We finally got a chance to have some holidays this month. It was cold and windy, relaxing and peaceful. We had some beautiful long leisurely walks in the fresh Welsh air.
It was very calm, just what we needed, and on one such walk we made friends with these woolly fellas here. A long horned welsh goat.
Aren't they great.
We visited the walled town of Conwy. The castle was built in the 13th century for Edward I. The historic town centre has an almost complete circuit of fortified walls, about 1.3 kms. They make up one of the best preserved medieval defence schemes in Europe. The castles also is very well preserved and you can easily see how the king and his entourage would have lived while in residence.
Also in this photo you can also see Thomas Telford's suspension bridge built in 1826 to replace the dangerous ferry crossing.
We stayed in the Victorian Holiday Resort of Llandudno, and the feel and look of the town still seems very Victorian. Most of the tourist attractions were closed for the off season, which was fine with us we enjoyed exploring the town on foot. The pier offered nice evening walks, in summer the stores and eateries would be busy and open til late. It has the Old Pier Head Bar, a pub 1/2 a mile out to sea. (or for those of us working in new money, 0.8 kms, ha ha)
Llechwedd Slate Caverns is part of a living, working slate mine that has been active since 1836. They have been open to the public since 1972 but mining operations still take place today, just above ground instead of under.
We arrived in time for the last 2 tours of the day, plunging 500ft under the ground in Europe's Steepest mining cable railway. Terrifying!
Imagine entering the mines, aged 12 to begin your working life, with a life expectancy of just 52. That's 40 years, working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, by the light of a candle- if you could afford one.
Put's things in some perspective.
Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, it's summit is 1085 metres above sea level. The views are amazing and there are many paths to the summit, as well as the Snowdon Mountain railway, opened in 1896 which carries passengers the 7.6 km to the top and to our dismay closed during the off season. So we began to hoof it to the top. On the way up, in true B's fashion we got waylaid at a cute little tea room. This meant unfortunately we didn't make it to the top before the weather closed in, another trip to Wales will need to be made.
Oh....did we mention this was a licensed tea-room, makes more sense now doesn't it.
This tiny red house is the smallest house in Britain. It has one room upstairs and one down. It measures 3 metres high and 1.8 metres wide and is officially the smallest house in the country. It is in the Guinness Book of Records and was once owned by a 6 ft fisherman named Robert Jones. The rooms were too small for him to stand up in and he was eventually forced to move out in 1900 when the council declared the house unfit for human habitation.
Talk about ducking through doors, uncomfortable.
We had a great time on our trip and Wales is definitely one of our favourite places to visit.
Until next time, B1 and B2.
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