Wales Part Two
Saturday 29th May, 2010
Sunday 30th May, 2010
Monday 31st May, 2010
Tuesday 1st June, 2010
Wednesday 2nd June, 2010
Thursday 3rd June, 2010
Friday 4th June, 2010
Saturday 29th May, 2010
t rained today, so we stayed home, reading and resting. It was the first day of the 2nd May Bank Holiday Weekend so the place here filled up. Two couples, one family with two young kids and us.
So we wanted to make sure of our parking space, our Ford Mondeo Wagon is very long by British standards.
It was nice to have a rest day.
Sunday 30th May, 2010
e decided to drive down to Bala, a Welsh speaking watersports oriented town by a lovely lake. It was a scenic drive, taking us through the now familiar area of Betwys-y-Coed and Blaenau Ffestiniog and heading further south. We passed a couple of large lakes, a whitewater rafting centre and another lake railway (but we didn't succumb this time, lovely though it was.)
ala was quite congested but we found a Pay and Display for a couple of hours and walked off to the town centre. There are several old pubs, the White Lion was particularly attractive, a couple of groceries, a gallery and several cafes, at one of which we had a sandwich lunch.
e didn't do anything else, except drive back by another road, as we heard that the main road we had come by had been closed by a motor cycle accident. We saw two police cars sirening through the town, then a helicopter overhead, so it must have been pretty bad.
either Geoff nor I have taken any photos for two days! Once the holiday weekend is over we must get back to our routine.
Monday 31st May, 2010
Old Town Area of Beaumaris
nother late start as we headed out at about 1000 for Anglesey. We began with morning tea in a coffee shop in Beaumaris.
The weather was great and there were lots of people about for the Beaumaris Festival.
Holyhead Ferry Port, Anglesey
e were planning to circumnavigate Anglesey , up to the ferry port of Holyhead, and around the other side. But, as we wanted a proper lunch at the restaurant in Rhosneigr we tried last week, we had to cut it short and backtrack to Rhosneigr. The town, a seaside resort, was jumping, car parking at a premium but we found a spot and went to the restaurant. The meal was a little disappointing for Mac and me but Geoff was very happy with his seafood chowder followed by fish pie.
Staircase to Nowhere, Holyhead
hen we headed for home along the A55 which took us over the ugly Britannia Bridge, from which we could see the more attractive Telford Suspension Bridge.
eoff's blood sugar was so high before a soup and toast dinner that he decided to take a walk. We are halfway up a mountain here and he staggered back an hour later after having walked down towards the town. And back. It is very steep.
Tuesday 1st June, 2010
Criccieth Castle
he first day of summer dawned wet, cool and misty. However, having decided to circumnavigate the Lleyn Peninsula we set off just before 0900. It didn't actually rain much, just fine, misty droplets on the windscreen and we got through Caernarvon with no hassles, heading for Criccieth and its castle, which dominates the headland.
Mac and Geoff on the Ramparts, Criccieth Castle
riccieth Castle is a pretty complete ruin, but is unusual in that it was a Welsh castle, not Edward I, although he did take it over and build on. It was originally begun by Llewellyn the Great in the Norman style and had lots of reworking over time. It was very ruinous and I was quite dizzy watching Mac and Geoff casually strolling outside the walls on the wet grass of the clifftop. No problems with us, though.
Firemen to the Rescue
hile we were there a family group of Mum, chatting on her mobile phone, and several young kids were really getting into it! The kids climbed into a fireplace and up the chimney, emerging on a ledge 30 feet high, unable to get down. This resulted in a call to the Fire Brigade rescue squad, who turned up as we were leaving. I don't know what the upshot was but assume they got the kids down. Maybe Mum will keep an eye on them, instead of her phone, next time.
Pennarth Fawr Medieval House
hen we left Criccieth we took the coast road towards Pwllheli. We came upon a turnoff to Pennarth Fawr, a property in the care of CADW, the Welsh Heritage people, so we went to take a look.
