Wales. Why Wales? Three countries make up Great Britain: England, Scotland, and Wales. (Add Northern Ireland and you have formed the United Kingdom). Ron and I had at least a basic frame of reference for Ireland, Scotland, and England, but we knew nothing about Wales, our only connection being that Ron's twin, Charles, (they were separated at birth) was the Prince of Wales until very recently.
I wanted to include Wales in our itinerary. It just seemed wrong not to. Ron agreed, on one condition: no car. This seemed fair. We would drive in Ireland and Scotland. We would travel by train to and within Wales and England.
I quickly discovered that train service is quite limited to, and within, Wales. To complicate matters, there is no "national" rail service, but rather a handful of private trains that share the tracks. I eventually found a series of trains and transfers that would get us from Edinburgh Scotland to a place called Llandudno Junction in northern Wales. Once there, we could walk or possibly catch a local train to Conwy a mile and a half away. Conwy looked interesting. Plus, from Llandudno Junction, we could catch the Conwy Valley Train that traveled through the valley at the edge of Snowdonia National Park down to Blaenau Ffestiniog, described in our travel book as "a quintessential Welsh Slate-mining town". Hmmmm. Wales may be a wee bit different than Scotland. And Ireland.
And different it was. England lies below Scotland, and Wales sits on the far western edge of England, just across the Irish Sea from Ireland. Roughly 170 miles long and 60 miles wide, Wales is about the size of Massachusetts. While close in proximity to cousins Ireland, Scotland, and England, Wales may as well be on a different continent, in a different century.
It was still daylight when we arrived at Llandudno Junction. The few fellow passengers that exited the train with us disappeared in seconds. Alone on the platform with only the station manager, we asked for directions to Conwy - could he point us in the right direction to walk? "If you don't mind waiting a few minutes, you can catch the next train. Conwy is a "call stop", so you will need to let the conductor know you wish to alight." OK, so this was perhaps the coolest thing yet in all of our train travel! Calling for a stop - so that we could alight!
Soon, an overhead voice announced the arrival of the next train. In Welsh. Everything was in Welsh here. English followed, almost as an afterthought. The signs were all in Welsh first, then English. Welsh is one of Europe's oldest languages and has been spoken here since about AD 600 (i.e., more than 300 years before English or German). In this part of Wales, well over half the people speak Welsh (a/k/a Cymraeg)
in their everyday language, and it was the language we heard on the street during our entire stay. I tried to learn a few phrases, and to read the strange letter combinations. The townspeople tried to help. "Llandundo doesn't start with an "L" sound?" No, its a "p-f-l" with a soft guttural k tongue roll. It was like listening to Elvish in the Lord of the Rings.
We boarded the train, and let the conductor know that "we would like to alight at Conwy". "Of course" came the reply with a quick smile. This was nice. We felt welcome here.
Within moments, Conwy came into view. Or rather, its castle, which is Conwy. An arched opening had been cut into the castle wall to allow train passage. We alighted at a platform (no train station), and found ourselves back in time thousands of years, inside a medieval walled fortress.
There are castles. And then there are castles. Of all of the castles we have photographed, hunted down, hiked to, and stumbled upon over the years, and there have been many, this castle in the tiny coastal village of Conwy in northern Wales takes the proverbial crown.
The castle is over a thousand years old, old even by European standards. Welsh history stretches back to prehistoric times. "Recent" history tells us that Romans first invaded Wales in AD 50, building forts and meeting stiff resistance from the indigenous Welsh. When the Empire fell, and the Romans left, the Celts assumed power, occupying the Roman forts, and within a few centuries established a border between Wales and England in about AD 780. The small, independent kingdoms that made up Wales united in 1216 under two great princes, Llywelyn the Great, and Llywelyn the Last. The English King at the time, Edward, wanted Wales. Badly. King Edward's army finally defeated the Welsh in 1282 and Edward spent the next decades building (and rebuilding) a ring of 17 castles to encircle Wales. The castles were all engineering masterpieces of the time, with rounded towers (almost impossible to tunnel under, which was a primary means of warfare at the time), and all of them had sea access so they could be safely restocked from England. Once the castles were constructed, English soldiers arrived while the town walls and towns were built for imported English settlers. Edward's castles were English islands in the middle of a hostile Wales. Conwy was one of the greatest of Edward's castles.
It has been 700 years. Tempers have cooled. From my brief time here, Wales appears to remain a very proud and independent nation of very proud and independent Welsh people. As a traveler just passing through, I found the Welsh to be incredibly welcoming and gracious hosts!
We spent time wandering through the village and harbor
stopping to chat with the locals, including this volunteer who collects one ₤ (pound) per person for a "tour" of the smallest house in Great Britain (only the "red" part is the house!)
We rode the Conwy Valley Train inland, winding through green pastures dotted with grazing sheep and crisscrossed with rivers, to the mountain town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, where Welsh slate is still mined.
Back in Conwy, we climbed one of the 16 circular castle towers and walked along the high castle walls.
The castle and its towers, walls, and town were truly magnificent. But for me, the highlight was an appendage to the castle: the Conwy Suspension Bridge.
The bridge was designed by civil engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and was erected 1822-1826. Spanning 327 feet, the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in 1958, but incredibly still has its original iron chains. I marveled that the castle had stood for 600 years before the bridge was added. Telford's gothic design seamlessly joined the two. But how was the bridge attached? The secret was rock. The entire castle was built on solid rock, and the bridge tied into that same rock foundation.
A plaque caught my eye. It was presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2003, acknowledging the bridge as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Impressive. A similar plaque nearby was presented in 2007 by the Institution of Civil Engineers for Wales, honoring the 250th anniversary of the birth of the bridge’s engineer, Thomas Telford. Telford. I had just seen that name in Scotland. A Scottish engineer named Telford had connected the Lochs along the highland fault to form the Caledonian Canal. Yep, one and the same. Thomas Telford, superhero of engineering!
Creature Comforts
Our home in Conwy. A simple two up, two down (ie four-room) cottage, split down the middle to form a “one up, one down.”
A Little Welsh
Allanfa – exit
Toiledau – toilets
Beicwyr dewch oddi ar eich beic – Cyclists dismount
Ildiwch – Give Way (Yield)
Cadwch i’r chwith os gwelwch – Please keep left (this is the funniest sign of all to see in Welsh because those who could actually read Welsh would know to keep left!)
Cerdded Muriau Tref Conwy – Conwy Town Wall Walk
Mae’n beryglus dringo ar y – It is dangerous to climb on the stonework.
A Little Apology
I apologize for the embarrassing long length of this post! It was important to me to try to capture Wales. It is truly spectacular.
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