Aberglasney Restoration Trust

Current Aberglasney House and Gardens tea towel, available in the onsite shop. A garden worth visiting!

I visited Aberglasney House and Gardens in 2012 and today I blogged about a tea towel I bought there.  Up until today, I hadn’t realised that the Aberglasney Restoration Trust, which has owned the House and Gardens since 1995 was, in fact, a registered charity.  My image of what sort of charities I would be writing about in ChariTea Towels has been blown to shreds once again.

Aberglasney House and Gardens is set in the heart of Carmarthenshire, a mediaeval house in 10 acres of gardens and winner of a Gold Award from Visit Wales  in the category of ‘attractions that achieve excellence for their facilities and customer service’.  They described Aberglasney House and Gardens as “Spectacularly set in the beautiful Tywi Valley of Carmarthenshire, Aberglasney House features one of the finest gardens in Wales.  It has been an inspiration to poets since 1477.  The story of Aberglasney spans many centuries but the house’s origins are still shrouded in obscurity”.

Having been left to fall into disrepair, it has taken a lot of work to get the gardens ready for visitors and opened in 1999.  Any charity like Aberglasney Restoration Trust is in constant need of funds to ensure that the work can continue and that achievements, already made, do not get lost.  Aberglasney receives 35,000 visitors a year thus the shop and cafe are always an attraction for visitors to spend some money.  A tea towel is part of the merchandise for fundraising:

”We only have one tea towel on sale; the previous one went out of stock in 2015.  The tea towel isn’t designed to be educational.  It is a lovely, cheerful design which provides an abstract look at Aberglasney’s Grade II* Listed Mansion House and its 10 acres of historic gardens which surround it.  The design was commissioned by an employee who no longer works at Aberglasney.  The tea towel is one of a number of popular Aberglasney branded items that are available in our gift shop.  As contributing to the funds we need it is moderately successful as compared with other branded items.  We only sell the tea towel in our gift shop”

I am fascinated by the evolution of the Aberglasney Tea Towel.  My original one was bought in 2012, yet the green colour remains the same, the mansion is on both, and the orange trees are both there.  I am still wondering what the significance of them is; I should have bought a Guide Book.  But thanks to Ellen for the information and I hope that it contributes towards the funds needed to keep Aberglasney House and Gardens in good condition because it is truly a glorious place to visit, regardless of the weather.

Couldn’t resist putting in the tea towel that I bought in 2012, to show the contrast in style. It is no longer available