Jeremy Atkinson

Reasonably priced, well lit car park. Barrierless entry so very convenient if you have the NCP autopay function enabled on your phone app (although that service has been temporarily withdrawn at the time of writing). Not busy at all on the Saturday I visited.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Tate Modern at Liverpool. It makes you think and has an eclectic range of carefully chosen pieces to really challenge your perceptions, but it is closed at the moment and has ‘moved’ around the corner, temporarily. There is a shop and café, but the exhibition space is tiny and given over to an architectural themed exhibition in a couple of small rooms.
There was also a breakout room with some activities for kids but nothing else to see unless there was and no-one was pointing me
In the right direction or signposting it to me.
I came to Liverpool to see the Tate in its temporary home and left very confused and disappointed.

Situated between the two Menai bridges on the outskirts of Bangor, the Botanic Gardens are an oasis of calm, a place for reflection and a good place to do some forest bathing.
Lots of joggers and dog walker also benefit from this location, and there is even a dog owners code of conduct. Having said that, the athletic field sits just pat the botanic garden and despite obvious signing banning dogs from that area, several dog owners were merrily letting their dogs get a good old run around. Go figure.
The gardens include specimen trees, a bog garden, a bamboo collection, some ponds, wild meadows and some glasshouses which are only open on special event days (presumably chargeable) and volunteer open days (possibly free).
There is plenty of seating and toilet facilities are available. Parking and entrance are free.

The walled garden at Penryhn Castle is calm, tranquil and a good place to contemplate life. I recommend sitting on the bench near the ponds and watching how many different parenting techniques you can count as children encounter the various ornamental ponds. You’re bound to learn something.
I’ve dropped one star because the bog garden looked like an abandoned experiment and the little covered seating area that looks down over the area was closed off. A sign in the area said that they were looking at the history of the bog garden for inspiration.
I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

Great venue for walking, talking, forest bathing.
Basic parking price gets you entry to the grounds.
You pay extra for the house, the formal gardens and the farm.
There is currently a series of Sean the Sheep sculptures for children and the young at heart to explore and find. However, many of these are in the formal gardens which you have to pay to enter unless you are a National Trust Member.
There are plenty of facilities.
Well worth a day out.