Another NGS garden we visited last summer is called by the wonderful name Gregynog.
Gregynog is situated in the county of Powys and just has to be worth a visit sporting such a magical name, like something out of the Hobbit or a Hans Christian Anderson tale. Winding lanes eventually led us to a scented drive lined with roses. Here we gained the first glimpses of the half-timbered hall itself and the brick-built reception buildings. October light helped us to appreciate the garden, woodland and buildings.
The gardeners here certainly know how to prune and shape common shrubs to give them an extra edge. The first two photos are of Cotoneaster, trimmed to domes.
The garden around the front of the hall afforded us more opportunities to enjoy the gardeners’ pruning and trimming work.
The low sunlight caught this stand of asters lighting it up from a distance and as we walked closer to look we spotted this wonderful old seat, carved from a fallen tree.
We continued around the building all the time getting views of the hall above us.
We then came to a walks sign directing us to choose a walk to follow and we chose to make our way to the woodland walks and lake. We walked back alongside the hedge of scented roses at the side of the driveway, taking in their delicate colours and rich aromas.
As we reached the end of the row of roses we turned towards the woodland walk, aiming towards the lake, passing an Acer grove along the way, but this is all in part 2 of these posts about our visit to Gregynog.
greenbenchramblings 
3 replies on “Gregynog – a garden with woodland walks”
And what a house! It apparently has a great art collection.
We only had a short visit as rain stopped to give us a few hours of drier weather.
You and your readers might be interested to know that,despite the appearance, the house is built of concrete! Gregynog Hall was rebuilt in the 1840s by Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 1st Baron Sudeley is an early example of concrete use in building in the modern era. The Sudeleys were pioneers of the use of concrete in the building of new cottages and farmhouses on the Gregynog estate which can be seen in the surrounding area.