Across the Pond - Aberystwyth & Snowdonia, Wales

July 8, 2012

This morning we headed off north and west in the direction of Aberystwyth, Wales. One of Rowan's childhood friends, Ursula, owns an award winning pub here, so we will stop to have lunch. Rowan's dad has no idea we will be stopping at Ursula's pub, he has known her since she was a wee one. We drove through some stunningly beautiful country on the way north. Much of the landscape reminds me of Marin and Sonoma counties in California. So much green it just blows your mind.

A view of the Irish Sea in Aberystwyth

We arrived in Aberystwyth in early afternoon. This is a university town, home of a University of Wales campus. Go here for interesting information about this seaside town: http://www.aberystwyth.com/

 Dad was really surprised when we pulled up and went into the pub and there was Ursula and her husband Ian. The pub wasn't even open yet, but she had arranged to give us a private lunch. She had lovely sandwiches and treats prepared for us. Oh, and of course a pint to wet our parched throats :o)

 They offer a five pump platter here at The Ship & Castle. This is five different 1/2 pints of beer as a sampler. Perfect for the lad who just can't decide what to have!

 Here is what it looks like without the beer. You can see they have many kinds of beer on draft.

 Rowan with Ursula and Ian and their family outside the pub.

Our ultimate destination today is Beaumaris, Anglesey, more north and west of where we currently are, so after lunch we hit the road again. I did take some photos/movies on our way out of Aberystwyth so you all could see more of this cute seaside town.

OK, so here is a wonderful example of what the Welsh language looks like. English- The Salvation Army. Welsh - all that stuff that is next! :o) All of the signs in Wales are like this. We will give you a welsh lesson in the next post.

As we traveled north, we drove through the region known as Snowdonia National Park. The park covers an area of 838 square miles. This was the first area in Wales designated as a national park back in 1951. The park includes public and private lands within its boundaries and is named after it's tallest mountain, Snowdon. Approximately 62% of the people in this region speak Welsh (oh boy, this should be fun!). The mountains are very dramatic and make for some outstanding views.

Go here for a good map of where we are: http://www.eryri-npa.gov.uk/park-authority/offices

It was hard to get really good photos of our drive through the mountains as it began to get misty and rainy, so I got some photos from the internet to show you too.

Photos from the car......

 We went through one region of the park where the mountains were made from slate. The slate rocks raining down the mountains were incredible. It was like this for miles. All the slate from the world must come from here. No wonder slate is used as a building material, from roofs to walls, here in the UK.

Beaumaris, Anglesey is next. Stay tuned..........

Across The Pond - South Wales Last Bit

July 6, 2012

On our last day in Llangattock/Crickhowell, Rowan and I took a stroll down the Monmouth and Brecon canal, just a few steps down the road from our cottage, to get some photos before we leave here. Go here for info on the canal system: http://www.canaljunction.com/canal/mon_brec.htm  We will come back here some day to rent a narrow beam boat to cruise the beautiful waterway for at least a week.

We ran into this very cute family of ducks who were quite curious to check us out.

The scenery is just fantastic. Very much like walking through the shire in a Lord of the Rings movie.

View of Crickhowell from the canal

One of the rental boats. They can be rented by the week for a toodle down the canals. They come with kitchen, sleeping quarters, shower, loo....everything needed for a comfortable lazy trip through the tiny villages along the canal. Just stop in a little village for cooking supplies, a pint at the pub, and you are on your way.

Listen for how quiet it is during this video. 

I have to share this movie of the ginormous redwood tree that sits on the edge of the canal here in Llangattock. I have been at the foot of this tree on previous trips and now finally have the movie camera to take a video of this monster. It must be a few hundred years old, and how a redwood tree got here in south Wales is beyond me, but here it is. A magnificent example of a giant redwood.

This photo shows how determined the ferns are around here to get growing. With all of the rain that falls here, no wonder you can find these little guys growing out of just about every rock wall around.

 We made one more trip to the meat market in Crickhowell to get dinner for our last night here. We were tempted to go for the lamb's liver (look at the big bowl of it on the upper left) YUM......

 ....however, we ended up going for the pork chops instead....

 .....can't forget the cheese course either :o)

 A photo of a great spotted woodpecker in uncle Bob's yard.

 Rowan cooking up our last dinner in the cottage

 Yummy pork chops with onion, apples, mushrooms and cider

 We have had a really great time here in the Brecon Beacon/Usk Valley region of South Wales. We will now be moving on to the north coast of Wales.

Stay tuned.........

Across The Pond - Wales - St Fagans

July 5, 2012

Time for a brief historical tour of architecture and human history in Wales. Today we took a short trip out to St. Fagans National History Museum to have a look at some historical buildings, relocated here piece by piece, stone by stone, board by board, from locations all over the country. It's amazing to think that all of these historical structures were taken apart, stones/boards numbered and then put back together exactly as the original. St. Fagans opened in 1948 and has become the most visited heritage attraction in Wales. The museum shows how the people of Wales have lived, worked and spent their leisure time.

