TRAVEL DIARIES

Journal of Women on Wales - May 11 - 21, 2010

Wed. 12th  – Our tour bus met us in Manchester and we drove to our first hotel, Can Y Bae, in Llandudno, pop. 35,000.   It was situated across the street from the promenade on the North Sea.  Michael and David were our delightful hosts.  Our meals were very good and they were so kind to us.  Tea was served upon arrival.  After settling into our rooms we met in the bar for drinks followed by our first Welsh meal. 

Thurs. 13th  – After breakfast we walked a short distance to take a tram, built in 1902, part way up The Great Orme (a mountain 679 ft. high).  It is the only cable-hauled tramway still operating on British public roads. A tour bus drove us the rest of the way to the top.  There were long views of the ocean, fields and sheep.  After returning to town the bus took us to Bodnant Garden (a National Trust site) of Colwyn Bay, Conwy.  It is comprised of 80 acres of magnificent garden with expansive lawns, the Pin Mill, ponds and waterfalls, a Laburnum Arch 180 ft. long, plus many more undeveloped acres.  We had lunch in the cafeteria and then a guide walked us about for 1.5 hrs.  After dinner in our hotel we strolled to the theatre to see a stage performance of “Sound of Music” by a London West End touring company.  It was excellent and a highlight of the trip.

Fri. 14th – Drove through the upper reaches of the Conwy Vale to visit a mountain sheep farm, “Ewe-phoria”.  The owner, Aled, brought 8 different breeds of sheep into a building and gave a talk about them.  He owns 10 out of the 60 breeds in Wales. He sheared 2 sheep to show us his method.  A good shearer can shear 50 an hour, up to 400-600 sheep a day.  Outside he pointed out a lamb born that morning.  He then demonstrated the skill of his sheepdog, Roy, who, responding to various whistle commands, herded some sheep in a nearby field.  Five sheepdog pups, about 3 weeks old, were brought for us to hold.  Aled is a world champion dog trainer.  He has 600 sheep on about 700 acres.  Sheep only have teeth on their bottom jaw.  They are kept for about 5 years and then sold.  The young -called lambs are up to 12 months old or until their baby teeth come out.  The blue face Leicester has the best wool.  After lunch at the farm we drove through Llanrwst.  There is an arched stone bridge built in 1670 located here. Next stop was Llangollen to browse for an hour.  The River Dee runs through this town and continues to Chester.  ¼ mile further was Plas Newydd.  We toured the house, situated in a large park that 2 ladies from Ireland moved into in 1829.  It contains very ornately carved dark wood doors, walls, and furniture.  Tea & scones followed.  Back to hotel for dinner via Horseshoe Pass, Ruthin & St. Asaph.

Sat. 15th – Drove to St. Margaret’s Church at Bodelwyddan, also known as ‘the marble church’.  It was started in 1856 and consecrated on Aug. 23, 1860.  It is built mainly of native limestone plus 8 types of marble which was used in its interior construction.  In the cemetery are the graves, decorated with Remembrance Day poppies and small Canadian flags of 83 Canadian soldiers who died during 1918-19 at Kinmel Park Military Camp in the parish.  (They had been sent from France to Liverpool and at Kinmel were awaiting ship transport back to Canada.)  We then were driven to Chester, England and were taken on a walking tour of the downtown area of the city which is on the River Dee.  Population is about 120,000 but only 2000 live within the walls.  It used to be an important port but now Liverpool is the main one on the western coast.  Chester is 2000 years old and was the largest Roman fortress in Britain.  At noon we gathered to hear the Town Crier.  I attended Evensong in the Cathedral at 4:15 and later we met at Duttons’ restaurant for dinner.  Back to our hotel by 8:45 pm.

Sun. 16th – We were free to shop in Llandudno till 1 p.m. when we left to visit Conwy Castle.  An informative guide took us on a tour of the castle ruins.  It is one of the finest remaining medieval walled towns in Britain.  The castle was completed in 1287. We then boarded the coach for our next hotel, Glan Aber in Betws-y-Coed.  The town started as an art colony in 1844.

Mon. 17th – Idwal took us on a walking tour of Betws-y-Coed and past St. Michael church build in the 1300s.  Iolo drove us to Trefriw Woollen Mills, est. 1859.  It is now owned by a brother and sister, descendants of the original owner, Thomas Williams.  The mill generates its own electricity and carries out all the processes from fleece to fibre on 40-50 year old machinery.  We watched machines spin and card wool and then saw a man weaving a tapestry bedspread on a huge loom.  Next on to Anglesey (pop. 60,000), over the Menai bridge spanning the Menai Strait.  Ferries leave from Holyhead on the west coast for Ireland. Our first stop was the Oriel Ynys Mon art gallery in Llangefni.  A guide gave a short talk on the art of Sir Kyffin Williams before we viewed his collection – wonderful portraits. 
Next stop was...
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch -  the town with the longest name in the world.  On to Beaumaris for a walk with Idwal to the shore then a short time about the town.  Dinner was at “The Gazelle” restaurant, Glyn Garth, near the Menai Bridge and across Menai Strait from Bangor. At 7:45 we arrived in Bethesda to hear a rehearsal of the Penrhyn Welsh Male Choir of which Idwal has been a member for 33 years.  The choir started in 1893 and currently has about 40 members.  We were treated to 1½ hours of marvelous singing.  Bethesda once had the largest slate mine in the world – 5000 employees and now there are 250. 

