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The winter walk was originally designed as a new part of the garden to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Huttleston Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven.
As the garden had been developed as a series of small areas with individual character, some of which reflected the seasons; spring, summer and autumn, it was felt that winter could be the most appropriate seasonal theme.
The area chosen for the site was a strip of land to the east of East Lawn. Originally part of the shelter belt, planted with Scot's pine, Austrian pine, Yew, Lime and Field Maple, the area was due for renovation and earmarked to become one of the jewels of Anglesey's gardens.
The early plans included the serpentine path with plantings either side but the length of the walk was restricted to about 600 metres in one direction and returning the same way. The logistics of this possible problem, many people finding themselves at a dead end, caused the designers to rethink the plan, eventually coming up with the circuitous route we have now.
The designers of the Fairhaven Centenary Walk were: Richard Ayres - retired Head gardener of Anglesey Abbey, and John Sales -retired Garden Advisor to the National Trust. Both men have many years of experience and knowledge concerning the gardens and the planting of it and the first part of the winter walk is testament to their skill. The serpentine, gravelled path is planted with a magnificent selection of trees, shrubs, groundcover plants, and bulbs, chosen for coloured and textured bark, scent, or winter flowering habits. Now after several years of maturation, the garden is becoming quite a heady mix of sensory stimulations; the massive banks of perfume as you walk along the path on a sunny day, the bright colours of the stems and flowers, the sounds of the local bird population and the feel of the stems and branches of trees and shrubs growing close to the path, all amount to a fantastic experience that more and more people are coming to enjoy.
Over the years, the winter walk has had many tonnes of leafmould applied as an annual top dressing. This has enabled us to grow a number of plants that might otherwise be extremely difficult to establish in the alkaline soil that we have. Other advantages have been a reduction in the watering requirements of the area, and have also made for much easier weed control. The dark colouration of the leafmould also helps to warm the soil in spring and allows plants to get growing that much earlier in the season.
Now well established, the winter walk attracts visitors from far and wide including garden designers and horticultural students, even making appearances in the media; television, radio and newspapers.
Although described as a winter garden, it is still remarkably colourful up to about April as the last of the bulbs start to finish, and you get the impression that the garden is just starting to wind down a bit in readiness for the next season. Summer brings a wide variety of green leaves and the effect of the planting is almost lost as the bare, colourful twigs, with the glimpses through to the next planting, make way for the dense, solid greens of summer.
As with all good gardens, plantings are by no means permanent and assessments of the way schemes work are carried out regularly. This means that from time to time there will be some groups of plants removed and replaced with a more suitable type.
A detailed plan (170k) shows the planting layout of the walk.
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