Plas Bodfa

26/08/2026

We are so pleased Filkin's Drift is coming back to North Wales! As part of their FINAL TOUR (snifff) they are coming to Neuadd Bentref Llangoed Village Hall on the 7th of October, 2026. Come hear them together one last time! tickets : https://www.llangoedvillagehall.com/events/filkins-drift

We treasure our experience hosting them back in 2023 at Plas Bodfa as part of their Wales-wide walking tour.

07/08/2026

State of The Strait Event - North Wales River's Trust - understanding what's happening to our rivers, why it matters, and how together we can create healthier waters, stronger communities and a thriving Menai Strait for generations to come.
📅 Thursday 20 August
🕕 6:00pm
📍 Plas Menai
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/digwyddiad-lansio-launch-event-prosiect-mynydd-ir-menai-tickets-1996984984847
https://northwalesriverstrust.org/news/state-of-the-strait-event

Join us for an inspiring evening as North Wales Rivers Trust launches State of the Strait – Turning Evidence Into Action, revealing the health of our rivers, sharing an ambitious new vision for rivers entering the Menai Strait, and inviting you to become part of it.

29/07/2026

Llongyfarchiadau i Gillian Brownson, y mae ei fersiwn o stori ‘Andromeda’ wedi’i chyhoeddi’n ddiweddar ar wefan Casgliad y Werin Cymru!

Yn gynharach eleni, croesawyd Gillian Brownson i gynnal tair sesiwn ‘Constellation Stories’ yn Arsyllfa Bodfa.

GWRANDWCH - ‘Andromeda’ gan Gillian Brownson : www.peoplescollection.wales/items/3003826

Mae’r stori hon – sydd wedi’i hadrodd dros filoedd o flynyddoedd ac sy’n cael ei chyflwyno yma ar gyfer siaradwyr Cymraeg – yn dal i ddisgleirio yn awyr y nos. Mae stori Andromeda wedi’i chysylltu’n llythrennol â Galaeth M31; gellir gweld y galaeth hon drwy gydol y flwyddyn.

Mae’r holl straeon Cysur y Sêr, sydd wedi’u hysbrydoli gan awyr y nos, bellach wedi’u cyhoeddi ar wefan Casgliad y Werin Cymru!

Prosiect adrodd straeon Cymraeg ar draws Cymru, a gynhyrchwyd gan Adverse Camber productions, oedd Cysur y Sêr. . .
We Congratulate Gillian Brownson, who’s telling of the story of ‘Andromeda’ has been recently published on the People's Collection Wales website!

Earlier in the year we hosted Gillian Brownson for three Constellation Stories sessions at the Bodfa Observatory.

LISTEN - ‘Andromeda’ by Gillian Brownson : www.peoplescollection.wales/items/3003826

This story, told across millennia, and presented here for Welsh speakers, still flickers in the night sky. Andromeda’s story is literally given to Galaxy M31, which is visible all year round.

All of the Cysur y Sêr stories inspired by the night sky are now published on the People’s Collection of Wales website!

Cysur y Sêr was a Wales-wide Welsh-language storytelling project produced by Adverse Camber. . .

21/07/2026

Look look…A Rose Gall! This isn’t a flower, a fungus or a bird’s nest. It’s Robin’s Pincushion, created by the tiny Rose Gall Wasp. The female lays her eggs in a young rose bud, triggering the rose to grow this amazing ball of colourful, hair-like fibres around the developing larvae.

Despite its exuberant appearance, it causes very little harm to a healthy rose and provides a tiny ecosystem for dozens of other insects. Soon it will dry to a brown, wiry ball before the next generation of wasps emerges.

So cool. . .

18/07/2026

Congratulations Mai Thomas - her epic drawings ‘Erratics II & III’ are currently being shown at the ‘Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Anglesey National Landscape Designation’ exhibition at Oriel Môn.

Mai’s work was originally commissioned for this year’s Llwybr Cerfluniau Aberlleiniog Sculpture Trail through an innovative partnership with GeoMôn Unesco Global Geopark - Anglesey's geopark , exploring the colours, geology and landscape of Anglesey through locally sourced earth pigments, meticulously produced by the artist. It’s wonderful to see the project continue to grow beyond the Trail and reach new audiences.

We’re proud that the AONB Sustainable Development Fund is a core supporter of the Sculpture Trail, helping artists develop new work that celebrates and deepens our connection with this remarkable landscape.

Congratulations, Mai, and congratulations to everyone celebrating 60 years of the Anglesey National Landscape. Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. .
Llongyfarchiadau i Mai Thomas – mae ei lluniadau trawiadol Erratics II & III yn cael eu harddangos ar hyn o bryd yn arddangosfa Dathlu 60 Mlynedd o Ddynodi Tirwedd Genedlaethol Ynys Môn yn Oriel Môn.

Comisiynwyd gwaith Mai yn wreiddiol ar gyfer Llwybr Cerfluniau Aberlleiniog eleni drwy ein partneriaeth â GeoMôn, gan archwilio lliwiau, daeareg a thirwedd Ynys Môn drwy ddefnyddio pigmentau pridd lleol. Mae’n hyfryd gweld y prosiect yn parhau i ddatblygu y tu hwnt i’r Llwybr ac yn cyrraedd cynulleidfaoedd newydd.

