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Published: April 15th 2017
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Woolly says – I kept a fearful eye on the gloomy clouds above as my paws clung onto the dashboard. I’d planned everything, the snacks, the route, the snacks, the entry times, the snacks, but the weather was threatening to ruin my plans. On my quest to find things floral in Wales I had decided that the National Botanic Gardens of Wales should have plenty to offer. The Middleton Estate had a long and rich history spanning over 400 years, from its creation in the early 1600s by Christopher Middleton, Vicar of Llanarthne, to its current reincarnation as the National Botanic Garden of Wales. Built in the grounds of the Middleton Estate, the gardens were started in the mid 1990’s from a former design of Sir William Paxton. As we bumped into the car park I gave a little jump in delight. Having rescued him from under the brake pedal and dusted him down he happily skipped across the grass to join the queue. Woolly says – I shivered as the wind tugged at my tusks, we seemed to be surrounded by people in shorts and t shirts, are they insane! I glanced at Jo and Zoe as both pulled their coat tighter and put on their woolly hats, brrrrrrr. It seemed to take ages and having consumed a quick snack I left the women to the boring part and trotted past all the weirdly dressed people and onto the Broadwalk. Two rather nice fountains sat either side of the walkway and as the girls finally caught me up I directed our footsteps towards the Japanese Garden.
A small pond and a couple of pretty trees presented themselves but before we had time to see if their was anything else the small furry one shot off round a corner. Woolly says – We had a lot to do so no time for dawdling. In through a little hut and I found myself able to stare out a seven bee hives with their inhabitants busily flying in and out I wondered if Jo would let me have honey again, I mean how was I to know that it would stick my paws to the floor the last time I had some! Leaving the bee’s behind I led the way into the double walled garden, it was slightly disappointing with the amount on show, even the blossom on the tree’s was doing it’s best to fall off, I sat down for a moment under some immense bamboo bushes.
It wasn’t the best time of year but he hadn’t listened to my advice to wait untli later in the year! Seeing his forlorn face I suggested the butterfly house. Woolly says – it was lovely and warm and as Jo bumped into things whilst waiting for the mist to clear from her glasses I set about finding some butterflies, before I had moved a single paw it seemed that they had found me as one landed on my trunk! ‘Photo’ I screeched but it was to late the very pretty yellow and brown butterfly had departed. With strategically placed feeding points it was fascinating to see the beautiful creatures so close, as I wandered amongst the trees and bushes I was stunned by the size of some of them, nearly bigger than me! I think we could have all stayed in there a lot longer but as more and more people crowded in the butterflies were taking effusive action and positioning themselves high up and out the way of flapping arms and little hands.
Woolly says – We ambled towards the courtyard taking in a small exhibition on the use of plants in medicine, a lovely one sentence description for each plant gave me lots of knowledge very quickly and I was fascinated to find that plants that had provided medical aid in the Victorian times and further back were still in use today. I broke the silence in the display area as my tummy gave out a loud gurgle, Jo frowned and peered at me over her frames, I smiled sweetly and trotted towards the cafeteria. He really is a bottomless pit! Woolly says – having wiped the ketchup onto Zoe’s scarf I hustled the females towards the Wallace Gardens. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 - 1913) was one of the 19th century's most remarkable intellectuals, he jointly published the theory of evolution by natural selection with Charles Darwin in 1858 and because of his work in biogeography (the study of how plants and animals are distributed) he was recognised as that subject’s ‘father’. The garden held a collection of species of plants that he had found on his travels. It seemed that work was still very much underway with a few small examples and quite a lot of black tarpaulin, no matter the best was yet to come. Having bounced over the ruins of the original Middleton House and admired the far distant Paxton Tower (which had been built as a tribute to Lord Nelson) I proudly led the way into the giant dome that dominated the landscape.
As he galloped off in front we followed more sedately behind, the planting was really interesting with the layout being by country. We admired the flora from the Australian outback before checking out Chilli and the other five countries natural plants. Woolly says – I had found myself in front of a waterfall and as I waited for them to catch up I glared at the small children that were throwing stones at the poor fish, I tried a growl but even that scare factor didn’t stop them. Summoning up one final death ray stare I admitted defeat and carried on my investigations in the mushroom area. Interactive games allowed me to decide which mushrooms were dangerous and which were safe and information boards told me about the health benefits and more magical side of the fungi world. It seemed to have gone even colder as we exited the dome, I eyed up Zoe’s ketchup smeared scarf as a possible blanket but she didn’t seem to be willing to part with it.
We approached an area entitled the Ghost Forest and being uncertain as to what we might find another shiver went down my back. Woolly says – Having searched under the trees, round the trees and even clambered over several of the trees it appeared to be ghost free. The trunks of some of the finds were immense, the lady responsible for all of these stumps was Angela Palmer who had been horrified to find how much of the rain forest was being destroyed every minute. To show support and compassion for countries that were actively supporting sustainability she acquired a range of naturally fallen trees that she exhibited across Europe until they found there final resting place here. Leaping off the lowest piece of tree root I followed a small windy stream past the ‘Rocks of Ages’. The rocks fascinated him for quite a while, dating as far back as 650 million years ago the samples on display much have made him wonder what his life would have been like if he had been around in his natural time and habitat. Woolly says – They were fascinating and as I waited by the lakeside for the others to arrive I gave myself a pat on the back for a good find in the places to go stakes, now where shall I take them next!?!
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Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
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