After an uneventful journey, we arrived at the caravan site in Newport in beautiful autumn sunshine. We were just in time to explore neighbouring Tredegar House. I had even remembered my National Trust passport. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my membership card. By the magic of technology, I was located on the data base and we gained entry. There was only time for a quick look round this substantial seventeenth century house, home to the Morgan family. It was built on the site of a previous house by William Morgan, with the dowry received for his first wife and cousin Blanche. William’s second wife trued to murder him. The Morgans were substantial land owners

The estate’s downfall came in the 1920s when the then owner lived an extravagant lifestyle as a ‘Bright Young Thing’. He was also involved in the occult. During the Second World War he worked for M18 using carrier pigeons to bring information from Europe. Evan was court martialled for divulging the information to some Girl Guides. The house was sold as as school in 1951 and was acquire dby the council in 1974. It has been run by the National Trust since 2012

On a beautiful autumn day, we set off for St. Fagans. There was a slight issue paying to park as the instructions were in Welsh but English instructions were accessed and entrance to St. Fagans was free. We had been before but there have been many changes since. We began to explore the reconstructed houses, everything from an iron age round house to a pre-fab. The round house was particularly superior, consisting of two circular structures.  Unfortunately, the guide was outside enjoying the sun so I could only photograph half of it. The circular pig sty was interesting, circular as pigs are more likely to escape from rectangular structures. There was a urinal, reminding patrons to adjust their clothing before leaving, several farmhouses, Pen-rhiw Unitarian Chapel and St Teilo’s Church with impressive reconstructed wall paintings. There was also a terrace of houses, each one decorated in a different period style. The civil war battle of St Fagans was the largest on Welsh soil and ended in a decisive victory for the Parliamentarians.

Before leaving Wales we popped back to Tredegar Gardens whose points of interest include a forty two foot long shovelboard in the orangery; allegedly the longest oak plank table in Britain.