An impressive church with a sad history, a fine castle and an amazing Elizabethan home.
On a glorious morning we drove to the Lleyn peninsula and did a lovely coast walk - beach and golf course - at Porthdinllaen, a lovely fishing hamlet with the Ty Coch Inn on the beach.
Then across the peninsula to Aberdaron and a walk starting off along a beach with a steep climb up the cliff and down to a sheltered cove. Back along a country lane.
We had a very good lunch at Gwestry, at Ty Newydd on the shore. Fresh local crab salad for me and freshly caught cod and chips for Andrew, with a local beer.
This National Trust property is mostly closed at the moment, at least the house is, as they discovered that the floors on the first floor were not very strong - they get 200,000 visitors a year. Only one room, the parlour, is open. We walked around the pleasant gardens and up to the orchard with good views to the sea before having tea at the tea room
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Harlech is a small town with an impressive castle.
James of George, his architect, designed the castle with two concentric walls, the outer of which is now in a very ruinous state.
Harlech was another of Edward 1st's "iron ring" of castles, each no more than a day's march from the next, built to keep the Welsh from rebelling.
It stood high on a cliff above the shoreline, though now the sea has receded.
The gatehouse wall would have been the most vulnerable side of the castle, but the gatehouse passage was protected by seven obstacles, including three portcullises.1
Owain Glyndwr took the fortress during the national uprising in 1404 after a long siege. After a further long siege in 1408 the English army, under Harry of Monmouth, later Henry V, retook it.1
This very quirky Italianate village on the Dwyryrd Estuary was built by the Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis (1883-1978) to demonstrate that a picturesque site could be developed sympathetically. His motto was "cherish the past, adorn the present, construct for the future". It is a place immortalised, of course, in the 1960s TV series "The Prisoner".
It's quite expensive to get in (we didn't even realise there was an entrance fee!) at £20 pp. We made the most of it by taking a walk along the shore and through the woods before having an excellent lunch at the Portmeirion Hotel. We'd seen it on the Hairy Bikers' TV series and it looked worth visiting. We were not disappointed.
Started with warm home-made sour dough bread with proseccos followed by lamb for Andrew and a Côtes du Rhône, trout for me with a white Burgundy. All were really good leaving a very nice flavour in the mouth. We shared a very good chocolate tart, which was rather overpowered by spearmint ice cream. Even so, it was the best meal we had in North Wales.
On the way back to where we were staying we dropped into Beddgelert, according to our guide book the prettiest village in North Wales. The afternoon had turned dull so it probably wasn't looking its best. We had ice creams from Glenwyn which has a good reputation - they were OK.
The junction of the Afon Seiont and Menai Strait: The castle stands very strategically on the river side here.
We were staying in a lovely farm cottage outside Caernarfon. It gad been the old farm dairy but was now a very cosy holiday home called "The Granary" with wonderful unrestricted countryside views all the way to the peak of Snowdon on a clear day. We didn't climb Snowdon, far too many people do this for it to be a nice experience.
We spent two or three hours in Caernarfon, mainly to see the castle and the square where the Accrington Pals paraded, they were billeted in Caernarfon for training.
The castle is great - another of Edward the 1st's in his "iron ring", and the square is huge, very impressive. But the town itself is mostly down-at-heel and a little grim. It's nice near the castle on the river Afon Seiont which runs into the Menai Strait.
We took a circular walk via the remains of the Roman fort of Segontium. It was occupied from 77AD to 394 AD and was built to maintain control of Anglesey just across the Menai Strait here, which was rich in mineral wealth and had good agricultural land to support the 1,000 soldiers stationed here.
The castle is enormous, taking 43 years to complete. Owain Glyndwr unsuccessfully besieged it twice.
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