Boguy and Oger at Pen-y-Parc

Two playful pekineses plant themselves on a garden parapet at Pen-y-Parc, Beaumaris, Anglesey, preventing over-heating by protruding their tongues, which flap prettily.

After a bit of play with a scarf and a toy rabbit – and ignoring a spaniel eager to join in – two pekinese dogs betake themselves to a wall and sit there to cool off, their tongues hanging out and flapping in the breeze. They are cherished guests - or inhabitants - of ‘Pen-y-Parc', an historic mansion at Beaumaris, Anglesey and captured here on film by Isla Johnston of ‘Bryn-Mêl', Glyngarth, Menai Bridge, who filmed and photographed local events.

Isla Johnston (1898-1984) was the only daughter of Edmund Johnston, owner of the Liverpool-based Johnston Line shipping company [from 1934 the Johnston-Warren Lines company]. The family lived at one time in Bromborough, Cheshire and later moved to 'Bryn Mêl', a many-roomed mansion that Edmund had built overlooking the Menai Strait. Isla farmed the land at ‘Bryn Mêl, was heavily involved with the Church in Wales, and had a particular interest in sailing – she raced regularly – and cars.