National Trust Cymru invited artist Bedwyr Williams to find out – not by looking back at the aristocrats who once lived in these houses, but by paying attention to the people who fill them today.
As part of its work to reach new audiences through contemporary art, National Trust Cymru commissioned Williams, who represented Wales at the 2013 Venice Biennale, to spend six months travelling across Wales, observing the small, human moments that shape a day out. He documented the journey on a dedicated Instagram page @tindroi_dawdle, using well-known characters from his own Instagram page @bedwyr_williams – including “Man who absolutely loves clothes” and “AirBnB cleaner” – who became the project’s eyes and ears as they moved through houses, gardens and landscapes.
The commission culminated in Tîn Droi – Welsh for “dawdling” – a limited-edition book containing almost 600 drawings, each produced digitally within 24 hours of visiting a property. Williams journeyed from Anglesey in the north-west to Newport in the south-east, taking in everything from the views at Rhossili to the gardens at Powis Castle. Other locations featured in the book include Conwy Suspension Bridge, Bodnant Garden, Dinefwr, Erddig, Dyffryn Gardens and Llanerchaeron. Seeing so many sites in quick succession made him reflect on who these places are really for today.
“These houses will be tourist destinations for far longer than they were ever lived in by the gentry,” says Williams. “I was interested in that reality – couples in cargo shorts walking around, some people whispering like they might be told off, others are very loud. All human life is there.”
He was inspired by the small details that give each property its character – from overheard comments to odd objects tucked into grand rooms. There’s Lord Anglesey’s 1980s ghetto blaster at Plas Newydd; the ingenious servants’ bell system at Tredegar House; and the unexpectedly wide range of dog ice cream on offer at cafés. All of it, he says, speaks to the everyday reality of these places.
“I think I’ve got a very retentive memory – I remember ridiculous things,” he says. “I’m interested in the banal and the human – the tiny things people say without meaning to be funny.”
The drawings feature figures drawn from Williams’s long-running Instagram account, moving through the Trust’s houses and landscapes with deadpan humour. They also speak bilingually – not in a translated sense, but in the way Welsh and English are heard together in everyday speech in Wales. This has sparked conversation in the comments, with followers guessing meanings and practising pronunciation.
Helen Pye, Assistant Director for National Trust Cymru, said: “We’re excited to be working with Bedwyr Williams on this bold and imaginative commission. It offers fresh ways to experience these remarkable places and the human stories woven through them. We hope it inspires moments of connection and creativity for everyone who visits National Trust Cymru places across Wales.”