It is a medieval hall house, dating from the 1400s. It is empty, but a really interesting place, with a gallery and vaulted ceiling and really thick walls. It was good to see it.
Pennarth Fawr Interior
e drove into the holiday madhouse which was Pwllheli, the traffic was unbelievable. We lucked a spot in the Pay and Display and went off to find lunch, which we had in a genteel teashop. Mac and I had homemade and very tasty tomato soup with a sandwich and Geoff had beans and cheese on toast. Then we tried very hard to get out of town. The congestion seemed mostly to be caused by people trying to get into the carpark of a superstore which was just off a roundabout on the outskirts. Traffic was piling up for miles.
The Beach at Aberdaron
ventually we made Abersoch and on to Aberdaron. The sun came out at Aberdaron so we parked and walked to the beach where quite a few kids were building castles in the abundant sand.
St. Marys Well (and Coffee Shop) Nefyn
hen we headed back towards Caernarvon, stopping for tea and cakes in a cute coffee shop in Nefyn, beside a holy well. St. Marys, I believe. We did some more shopping at the Caernarvon Tesco and came home. Lots of driving and some interesting sights today.
Wednesday 2nd June, 2010
ast night there was a strange and interesting meteorological display. It had been dull and cloudy most of the day, but the sun broke through in time for sunset. At about 21:00 Mac called me to look and it was like we were on top of a very high mountain looking down on the clouds. A sheet of thick cloud completely blanked out our sea view while the hill opposite rose out of it like the end of an icecream cone out of whipped cream.
This morning, however, it was clear, warm and sunny again. You have to hand it to the weather in this country - it really keeps you guessing!
View over the Dee Valley from Horseshoe Pass
e headed out about 09:00 in the direction of Chester. We turned off before Chester and went towards Llangollen, which we all remembered from our very first canal trip, ten years ago. We spiralled up to the top of the Horseshoe Pass, where we had morning tea at the Ponderosa Cafe. The views over the Dee Valley were spectacular.
Valle Crucis Abbey Ruins
n the other side we found the Valle Crucis Abbey, the remains of a Cistercian foundation dating from 1200, although considerably rebuilt for one reason or another by the 1400s.
Valle Crucis Abbey Ruins
issolved by Henry VIII, it is a ruin, but a very beautiful one, a great deal remains of the fabric and, because it is in the care of CADW it did not cost us anything. We all found it very interesting and lovely.
oving on to Llangollen we found it a traffic madhouse, there is no kind of bypass so all the traffic, including large trucks and tourist buses churn through the medieval narrow streets. We tried every parking area to no avail but finally lucked out absolutely by finding a spot on the street which gave us an hour. So we had lunch at a café.
Horsedrawn Boat, Llangollen
hen we wanted to see if we could have a boat trip from Llangollen Marina to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct so we took the car up to the canal. No parking anywhere, so we took the car up to a street above the canal and lucked out again with a streetside park. "Lucky" because it is school holidays and the street had no parking in termtime.
New Moorings, Llangollen Canal
e could not get on the Aqueduct cruise, they were booked out, so we opted for the horse-drawn traditional style cruise further up the canal into areas I had assumed were unpassable. And they are to powered boats, but not to the horse-drawn ones.
It was quite pleasant being pulled quietly along the canal which was barred to other boats. It was also interesting to see the lovely new Marina with lots of 48 hour visitor moorings. It is new since our last visit in 2000.
The Mighty Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, near Llangollen
fter our return I wanted to find somewhere to get a view of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct from ground level, as going over it you don't really see it. So we went down the canal to Trevor, where there is the new World Heritage site but you could not see the aqueduct from there. So we took a little road down and found a good site with an old packhorse bridge, looking up the river to the aqueduct. A boat went across it as I had my camera on it. We got another view, even closer, from a field a bit further on and got some hopefully good shots.
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, near Llangollen
hen we found the good old A5 to Betwys-y-Coed which brought us back through familiar country to the A55 and home.