Kennixton Farmhouse -  The oldest part of this farmhouse from the Gower peninsula (south coast) was built in 1610. The red color of the walls, and the berries of the rowan tree in the garden were thought to protect the house from evil spirits. But it could be that the color of the walls merely showed that the owners could afford to put pigment in the whitewash. The house is decorated as it would have been in the late 18th century.

Uncle Bob and dad (David)

This is a stone pig house. The stones are stacked, without mortar, to create this structure. Pretty cool.

You can tell here that Rowan takes after her father :o)

This is a working corn mill. The machinery in the mill is still powered by the water wheel.

The Celtic Village - This village is an archaeological experiment. Here is shown how people might have lived during the Iron Age, some 2000 years ago. The form of each house is based on archaeological evidence: the stone walled house from a hill fort near Conderton, Worcestershire; the largest house from a farmstead at Moel y Gerddi, Harlech, Gwynedd; and the smallest from Moel y Gaer hillfort, Rhosesmor, Flintshire. It all sounds very 'Lord of the Rings', and it is!

Evidence suggests that most people during this period lived in small settlements and farmsteads similar to this.

Check out the fabulous thatched roof.

Inside the houses there are replicas of everyday domestic items such as a loom, a cauldron and a grinding stone, and also weapons: spears, shields and a sword. A wood fire pit is in the center of the floor.

An inside look at the roof structure

St. Teilo's Church - This church used to stand 50 miles from St. Fagans, near the river Llwchwr (can I buy a vowel please! :o), near Pontarddulais. It had served the community there for over 700 years. It ceased to be the parish church in 1850 and by 1973 was no longer a place of worship. Threatened by vandalism, subsidence and theft, it was decided to move the church to St. Fagans. As the building was taken down, a staggering discovery was made. Under layers of limewash, 500 year old wall paintings were found. This is why they have rebuilt the church as it may have looked in 1520, when it would have been Roman Catholic. Most worshippers then could not read and would have used the images to inspire meditation and prayer. The murals have been copied using medieval techniques.

The brightly painted wood screens are hand carved using traditional methods and designs and would have been found all over Europe in the middle ages. The church is named after Teilo, a 6th century Welsh saint and contemporary of St. David.

I was especially interested in how all of the wood joinery in the church was done using wooden pegs. This is a photo from the beam work on the ceiling.

Here is one of the fabulous hand carved & painted wood screens

Taking a little rest from our history lesson

Gwalia Stores - This grocery shop from Ogmore Vale was opened by William Llewelyn in 1880 and became known as "The Harrods of the Valleys". It finally closed in 1973. It is shown here as it was in the 1920's, with mahogany shelving and counters.

This poster hung in the window of the store. We laughed as we thought about the young girls being pickled and bottled. Would there have been jars of pickled fingers and toes? :o)

The Smithy - In 1868 Andrew Humphreys was the blacksmith at Llawr-y-glyn. At this time horses were a vital part of the rural economy. The bustling smithy was an important place for members of the community to meet. 

My great-great grandfather was a blacksmith, so I was really interested in this smithy shop. It is very similar to the smithy barn he had (and is still standing with tools intact on the family's century farm in Kansas).

The first room you enter, called the pentice, is where horses were brought to be shod.

Here is the main room of the smithy shop. A really fantastic array of old metal tools, plough parts, iron tires for carts, candlesticks, door knockers, etc. Everything iron or metal that the smithy made.

I want this vice in my own shop! A beautiful piece.

The floor in the shop is made out of simple stones. An example of using the materials you have around you.

A simple sheep barn made from stones that are at least a foot think. No wonder it is still standing after hundreds of years.

The happy black faced sheep peeking at me from inside :o)

St. Fagans Castle - The building has stood here since 1580, long before the museum was opened here. This is one of the finest Elizabethan manor houses in Wales. The castle belonged to the Earl of Plymouth and his family until 1946, when it was given to the museum.

The gardens around the castle

Esgair-moel Woollen Mill - Woollen mills like this used to be a common sight in rural Wales. Keeping sheep was the only type of farming suitable to the west Welsh hills. By the 1800's, making woollen goods had become an important industry in Wales. This mill was built in 1760. From 1880 until 1932 the mill produced blankets, shawls, flannel for making clothes and yarns for knitting socks. Local farmers would bring their fleeces to the mill to be turned into cloth or blankets for their families. At this mill, the raw, greasy wool had to be dyed, combed and spun before weaving. These processes are still carried out today in this same mill. It takes the museum weaver twenty hours of preparation and two hours of weaving to make a shawl.

The mill machines are powered by water and a water wheel.

Here is where the water enters the building. The water wheel is in the basement.

Dyed wool drying in the afternoon sun

The wool being processed into yarn

The hand looms that date from the mid 18th century. The looms themselves are amazing works of art.

A day well spent learning some history about the people of Wales.
A little bit more from South Wales in my next post and then we move on to North Wales.