Wales

[Rowan]

Hi All...

I'm making my third journey to the UK next month (excitement!!) and will be near enough to Wales to venture across the border. So I'm looking for places to visit.

I will be traveling from Gloucester, where my friend Barry lives.

I've already got Hay-on-Wye at the top of my list. If you don't hear from me after the first part of August, will a few of the UK members send a search party there to make sure I'm still alive? I might die of excitement. :o:o:o:o

I am kicking myself over it now, but I gave my SKP Welsh trilogy to my friend Angie a few months ago. I was so excited to be able to share the books with her, I didn't think about clarifying that it was a loan and not a give. Ah well, I'll buy 'em again I'm sure.

Anyway, I mention this because I was hoping to visit some of the sites mentioned in her books.

Any recommendations?

[Ken]

Hi All...

I'm making my third journey to the UK next month (excitement!!) and will be near enough to Wales to venture across the border. So I'm looking for places to visit.

I will be traveling from Gloucester, where my friend Barry lives.

I've already got Hay-on-Wye at the top of my list. If you don't hear from me after the first part of August, will a few of the UK members send a search party there to make sure I'm still alive? I might die of excitement. :o:o:o:o

I am kicking myself over it now, but I gave my SKP Welsh trilogy to my friend Angie a few months ago. I was so excited to be able to share the books with her, I didn't think about clarifying that it was a loan and not a give. Ah well, I'll buy 'em again I'm sure.

Rowan,

Anyway, I mention this because I was hoping to visit some of the sites mentioned in her books.

Any recommendations?

How long have you got? For example, Aber is a must! My personal favourites though are Conwy, Beaumaris and Harlech Castles. You will find yourself back in the thirteenth century when visiting them!
Also, try Kathryn Gibson and/or Garth Celyn on Face Book and/or SKP's blog for many other suggestions

[SarahWoodbury]

I would agree that Aber (Garth Celyn) would be fabulous! I think you kind of have to venture up to the door, though, and knock. http://garthcelyn.com/background_2.html

My favorite web site for castles is: http://www.castlewales.com/

My daughter spent 10 days in Wales last June and made sure to visit the Welsh castles (Criccieth, Dolbadarn, Dolwyddelan, Dinas Bran) as well as the ones Edward built to subjugate Wales. Hmmm. . . . that's just a bit partisan of me :) It depends on how much time you have, because Caernarfon has a Roman site as well as an Edwardian Castle.

Then there's Offa's Dyke and trail, right there on the border by Hay-on-Wye.

Soooo much to see! I'm jealous!

[Rowan]

Now I'm not so sure this is a good idea.... just from what you both have shared, I might never come back if I go.... :D

[Ash]

I can't remember all the names - but I went to the castle where Llywellyn was born (dol something), saw the tombs of Llywellyn (in Bagnor) and Joanna (little town in north Wales, sweet place), and Swallow Falls. We stayed quite a bit in Conwy and did much of our Northern tourning from there, so stumbled upon other places that were part of the scenery. Several of the places are accessible only by car, which is why we didn't get to some others.

Get onto Sharon's blog and ask her. She sent me a lovely list of places when I asked, way back when we wrote real letters.... :) I remember it being very helpful.

I'd say I'd come rescue you from Hay on Wye but I'd fear I'd need rescuring as well (please, don't throw me in that briar patch!)*

*explanation of this American tale http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/ga2.html

[Rowan]

Get onto Sharon's blog and ask her. She sent me a lovely list of places when I asked, way back when we wrote real letters.... :) I remember it being very helpful.

I'm too shy. :o

[EC2]

I'm too shy. :o

Oh, she's so lovely - drop her an e-mail! She's a member of the forum, but I don't think she comes by that often.

I second what everyone else has said. Caernarfon is excellent, but not HBD territory - it's a bit later, but there's plenty of it. Some of the others there's not a lot to see now, but the scenery is magnificent. I remember taking my sons to Criccieth Castle and they loved the beaches there if you want the seaside experience at the same time. If you go in the car to Harlech there's a scary steep drive up to the top to get there - but worth it! If you're at Hay on Wye, William Marshal's Chepstow is within striking distance and Tintern Abbey. Also Hereford Cathedral is interesting - there's a chair in there that belonged to King Stephen. Oh, and Ludlow is just up the March - wonderful market town with a castle. And near Ludlow there is Stokesay Castle which is a 13thC fortified manor house and just about intact.
Happy touring!