Tues. 18th – a.m. spent in Betws-y-Coed.  At noon we drove to Portmerion and had a guided tour by the estate manager of the ‘fantasy village’ built by Clyff Williams-Ellis in the 1920s.  “The Prisoner”, a TV series starring Patrick McGoohan in the 1960s, was filmed there.  On route to Beddgelert we drove through Ffestiniog where there are 3 slate mines and together they used to employ 10,000 men.  In Beddgelert we were told the sad tale of Llewelyn, the last true Prince of Wales, who lived there in his palace in the 1300s, with his faithful dog, Gelert.  Idwal treated us all to an ice cream cone then we went for a nice walk through the countryside.  On the way back to our hotel we stopped in a mountain pass for pictures of the hills and Mt. Snowdon.  The road was very narrow and at times was impossible to pass oncoming vehicles.  After dinner in our hotel Dr. Elwyn Hughes gave us a talk on Caradog Prichard, about whom he wrote a book.  Caradog had written a book entitled “One Moonlit Night”.  Dr. Hughes has a degree in Celtic Studies and a master in education.  In the 1980s he became a language consultant.  About 1000 words are borrowed from Latin and introduced into the Welsh language.

Wed. 19th – First on the list today is a visit to Penrhyn Castle.  En-route we drove through Bethesda and later stopped for a short walk to look at mountains and a one time glacial valley.  Tiny lambs and sheep were everywhere.  Saw Trefnwr Mt. which is difficult to climb.  At Penrhyn our guide gave a very good 1½ hr. tour of the castle built in the 1800s by the Pennant family fortunes made from slaves, sugar and slate.  There is beautiful carved wood furniture, carved sandstone and limestone walls, ceilings and pillars and lovely brocade curtains.  Both Queen Victoria and Prince Charles have stayed there.  The castle is now owned by the National Trust who have done a lot of restoration.  After lunch in the cafeteria we headed for the National Slate Museum in Lannberis.  It once housed the industrial engineering workshops for the former Dinorwig slate quarry.  It once employed 3000 men but closed in 1969 and became a museum in 1972.

Thurs. 20th – Last day of the tour!  On the bus we drove past ‘the ugly house’ and arrived at Mt. Snowdon train station at 10.  Across the valley, en-route, we could see the Llanberis slate mine and museum we had been at the day before.  Before boarding the train we watched a short movie about Mt. Snowden and the train.  The slow moving train took over an hour to reach the top of Mt. Snowdon.  Idwal had provided each of us with a box lunch to have at the summit.  It was very warm and we had an excellent view of the surrounding countryside.  Half an hour after arrival the train left to return us to the station.  Back at the hotel we packed our suitcases and did any last minute shopping.  In the hotel dining room at 6pm we helped Susan celebrate 5 years of Broad Horizons with a delicious cake and champagne.  She presented Idwal with a large picture book of Canada and an invitation to come and visit each of us.  She bought Iolo a binocular set to use on his frequent hiking trips.  Five women read the poems they had composed on the trip and Gail was the lucky winner.  After a lovely dinner a guest was brought in to entertain us for an hour.  It was Dylan Cernyw, a Welsh harpist, who Pauline had heard in Llandudno a few years ago.  She was thrilled to see him again and we were delighted by the variety of music he played.
Fri. 21st – the group left on the bus at 10am for the journey to Manchester where they would catch the plane to Toronto.  Soon after I was picked up by friends and was driven to their home in Rhyl where I spent the next 5 days.

Welsh Trivia
LL is pronounced cl with a gutteral ‘c’ sound
Llan means church and the rest of the word means a saint i.e. Llandudno = Church of St. Tudno
prefix CAR indicates a castle i.e. Carnarfon
Llyn = a lake; Nant = a stream, Bryn = hill i.e. Bryncastell = castle hill
Glan = a glen & Aber = mouth of a river.  Our hotel in Betws-y-Coed was named Glan Aber
Betws = house of prayer & Coed = woods or forest.           “    “    “    means prayer house in the woods
Pop. of Wales is about 3 million people and 8-12 million sheep
There are over 600 castles in Wales – the most of the 4 U.K. countries.
To drive from north to south Wales is 180 miles and takes about 4 hours.
Cymru is the word for Wales
Croeso y Gymru means Welcome to Wales (after a ‘y’ the C of Cymru changes to a ‘G’).

Journal by: Sue L., British Columbia