In Search of the Ward's - Part 2. More from David & Ruth's travels, this time to North Wales in May.

Off we went again, this time to North Wales commencing Sunday 20th May, for a weeks exploring, based near Wrexham for five nights. At long last the sun shone, and all week at that. Plenty of sights to see and a few surprises thrown in for good measure.

Chirk Castle (NT), built by Roger Mortimer in the late 13th century, sold to the Myddelton's in the late 16th century and extensively altered by Pugin in the 19th century.

Chirk Castle: the Drawing Room, neo-classical late 18th century.

Chirk Castle, shrub garden and pool. The topiary is another major feature to be found at Chirk.

Erddig (NT) near Wrexham, built for Joshua Edisbury by Thomas Webb in 1684.

All of the outbuildings and servants quarters at Erddig survive to the present day.

The saloon at Erddig which dates from around 1770.

Bodelwyddan Castle near Rhyl houses a fine collection of portraits by the Victorian artist G.F.Watts and is well worth a look, though the garden was a disappointment when we visited.

Just across the busy A55 road from the castle at Bodelwyddan is the church of St. Margaret, "the Marble Church", whose 200ft tall spire is a prominent ladmark in the district.

The graves of many Canadian soldiers can be found at Bodelwyddan; they fell prey to a serious outbreak of influenza just after the first world war.

Styles of architecture at Bangor-on-Dee viewed from the churchyard.

Lying just within Wales is the village of Worthenbury. The finest Georgian church in Wales is dedicated to St Deiniol and still contains its original three-decker pulpit and box pews. An unexpected gem discovered quite by accident.

This is "The Bolling", a large town house in Malpas, Cheshire. It was once owned by Sir John Hubert Ward, a younger brother of the second Earl of Dudley.

Hendwr house on the Welsh estate near Croggen in the Dee valley.

The River Dee flowing through the Croggen estate between Corwen and Bala. The Dudley's once owned vast tracts of land in this area which was maintained for agriculture, quarrying and as a sporting estate.

The Dudley Arms Hotel at Landrillo in the valley of the River Dee.

Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, Bucks.

Three stone urns originally from Witley Court.

Waddesdon Manor is a nineteenth-century French chateau-style mansion in Buckinghamshire which is owned and administered by the Rothschild dynasty. It contains fabulous collections of marble features, French furniture, tapestries and old-master paintings.  In the garden there is a selection of statuary including three stone urns which came from Witley Court; they were carved by the Forsyth brothers to designs by Nesfield.

Ward Family: Other Residences - part 1

Apart from Witley Court, the Earl of Dudley's family owned a number of other large properties in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and further abroad. They also took temporary leases on houses belonging to fellow peers and vice-versa.

Ednam House, Kelso, Scotland, the main family residence north of the border, though there were also a number of others

Great Fosters, Egham, Surrey. The second earl owned this large Tudor mansion in Edwardian times but never lived there. These days it is a discreet high-class hotel. Seen in the opening credits of the 1950's television comedy series "Wack O", which starred Jimmy Edwards.

Holt Castle, Worcestershire, not far from Witley Court itself

The old family residence of Himley Hall near Dudley, which the third earl sold to the Naional Coal Board in 1948. This scene was taken at a British Red Cross Society fete in 1944.

The principle Ward residence in the capital - Dudley House, 100 Park Lane, Mayfair, on the Grosvenor estate. Sold by Sir John Hubert Ward in 1938 

Screebe Lodge on the Galway coast in Ireland. It was here that Countess Rachel drowned in a bathing accident in the summer of 1920

The Rain Never Stops

Yet another miserable cold wet day that kept the visitors away from Witley Court. This morning a small party of elderly folk from Kidderminster, but apart from these few it was very bleak for all concerned. I managed a grand total of just two visitors in the church all afternoon. I shut-up-shop just after 4 p.m. and found that Gill had already done the same. Not a soul to be seen anywhere and I was "Billy-No-Mates" in the gathering gloom.