[Vanessa]

It's a pity you're not in Hay this week - I believe it's the book festival. I know it's on the TV all week anyway, not that I've been able to watch it unfortunately due to life getting in the way!

Hope you enjoy your visit, Rowan.

[robinbird79]

Wales...I'm jealous!

When and if I can save enough to get to England in the fall or beginning of 2011 I doubt I'll be able to save enough to visit Wales. :(

[EC2]

Wales...I'm jealous!

When and if I can save enough to get to England in the fall or beginning of 2011 I doubt I'll be able to save enough to visit Wales. :(

What you need to do is arrange to stay in the Welsh Marches somewhere rather than expensive tourist traps such as London or the Cotswolds. If you can stay in that middle bit, you can strike out and visit all over the place and in so doing, probably see more of the real country. Some parts of the UK are a lot less expensive than others. When I was researching for A Place Beyond Courage, the county of Wiltshire was a lot cheaper than the county of Hampshire, even though they're next door to each other!

[Leo62]

I second Stokesay - went there at Easter - it's lovely. Also, if you want to go deeper into Wales, I'd recommend Castell Y Bere. It's one of the Llewellyn castles - well off the beaten track and very atmospheric. http://www.castlewales.com/cybere.html Great for a picnic on a sunny day. Have fun :D

[SarahWoodbury]

There's also this in Llangollen (where Dinas Bran is): http://www.llangollen2010.co.uk/

It's the Eisteddfod, international music festival July 6-11

Or, perhaps that's the week you should make sure you're somewhere else!

[Tanzanite]

Wales...I'm jealous!

When and if I can save enough to get to England in the fall or beginning of 2011 I doubt I'll be able to save enough to visit Wales. :(

when we went last year we went to Wales for a couple of days (rented a car and spent one night and two very long days) and we loved it. In fact, we are trying to decide what to do for our 20th anniversary later this year and if it wasn't for my husband's concern over the volcano starting to spew ash again, we would be going back to the UK in a heartbeat - and especially to Wales. It is very pretty there!

[Tanzanite]

If you're at Hay on Wye, William Marshal's Chepstow is within striking distance and Tintern Abbey. Also Hereford Cathedral is interesting - there's a chair in there that belonged to King Stephen. Oh, and Ludlow is just up the March - wonderful market town with a castle. And near Ludlow there is Stokesay Castle which is a 13thC fortified manor house and just about intact.
Happy touring!

We went to Chepstow and Tintern - both very impressive and just gorgeous!

[Ash]

Rowan, there is no need to be shy with Sharon - she is delightful, friendly, and very very helpful. Go for it!

[N. Gemini Sasson]

If you go in the car to Harlech there's a scary steep drive up to the top to get there - but worth it!

I agree! Lovely view and worth going to. It's been a decade since I was there, but imagine a Swede and an American driving a stickshift (with the steering wheel/shift on the opposite side from what we're used to) up those narrow, hairpin turn roads. I remember a very harrowing moment when we had to stop at the end of a single-lane road in the town, uphill, unable to see left or right due to the buildings on either side. I think my friend just held her breath and gunned the accelerator to pull out. It was quite a relief to get to the castle! We stayed there awhile - a bit afraid to get back in the car.

I also thought Snowdonia was one of the most heavenly places on earth. And one of my favorite words is "Llangollen". We kept making the B&B owner say it so we could learn how to pronounce that double 'l'.

[Rowan]

Thanks for all of your responses, friends. :) It is much appreciated.

I did take EC's advice and wrote to Sharon; unfortunately she wasn't as helpful because she's not been through much of Southern Wales, though she did offer some recommendations.

My friends in Gloucester will be doing all the scary driving for me. :P

I will make a list of all of your recommendations - Welsh sites on one side of the paper and English on the other side - and see what we can do while we're there.

My trip will be 2 weeks long and will be divided between a town near Lancaster and Gloucester. This will be my third trip over and I'm as excited as ever. LOL

[Ken]

I also thought Snowdonia was one of the most heavenly places on earth. And one of my favorite words is "Llangollen". We kept making the B&B owner say it so we could learn how to pronounce that double 'l'.