A lovely day, warm, clear and windless. The scenery was wonderful wherever we went and only the towns were difficult.
We could not remember it being so busy last time, but, of course, we did not have to park a car last time.
A good day, all in all.
Thursday 3rd June, 2010
decided to make this morning washing day and did two large loads and dried them. This took until lunchtime so I did that too.
Penrhyn Castle and Gardens
e went out after lunch to Penrhyn Castle which is very close to us. We can actually see it from our verandah. When we got there we were amused to find we could see Plas Heulog from the castle forecourt.
Geoff at Penrhyn Castle
he castle is a very elaborate Victorian NeoGothic take on a medieval castle. Apparently there was a genuine old castle on the site which the incredibly rich Penrhyn family converted into a fantastic (in every sense) stately home. They made their money with Jamaican sugar and Welsh slate, owning the largest slate quarry in Wales, apparently the biggest man made hole apart from the Kimberley diamond mines.
Part of the Kitchens, Penrhyn Castle
e had an audio guide tour and it is really amazing inside, the stone carving is elaborate, OTT really. But the Victorian kitchens were huge and cavernous and very well furnished with everything a kitchen could want.
Part of the Industrial Railway Museum, Penrhyn Castle
fter afternoon tea we went to the Stable Block where there is a very extensive Industrial Railway Museum which was very good. They had several restored engines and some undergoing restoration. There was a lot to see and we were too late for some of the exhibits as they were closing. It was just about 17:00.
o we drove back to Llanfairfechan, did some shopping and checked out the Chinese Restaurant, but it was just a takeaway. We want a meal out but it is not easy here. Maybe we will make another attempt at the only restaurant hereabouts, the Split Willow.
We'll see.
We didn't do anything special for dinner - I cooked.
Friday 4th June, 2010
ur last day! This fortnight has gone really quickly. I had vaguely intended to try to get down to St. Davids but it was too far to want to really.
Portmeirion Village
o quote Monty Python, today was something completely different! We went to Portmeirion, a planned "Italianate" village set in lovely coastal parklands. It was conceived and built by architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis in the twenties and every building is "fantastical" with domes, spires, arches, stairways leading up, down and nowhere.
Portmeirion Dome
hey are all painted in Mediterranean pastels, acqua, yellow, mauve, blue and purple. There are shops, cafes, two hotels and a number of equally fantastical self-catering cottages. Noel Coward stayed in one while he wrote "Blithe Spirit". A cult TV show of the 60s was made here, "The Prisoner" with Patrick McGoohan, and there is a whole shop selling Prisoner related items. I remember the show, but don't remember actually watching it, but it does have cult status, so much so that the story has been redone recently. I don't know why producers do this, it would never be like the original and just annoys the one or two people who still remember.
Palladian Facade Portmeirion
nyway we strolled around the village (it is quite small but very up and down, with cobbled squares and paths and pretty gardens and antique statuary with odd little touches like hanging signs and lamp standards, and little lion heads and shells decorating just about everything.)
Staircase at Portmeirion
e had lunch at the Italian Cafe, Geoff had a pizza and Mac and I had spaghetti. We left after going down to the Estuary to see the tide come in. The tickets give you high tide times and warn against being on the sand at that time. It came in quite quickly and high, but still did not cover the beach.
From Llanberis Pass on the Way to Portmeirion
e had a spectacular drive to and from Portmeirion , going up over and down Llanberis Pass. The scenery was indeed awesome, despite not being even as high as Katoomba, let alone Mt. Kosciusko, and the wild rhododendrons colonising some of the slopes made lovely purple covers for the mountains. Our conservationists would go mad but it looked lovely.
nother warm and sunny day, although cunims are building up.
e decided to get Chinese Takeaway from the Harvest Moon in the village, and we are able to report a good result. The food was tasty, especially the rice, and the lemon/honey chicken was great. So one up for British Chineserie - the first one we've had that was any good.
Farewell to Wales and off to the softer south.
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