Erddig |
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| Location Map |
Working Holiday Details
Erddig |
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| Location Map |
| The volunteers present: | National Trust | |
Becky (Leader) Carolyn Clare Emma Fiona Marion |
Andrew David Robin |
Bryn (Erddig Warden) David |
This was my first Working Holiday in Wales and even though this involved a three hour drive each way, the journey was well worth while.
| Tasks undertaken. | |
| The Erddig property consists of a magnificent house,
superb gardens, extensive parkland and historical woodlands.
Within the woodlands are the hills, ditches and moats from the Erddig Motte and Bailey Castle. |
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The castle was probably built at the end of the 11th
Century.
Although there are no remains of the buildings on the site, the hills and earthworks are very well maintained and are an excellent example of this type of castle for this area. |
| During the past few years the vegetation on the top of
the Bailey has grown to about five feet high and so has prohibited access
to this site.
Our task for the weekend was to clear the top of the Bailey by cutting down the vegetation by scything down the undergrowth. |
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The task was very physical as the undergrowth had grown
very thick and required a lot of effort to cut it down to ground level.
Unfortunately a lot of the growth consisted of nettles, brambles and thistles and so there were a few cuts and stings over the weekend, but nothing too serious. |
| Saturday was extremely hot and even though we had taken
large amounts of drinks with us it was not long before some of the volunteers had
to go and fetch more water.
These "water runs" continued all day as we got hotter and more thirsty. The occasional breaks in the shade of the trees were very welcome. |
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After the evening meal on Saturday the group retired to
the Red Lion public house in Marchwiel for some alcoholic refreshment.
A few members of the group enjoyed a game of Pool, but it wasn't too long before everybody decided that perhaps an early night might not be a bad idea after the days hard work. |
| On Sunday we managed to complete the whole task that had
been set for the group.
Even though there were a few aching muscles and the odd blister there was a good sense of satisfaction within the group for clearing such a large area. |
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After tidying up the basecamp there was time for the
group to visit the Erddig house and gardens.
This is an absolutely fascinating house and this made a great finish to the weekend. We finished with a cup of tea in the tearoom before we all left for our journeys home. |
See some more pictures of the volunteer group.
The work of the weekend was very hard, but very satisfying. On the Saturday morning the enormity of the task was very daunting, but we were all pleased at the progress we made, and happy that we were able to complete the task.
The Erddig estate is a very remarkable property and a very interesting and fascinating place to visit.