This might help with pronouncing the double 'L'!! Thanks to Owen Mayo on FB!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=ss&gid=20574621936#!/photo.php?pid=2028123&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=20574621936&aid=-1&id=1269434750

[Rowan]

That's great Ken!! :D

[N. Gemini Sasson]

This might help with pronouncing the double 'L'!! Thanks to Owen Mayo on FB!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=ss&gid=20574621936#!/photo.php?pid=2028123&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=20574621936&aid=-1&id=1269434750

Perfect! :D

[Madeleine]

Friends have recommended the Italianate village of Portmeirion (where the original series of "The Prisoner" was filmed) as a place worth visiting if you're in that part of Wales.

[Loveday]

This might help with pronouncing the double 'L'!! Thanks to Owen Mayo on FB!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=ss&gid=20574621936#!/photo.php?pid=2028123&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=20574621936&aid=-1&id=1269434750


Thank you for posting this link! Not just for the extremely helpful pronunciation hint (*wipes spit off monitor*), but for showing me that there's a Sharon Kay Penman fan page on Facebook! I'm fairly new to Facebook, so I had no idea. I'll be over there all evening now, going through the gorgeous photos! :D

[Ken]

Thank you for posting this link! Not just for the extremely helpful pronunciation hint (*wipes spit off monitor*), but for showing me that there's a Sharon Kay Penman fan page on Facebook! I'm fairly new to Facebook, so I had no idea. I'll be over there all evening now, going through the gorgeous photos! :D

No probs Loveday. Just to let you know SKP has two FB pages. One for the Fan club and her own. In the fanclub page, just click on her name and it will take you there.

[robinbird79]

What you need to do is arrange to stay in the Welsh Marches somewhere rather than expensive tourist traps such as London or the Cotswolds. If you can stay in that middle bit, you can strike out and visit all over the place and in so doing, probably see more of the real country. Some parts of the UK are a lot less expensive than others. When I was researching for A Place Beyond Courage, the county of Wiltshire was a lot cheaper than the county of Hampshire, even though they're next door to each other!

That's not a bad idea; hadn't thought of this. I'll have to start looking around. There are things in London I want to see but I'm also interested in Wales (obviously) and Bosworth Field and York. I just need to be able to get to an airport easily and a train station. Lol. :)

[Loveday]

No probs Loveday. Just to let you know SKP has two FB pages. One for the Fan club and her own. In the fanclub page, just click on her name and it will take you there.

I saw that, Ken, but I wasn't sure if it was okay to 'add her as a friend.' I thought it might be more for people she actually knows in RL than for all of us admirers. Plus I'm very shy. :o

Of course, I've just had a closer look and she does have over a thousand 'friends' on there, so I guess it probably IS okay. LOL!

[FlynnElk]

On the SKP being amazingly lovely front - I once mentioned to her (via email, after reading her blog) that I had trouble finding a copy of Falls the Shadow (the central book of her Welsh trilogy) and she posted me a copy. Yeah, she's right up there on my "people I need to drink tea with", but should probably not chase wielding teapots, list. Ahem.

Anyway, I live in Cardiff and have yet to wander up to North Wales - oops! But if you're down south, Caerphilly castle is stupidly beautiful. You will feel like a queen walking around there, guaranteed. There's a bridge over a moat and everything, what more could you want? Cardiff Castle is a crazy amalgamation of styles, as the guy who lived there (Marquis of Bute?) was big on redecorating. He also did Castell Coch, which is a fairytale castle up in the hills outside Cardiff. Quite small, but lovely. Turreted and cheery.

There we go, a quick guide to castles I've been to in South Wales.

[Rowan]

Thanks for your input Flynn. :) It's much appreciated. I shall add Caerphilly to my list of potentials. :)

[Margaret]

I learned how to pronounce that double-L and tried it on a bus driver in northern Wales. We were trying to get to Llan-something-or-other. He totally did not understand me. I had to mispronounce it as Lan-something-or-other, and then he understood. The correct pronunciation is actually not too hard to learn, but devilishly hard to hear correctly if you're not used to it. You touch the tip of your tongue to your palate as if you were going to say a regular L, but you keep the sides of your tongue away from the sides of your mouth and blow air through them. Shakespeare wrote the Welsh double-L as an F, and the sound is not too far away from that.

[robinbird79]

I would really like to learn how to speak the language.

[Ken]

I would really like to learn how to speak the language.

Here's a good place to start! Good luck (or 'Pob Lwc!)!


http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/learnwelsh/