Angelsey Abbey

Anglesey Abbey

The weather while visiting Anglesey Abbey was near perfect, sunshine and warmth, the warmest day of the year thus far. A beautiful country home situated on a large acreage with a working watermill that produces flour that it sells to its guests. In the 1930s, Lord Fairhaven and his brother purchased the run-down country home unseen and remade it into a Jacobean style home and laid the grounds in 18th century style.

The grounds were very spectacular as many of the spring flowers were in bloom and there were still reminiscent of the winter garden. The Brazilian Cherry tree was spectacular; its copper colored bark is made smoothed by the oils from the skin. The trees are planted along the pathways so visitors can touch. The areas least touch, the bark was more papery and seemed to be shedding.  The mill was pretty interesting as it is still in use today. It takes some 750 tons of water to produce (I forgot how many kilos of flour).

The house was beautiful inside and out! Lord Fairhaven liked clocks and there were quite a few throughout the house. He was also fond of Windsor Castle and had many artworks depicting various images of the Castle. He had grown up near there and even served as a guard. His father had moved to the U.S. for a job, married an American, but later returned to England to raise their family. The title Lord was supposed to go to his father, but he passed before it was bestowed to him so it fell to his son.

I've also begun reading poems by Wordsworth, so I'll leave you with one of his more popular poems, Daffodils:

Second Version
I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:-
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

Published in Collected Poems, 1815