As the nights draw in and a mosaic of colour appears across Wales, National Trust Cymru has a whole host of events and activities planned to keep your little explorers entertained.
From ghoulish tricks to nature’s treats, get ready to enjoy heaps of family fun this October half term.
Wherever you’re spending your October half term, there are plenty of activities to choose from
Chirk Castle, Wrexham
As autumn sweeps across the landscape, step into nature and discover Chirk Castle’s historic estate with its veteran trees and quiet bird hides - it’s the ideal spot to tick off some ‘50 things to do before you’re 11 and 3/4’ activities.
If that’s not enough, let off steam as you explore the two play areas, or discover more about the creatures who make the parkland their home on a self-led nature trail.
The construction of Chirk Castle began around 1295 during the reign of the conquering Edward I in order to subdue the last princes of Wales.
Built on an outcrop above the meeting point of the Rivers Dee and Ceiriog, the castle, with its imposing silhouette, was a brooding statement of English intent in these disputed lands.
Chirk Castle.
Chirk Castle was purchased by grocer, sugar trader and privateer Sir Thomas Myddelton in 1595, and was inherited through the Myddelton family line.
With over 700 years of history, and as the last castle from this period still lived in today, Chirk Castle has lavish interiors and a beautiful and eclectic collection.
The interior includes a 17th-century Long Gallery, grand parade of three 18th-century State Rooms with rich furniture, paintings and tapestries, the unique servants' hall, and the Chapel Music room furnished to display Chirk Castle’s connections to high society in the 1920s and 1930s.
Chirk Castle from above. Picture: Mike Will Williams.
The award-winning gardens cover 5.5 acres of manicured lawns, clipped yews, herbaceous borders, beautiful rose, shrub and rock gardens, and the wooded pleasure ground – perfect for a stroll. Don't miss the terrace overlooking the 18th-century ha-ha at the bottom of the garden, with stunning views over the Cheshire and Salop plains.
Chirk Castle has over 480 acres of estate parkland for you to explore, with sheep, cattle, veteran trees, wildflower meadows and a beautifully preserved section of Offa’s Dyke. The estate is located within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has also been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest as an important habitat for rare invertebrates, bats, fungi, and wild flowers.
Adventures await at Chirk Castle. Picture: Agata Mirowska
Powis Castle and Garden, Welshpool
Dust off those wellies, wrap up warm, and see how many family fun activities you can complete at Powis this half term. Hunt high and low along the terraces on the Halloween Pumpkin Trail, explore the sights, sounds, and smells of the season on the Sensory Autumn Trail, or learn fascinating facts on the Fun Fungi Trail through the woodland.
Powis Castle, built around 1200 as a medieval fortress, sits high on a rock above its world-famous garden. Laid out under the influence of Italian and French styles, the garden is overhung with clipped yews and shelters rare and tender plants. It retains original lead statues and features an orangery on the terraces.
Remodelled and embellished over more than 400 years, Powis reflects the changing ambitions of the Herbert family, who occupied the Castle from the 1570s. Each generation enlisted artists to grow the family’s collection of paintings, sculpture, furniture and tapestries on view throughout the house.
Powis Castle. Picture: Gwenda Roberts
One of the UK’s most significant collections of Indian objects is displayed in the Clive Museum at Powis Castle.
As major figures in Britain’s colonial East India Company, Robert Clive and his son Edward (later 1st Earl of Powis) looted many of these objects during their seizure of power in India and Myanmar and violent subsequent rule in the 18th century. Clive wealth amassed through the East India Company remained at Powis, contributing to later modernisation of the Castle and Gardens that transformed Powis to how it exists today.
Powis Castle. Picture by Lyndsey West.
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