During the late summer we started sampling the delights of the National Trust. Their properties normally have good parking: easy access for the van, and their cafes serve reasonable coffee, oh and scones with jam and cream!
This isn’t an exhaustive list, just some comments on each one as we visit. I’m not going to tell you that the property is interesting or has a history that will amaze, that goes without saying, isn’t that the reason we visit in the first place? I’m just going to comment in general on the location but more importantly on the scones!!!
The rating scale is marked out of 5, and is only based on how we found the scone on the day we visited, please don’t take this as an indication of how good (or not) a visit we had, it’s just a bit of fun! The coffee is normally acceptable, occasionally a bit stronger, but there always seems to be cold milk and tap water available for you to adjust to your own liking. To get the national trust cook book with a scone recipe visit their shop
The scone rating has now extended to cover any place we visit that offers this exquisite staple of the British day out.
Harlech Castle:
Harlech castle commands a fantastic position giving views across to Snowdonia, along the Llyn peninsula and out to sea.
Scone rating: 
Penrhyn Castle:
Located on the North Wales coast just outside the city of Bangor, Penrhyn has fantastic views towards Snowdonia, Angelesy and along the coast towards Llandudno and the great orme. They have a transport museum with trains (steam) associated with the Quarry workings the family owned and ran in the area, which were the biggest in the world!
Scone rating:
Plas Newydd:
Plas Newydd is in the West coast of Anglesey in Wales, and looks out over the Menai Strait towards Caernarfon and Snowdonia.
Scone rating:
Erddig:
We really enjoyed Erddig, not sure what we were expecting but it was all that and more: of all things there’s an extensive collection of apple trees, it was just a shame that, like in most properties we have visited, the apples don’t seem to be collected with massed rotting around the trees.
Scone rating:
Dunham Massey:
Not many properties can come close to the likes of Dunham Massey, the sheer size and depth of history is quite bewildering: Visitor tip, if there’s a nice lady offering to do a talk on Lady Mary Booth don’t miss it, absolutely riveting!
Scone rating:
Powys Castle:
A bit of a wow as you approach the castle, perched atop a hill as it is, as usual loads of history, but here they’ve told the story through the collection of portraits, the tip here is it make use of the audio tour, certainly brings the art to life.