the castle ransacked. The history dates back to the Welsh Princes, gentry from Shropshire, dukes, earls, wealth from India and lots of dodgy people in between.

The grounds are very impressive even in winter with the terraced gardens, massive old oaks, views of the sheep grazing the local countryside and beautiful park land and sculptured gardens. There were groupings of brush sculptures of animals, trees, stars etc. in some of the garden beds. They looked intricate and probably difficult to make.

There were fairy lights, lots of Christmas trees, and themed rooms for Christmas in all the rooms. The National Trust employed a stylist to create beautiful themed settings in the grand state rooms. Each Christmas tree in each room was different. It was so lovely, especially the childrens’ bedroom which had toys surrounded by cute felt mice in all sorts of felt outfits.

The rich history over the long period that the castle has stood during hundreds of years is hard to take in, some of the rooms are just so full

of amazing paintings, objects, tapestries and furniture and each has its own story. One visit is not enough, but a visit at Christmas time is fantastic. We had a glass of gluhwein in the cafe, another visit to the wonderful shop and then we watched the Christmas light show on the castle wall.

We returned to Oswestry and for our visit’s last dinner we went to an old Presbyterian Church that has been converted into an Italian restaurant. The food was really yummy…crab ravioli - delicious - and a nice merlot completed the last day of our visit. It has all gone too fast. The last image is of the bar at the Italian Restaurant.