Denbighshire 23 - Ruthin - Nant Clwyd y Dre /a garden is never finished /Fish and chips in Wetherspoons

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We left the extremely quiet village of Derwen behind us . Silly Sat Nag was asked to take us back to Ruthin . We had a choice . We could drive back down the narrow lanes or turn the other way and try a different route to the main road. The different route was hardly any better . It would be nightmare in the winter when the roads were icy or blocked with snow . Years ago I might have thought lovely to live in such a rural environment but now the thought of driving in and out along these roads did not appeal in the slightest . Up and down the road we drove. We came to a junction and hoped the road would widen. I never did for a while until eventually we ended up on a proper A road with markings up the middle and traffic . We knew where we were and headed into the lovely town of Ruthin down the narrow Mwrog Street .

It felt odd to drive past the old cafe we used for breakfasts. Now closed and turned into a chinese takeaway. Past the archives and the Old Gaol and up Lower Clwyd Street . Up and Lower in the same sentence sounded odd. In the Square there were people . Sitting outside the cafes. Sitting on benches watching the world go by and some shopping . We planned to park down by the Library on a tiny car park . This car park was just down the hill from Nant Clwyd y Dre. However it was full. Just one or two very small spaces so we moved on. To another further out which was relatively empty . I put money in the meter for three hours which should be enough for visiting Nant Clwyd y Dre and finding somewhere for lunch .

That was easier said than done . There are many eateries in the town but finding one that was open was proving more difficult . The small cafe on the corner was full . Not enough seats . Carnibore - The fat boar was closed despite it saying on the door it should be open . Small Plates was closed - probably opening a little later . In the end we found ourselves inside the Castle Hotel . A Wetherspoons . Not the first choice but it seemed the only choice . The last time we had been in for a coffee had been 9 and a half years ago when we lived in Ruthin . It was dingy then and nothing much had changed in the back bar room . However we found a sunny spot at the front overlooking the square . Lunch was ordered . Chicken in a herb and lemon sauce for the driver and a small cod and chips for me . Drinks were thrown in so it turned out a reasonably cheap and cheerful meal.

After the meal we headed up towards Nant Clwyd y Dre . We had been before many years ago when the council purchased it or acquired it and decided to open it up as a visitor attraction . A good deal of work had to be done to the inside and we remembered that there were a number of rooms each decorated to reflect a different period of the history of the house . The garden was overgrown and volunteers were required . We put our names down as being handy on the DIY front which might be useful to them and we liked gardening . We heard nothing . So were interested to see how the house had evolved in the passing of ten years or so and how the garden had developed . The words of my calendar this morning said that a garden is never finished . How true would that be ?

Walking up Castle Street it was easy to pick up Nant Clwyd y Dre . There are a number of black and white half timbered houses along the street showing the importance of this area of the town. Nant Clwyd y Dre is the oldest dated timber town house in Wales with carbon dating of the timbers showing the construction begain around 1435/1436. Henry VI was on the throne of England when the house was being built . Supposedly a shy timid and passive man unlike his father . He was well intentioned and was averse to warfare . He was the king who lost England their lands in France . The house was also constructed after the destruction of Ruthin by the army of Welsh prince Owain Glyndwr . The English sponsored much of the rebuilding of welsh towns following Owains rebellions .

We queued up inside to pick up our consessionary tickets at £6 each . In front of us was a couple who had just finished touring the house . They seemed to take forever to put their audio guides away whilst talking about the house to the receptionist . Eventually though we did pay up and were given a brief description on what we would see edited due to us having been before . The house was free to wander but we were told that we should go into the kitchen and hall first . Perhaps stop for a coffee . Free but donations welcomed . Then we could wander the garden or go upstairs . We were told about the bat cam which was taking pictures of the Lesser Horseshoe bats roosting in the loft . They were in a sunnier spot today as we could not see any. Apparently they comprise of a large colony 1% of the entire bat colony in Wales .

The kitchen was small and homely but then this was a grand house on a grand scale . I wondered how many servants might be employed if any at all . Ruthin has been in the 15th century a regional centre for weaving . The land that Nant Clwyd y Dre stands on was once owned by a Welsh weaver Goronwy ap Madog and his English wife Suzanna.It was easy to imagine Goronwy and his family sitting in front of the warm fire of the kitchen . The kitchen was well furnished and suggested that the family were wealthy by weaving standards and showed his importance in the town . We were told that the house was of a cruck framed design and the timber had been felled in the winter of 1434 - 1435. The art of timber dating is fascinating . The size of the plot of land the house sat on was described as two burgage plots which dated from the earlier 13th century when the town was laid out . Two plots were required to build Nant Clwyd y Dre.

In the Jacobean period the house was enlarged with the addition of the pillared porch we had entered the house by. The house had become a school and from 1834 visiting judges stayed whilst attending the court sessions in the town . It certainly had a chequered history . The tenant in 1925 a civil engineer bought the house and started to expose the timbered structure and in 1928 he removed the exterior render to expose the timber frames leaving the exterior of the house much as we see it today . He sold the property to Samuel Dyer Gough who continued the restoration, and made it into the local hub for the Arts and Crafts movement . This was why the rooms of the house were decorated and styled in the different periods the house was occupied . The house was described as the Seven Ages of Nant Clwyd y Dre The hall was small but full of people milling around . There is nothing worse than not being able to see what you want to see so we moved out into the garden .

We came back to the hall decorated in the style it would have known in 1942 as the last part of our visit . The garden was known as the Lords Garden it was small but extremely pretty . The Lavender was just going over but the borders were full with lemon hollyhocks and mauve Globe Thistles There were two gardens to the rear of the house . The first part The Lords Garden was believed to have originally belonged to the nearby Ruthin Castle becoming part of Nant Clwyd y Dre when the house owner at the time one Eubule Thelwall bought it in 1691. . It was restored in the 18th century and now Grade II listed which shows its importance . It took until 2015 that money was made available to restore the garden from the Lottery Heritage fund which perhaps is why we never were asked to help with the restoration as would have moved on to another address . The borders were kept in an 18th century design with plants that reflected that period. Large Crown Imperials , old fashioned roses and lilies . The second garden at the other side of the steps and a summer house was given over to compost heaps, arches covered in old roses and vegetable and fruit plots . I could not resist picking and eating a few raspberries as I walked by.

Back into the house it still felt a touch overcrowded . Because there were not 30 or 40 rooms the rooms that were open around 7 were small and cramped . We found ourselves walking into a room and walking back out again as four people would be standing around admiring the displays or listening to their headphones . We seemed to go in a room , come out and then try again in the hope that the room would be empty the second time round . That did not always happen . The rectors study was set out with old telephone on the wall . Probably one of the first in the town . Desks covered in writing materials and copies of the Bible and other books . The 1891 school room had its desk and tables with old Singer sewing machines . Sadly three people stood in the room . Right in the middle blocking all access as they discussed a sock mushroom .

The Georgian panelled room was tiny but empty with its highly coloured patterned Chinese wallpaper . We saw a 1690 cabinet belonging to the Stuart owner Eubule Thelwall with what was described as its Kidderminster stuff hangings and plaster ceiling.

The Jacobean bedchamber with tiny hung bed and stool of ease in the closet . There was a 15th century business room . Virtually unchanged since 1435 complete with documentation of pilgrimage to Rome . Even in this small area of North Wales pilgrimages took place. This was the last room before we climbed back down the staircase and out into the Ruthin sunshine . Time to head home after two very different visits .

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