PhotoScoot 2014: The Gates of the Plas, Heol Maengwyn

Description

The Machynlleth Borough Guide notes that the gates to the Plas grounds ‘are well known to many, as through the kindness of the Plas family, they are thrown open for agricultural shows, sheep dog trails, teas, etc.’

When the Royal family stayed at Y Plas in July 1911, the South Wales Daily Press stated ‘...The park has magnificent trees but its great beauty is its glorious mountain background, for in which every direction the eye is cast it rests upon fine wooded slopes backed by mountains of the most picturesque outline... along a drive which on the southern side commands extensive views across the park to the hills beyond, but which on the right hand is flanked by rhododendron, backed by lofty trees in great variety... these fine trees were planted during the last part of the century by the late Sir John Edwards, Bart, the grandfather of the present owner... include specimens of beech and plain Scotch fir and evergreen oak which equal in size and beauty almost anything to be seen in Wales. Some of the most picturesque of the Scots firs are along the drive, while on the specious lawns which extent to the southeast and southwest of the Plas, pleasant shade is lent by some spreading evergreen oaks...’

The gates bear a plaque which reads ‘The house and grounds of Plas Machynlleth were built and laid out by Sir John Edwards Bart (1770-1850) and were presented to the Urban District Council of Machynlleth in 1947 by his Great Grandson the 7th Marquis of Londonderry. K.G., P.C., M.V.O., T.D., for their perpetual use and the enjoyment by the inhabitants of this town and district.’

The route described in the Machynlleth Borough Guide does not take you through the gates, but it is well worth a diversion to scoot down the drive under the mature trees planted by Sir John, to Y Plas and its cafe at the end.

A question for school children to research perhaps, but what do all those initials after the Marquis of Londonderry’s name mean?