Rydym yn falch bod Cronfa Datblygu Cynaliadwy AHNE yn un o brif gefnogwyr y Llwybr Cerfluniau, gan helpu artistiaid i ddatblygu gwaith newydd sy’n dathlu ac yn dyfnhau ein cysylltiad â’r dirwedd arbennig hon.

Llongyfarchiadau, Mai, a llongyfarchiadau i bawb sy’n dathlu 60 mlynedd o Dirwedd Genedlaethol Ynys Môn. . .

11/06/2026

Llongyfarchiadau Norman on your recent feature in CVAN North West. Wonderful to revisit your installation in the sunken garden way back in 2022 :) read on…..

Every month we feature the work of a North West based artist. This month it is Norman Payne

Norman is a sculptor currently living and working in Preston, Lancashire.

Originally from Southampton, he moved to the north in 1992 to study at UCLan where he was awarded a BA in Fine Art with first class honours in 1995. In 1999, he completed an MA in the History and Theory of Art, writing his thesis on the origins and purpose of art - an area that continues to inform his current artistic practice.

At this time, he exhibited across the North West in exhibitions such as ‘Visionfest 6’, Hebden Bridge Arts Festival and ‘Missing Pages’ a year-long site-specific exhibition that toured 7 Lancashire libraries.
After a 20 year break of raising a family he returned to his artistic practice in 2019, exhibiting in the Warrington Contemporary Open.

Since then, he has been commissioned by ‘Something’s Brewing’ and ‘Curious Minds NW’ during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to make the ‘Preston People’s Portable Plague Stone’. In 2020 he also became a studio holder at Preston’s Birley Studios and he regularly exhibits in their annual members’ show.

In 2022 he was commissioned by ‘Corridor 8’ to contribute to the publication ‘Northern Formations’ collaborating with Bolton-based artist Shonagh Short. Also in 2022, he produced a site-specific sculpture for the exhibition ‘Bodfa Continuum-the possibilities of time’ at Plas Bodfa on Anglesey. A video piece of which you can watch here.

In September 2025 Norman was part of a collaboration between Birley Studios and the Harris Museum and Art Gallery. The resulting exhibition ‘Artist Led’ featured the work of 6 Birley artists who exhibited their work alongside and in response to pieces in the Harris’ collection when the refurbished museum and gallery opened.

Credits:
Scholar Stones II
Fragment of an Inscribed Door Frame
Transmitter (2025)
Charm (2024)
An Act of Sheer Folly (2022)

All work and photography by Norman Payne.

10/06/2026

Playing Out - a project of Hopewell Ink - David and Kathy Hopewell. As part of the Aberlleiniog Sculpture Trail 2026, they presented a sound installation about playing outside as children.

They asked visitors to tell them memories of playing out when they were young - this is the result! Funny, interesting, sad…do have a listen. . .

Chwarae Allan - prosiect gan Hopewell Ink - David a Kathy Hopewell. Fel rhan o Lwybr Cerfluniau Aberlleiniog 2026, fe wnaethon nhw gyflwyno gosodiad sain am chwarae yn yr awyr agored fel plant.

Gofynnon nhw i ymwelwyr ddweud atgofion wrthyn nhw o chwarae yn yr awyr agored pan oedden nhw'n ifanc - dyma'r canlyniad! Doniol, diddorol, trist…gwrandewch arno.

https://vimeo.com/user121566967/playingout

Kathy Hopewell
Hopewell Ink
David Hopewell

‘Playing Out’ by Hopewell Ink explores memories of playing outside as children and was created from an interactive sound installation for the 2026 Aberlleiniog Sculpture Trail. It features a spoken word piece, a soundscape derived from sounds along the route of the sculpture trail and a collecti...

10/06/2026

🏳️ Heddiw rydym yn hedfan baner Cyfeillgarwch, un o gyfres o faneri a ddyluniwyd gan ddisgyblion Ysgol Llangoed.

Gofynnwyd i’r plant lunio’r pethau sy’n bwysig iddynt am eu cymuned. Ar gyfer y faner hon, dewiswyd dathlu ffrindiau – o’r ysgol a’r Sgowtiaid, o’r band ac o’r gymdogaeth.

Mae’r faner yn cynnig cipolwg ar y gymuned drwy lygaid pobl ifanc Llangoed.

Mae *Flags Flying in Llangoed* yn brosiect ar y cyd rhwng Plas Bodfa Projects a Neuadd Bentref Llangoed, gyda chefnogaeth Balchder Bro Môn.

🏳️ Today we are flying the Friendship flag, one of a series of flags designed by the pupils of Ysgol Llangoed.

The students were asked to draw things that were important to them about their community. For this flag, they chose to celebrate friends – from school and scouts, from band and the neighbourhood.

The flag offers a glimpse of the community through the eyes of the young people of Llangoed.

*Flags Flying in Llangoed* is a collaborative project between Plas Bodfa Projects and Llangoed Village Hall, supported by Balchder Bro Môn.

04/06/2026

Peaceful long-lit working days with every kind of weather. 🌧️🌦️💧🌈☀️⛅️🌤️ the historic wooden carved doors of Plas Bodfa . .

27/05/2026

Hungary tadpoles feast at piano buffet.