Cymru
Or English Heritage...
After a sleepless night on a slowly deflating air mattress (thank god for the cushions on Jules' lounge) we were all ready for our days activities. Peter made Jules tell him what we were doing but it was still a surprise for me.
I guessed correctly that we were going to head into Northern Wales, but along the way we spotted a couple of castles on top of two peaks. Thinking they looked pretty cool we decided to stop and see what they were like. The first one was Peckforton Castle which appeared to be a hotel and reception centre. The second place was Beeston Castle a ruined castle run by English Heritage. I became a member (for 36 quid I get free entry to all their properties across the UK) and we went up to look around. You can read more about the history of the place here but needless to say it was pretty cool and had an amazing (if cold) view across the country side.
From here we headed into Wales (or Cymru in Welsh). It was an interesting place. All the signs were in English and Welsh and the ambulances were called ambiwlans (incidentally, stop in Welsh is Araf - it is amazing how often NO and STOP appears on public signs). Anyway we were on the lookout for somewhere to eat lunch. We drove through a funky looking town called Conwy, where we stopped for a pretty awful lunch (we were desperate). After taking a few photos we continued on to our next stop, Penrhyn Castle.
This property was owned by the National Trust who, you may remember, I became a member of last week at Basildon Park. Unfortunately I forgot my temporary membership pass, so I had to pay to get in, but that was okay. You can read more about the history by clicking the previous link, but it was a pretty amazing castle. Although I am not all that sure I would have liked to live there...
After a quick tour of the gardens it was time to have a cream tea! The guy behind the counter went out the back to check if they had any scones left. One of his colleagues came over and started talking to us. Jules and I had no idea was she was saying but we did get the words "fruit" and "cherry". It turns out that they had run out of fruit scones and only had cherry ones left. That was okay and after finishing it was time to head off.
Because of the detour earlier in the day it was time to head back to Stafford. Driving through the Welsh countryside was pretty amazing. It would be a lovely area to cycle or walk in (when warmer). Because the battery in my camera went flat I could only snap a couple of shots. Nowhere near enough to do it justice.
After stopping at the Shire Horse (a pub in Stafford) for dinner we headed back to Jules' flat and off to what was no doubt to be an uncomfortable night on the deflating air mattress.......
Beeston Castle
The View
More Beeston
The Inner Keep
Me scaling the castle walls....
More Beeston!
Conwy
Penrhyn
and again...
Artistic close up shot...
Enjoying the garden.
A funky tree.
More Penrhyn
1 comment:
On the picture of Justin sitting on the wall at Beeston, you can see the almost parallel lines of the earlier canal (at rear) and the railway (next). This sort of thing happens quite often "up north". It makes you wonder if a well-placed bribe nearly two hundred years ago decided whose land the train would pass over - which is not necessarily the best route!
Penrhyn Castle was quite interesting to see also, as it was the house that slavery built. The family obtained their wealth through Jamaican sugar plantations before they sold out when slavery was banned. This allowed them to parlay their cash into Welsh slate, which almost all came from this region.
And less you go mispronouncing Welsh, Cymru is pronounced KUM-ree!
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