Showing posts with label UK-Wales-Denbighshire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK-Wales-Denbighshire. Show all posts

Thursday, 21 November 2024

Llangollen: Dee Valley Part 2

This is a new post though it covers the events of the 6th of September 2023.
It will be moved to its appropriate chronological position shortly.

Now Home to the International Eisteddfod and Formerly to the Ladies of Llangollen


Wales
Denbighshire
With almost 4,000 inhabiatnts, Llangollen is a small town in Denbighshire, North Wales, that sits beside the River Dee. It has been a tourist destination since at least 1811, the date that ‘tourist’ first appeared in print describing people traveling for pleasure.

The town’s name has two of those pesky double ll sounds. Visitors pronouncing Llangollen as Thlan-gothlen will at least get credit for trying (though this advice is of little use to speakers of the many languages lacking a ‘th sound.’)

Llangollen in Denbighshire

06-Sept-2023

Llangollen International Eisteddfod

The Dee Bridge and Llangollen Railway

We had arrived yesterday afternoon (see Pontcysyllte and Chirk Castle) so we were already orientated and decided to stroll up to the Royal International Pavilion, though the events there in July are more interesting than the structure itself.

We crossed the River Dee…

Crossing Llangollen bridge

...over the four-arched bridge built in 1345 to replace an earlier wooden structure. It has been much modified, and its origins are hardly visible in the picture above, though a side view shows the typically medieval pointed arches.

Side View of Llangollen Bridge

Turning left after the railways station we strolled down Trevor Road.

Llangollen Railway Station

The Llangollen Railway starts at the bridge and follows the lush, green Dee Valley, terminating at Corwen, 15km away. The old-style signals, and the steam engines – not that I caught one in the photo - indicate this is a Heritage Railway, run by a charity and manned by volunteers.

A pair of quavers set into the flagstones told us we were on the way to the Pavilion.

Two quavers show the way, Llangollen

Looking up we could see dwellings in the green hills that define the Dee Valley.

The green hills of the Dee Valley

Llangollen Canal and the Royal International Pavilion

Where the road veers close to the Llangollen canal, here navigable by nothing bigger than a kayak, we moved across to walk back along the towpath…

Llangollen canal

…paused to enjoy the reflections in the water…

Reflections, Llangollen canal

…and soon reached the Royal International Pavilion.

Royal International Pavilion, Llangollen

It may not be that impressive from this angle, but could accommodating the whole population of Llangollen, should that ever be required. More importantly it is also the main stage of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, which for some raises the question…

What is an Eisteddfod?

An Eisteddfod (pronounced eye-steth-vod) is a Welsh cultural festival involving poetry, music (especially harp and choral music), storytelling and dance. Although festive in nature, Eisteddfodau (the plural is pronounced eye-steth-vod-eye) are competitive, with prizes (usually just a certificate) awarded for different disciplines and age groups. Singing and spoken word competitions are in the Welsh language.

There are many eisteddfodau every year, some small and local, others of national significance. Major eisteddfodau culminate with the chairing of the bard (the winning poet) with ‘druidic’ ceremony. This version of Welsh culture, inspired by the writings of Iolo Morganwg in the 1790s and formalised in the 19th century by people like William Price (see Manchester, Llantrisant and Beijing) is largely romantic nonsense, though at the time an understandable reaction to the increasing anglicisation of Wales. There are two major events The National Eisteddfod of Wales, first held in its modern form in 1861 has a different venue every year, while the other major event is….

The Llangollen International Eisteddfod?

Held every year since 1947 (Covid-blighted 2020 apart), the festival was established after the war to promote peace and cultural understanding by bringing together singers, dancers, and musicians from around the world to compete and perform. They also have major international guests like Anoushka Shankar, Rolando Villazón or Sir Bryn Terfel (an international star and a local) and, diversifying from the festival’s folk/classical roots, Nile Rogers and Van Morrison.

Heading back into town

Plas Newydd and the Ladies of Llangollen

Crossing back over the river, we walked south through the town…

Walking south through Llangollen

…to Plas Newydd.

Plas Newydd Llangollen

‘The Ladies of Llangollen’ – locally ‘The Ladies’ - were two aristocratic Irish women who lived at Plas Newydd for 50 years from 1780.

They were:-

Lady Eleanor Butler (1739-1829), daughter of the Earl of Ormonde of Castle Butler, Kilkenny. Educated in France, her family thought her ‘an over-educated bookworm.’

and

Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831), daughter of an MP in the Irish Parliament. Orphaned as a child, Sarah lived with relatives in County Kilkenny.

The two women first met in 1768 and formed a close friendship. Over several years they developed a plan to seek a rural retreat where they could live an unorthodox life together. To avoid being forced into unwanted marriages they attempted to leave Kilkenny together in 1778 but were soon found and forced to return home. Some months later, accompanied by Sarah’s maid Mary Caryll, they left again, this time with their families’ acquiescence, if not blessing.

They crossed the Irish Sea and toured Wales, reaching Llangollen in 1780 where they bought Plas Newydd.

A bedroom Plas Newydd

Despite spending their days improving their home, walking in its grounds, planning their garden, reading and writing, but rarely going out, they somehow caught the public imagination.

The Ladies collected fireplaces and other dark wood carvings from all over the region

Visitors began to arrive. There were poets including Keats, Shelley and Byron; Lady Caroline Lamb (a distant cousin of Sarah’s) came separately from Byron; Josiah Wedgwood visited, as did his son-in-law Robert Darwin with his son Charles; the Duke of Wellington called to see them and so did Anne (Gentlemen Jack) Lister, from Halifax.

Stained glass window, Plas Newydd

Visitors were entertained and (mostly) charmed by the ladies, and in the evening sent off to stay at The Hand Hotel in Llangollen.

Servant's bedroom, Plas Newydd

For a remarkable insight into their lives, I recommend The Ladies who were Famous for Wanting to be Left Alone by American writer/academic Patricia Hampl. It can be found on Longreads by clicking the link. (it is not a very long read - 20 minutes well spent, I thought.)

A magnificently carved something, Plas Newydd

Most accounts tell upbeat tales of two women overcoming difficulties to find happiness together. There is, however, an aspect to the story Patrica Hampl mentions but briefly and others ignore. Most reports give dates of birth and death, but the eye easily glosses over those numbers. Wikipedia says the two women first met in 1768 but Butler was 29, Ponsonby only 13; two women did not meet, a women met a girl.

They left Kilkenny in 1778 to avoid being forced into unwanted marriages. For the 22-year-old Ponsonby this may have been a real concern, but at 39 Butler had probably already won that battle.

It seems The ladies kept a good table and dined well at Plas Newydd

Finally, Butler died in 1829 aged 90 whilst Ponsonby died just two years later aged 76, as though she could not cope without the woman she had depended on for so long.

On the other hand, although Eleanor was apparently the dominant partner, she was not so dominant it disrupted the ‘deep mutual respect and affection that characterised their life together.’

This signed card shows them in the riding habits top hats they affected.
Though comfortable and practical, they were undoubtedly eccentric

Today same-sex relationships are accepted, but the start of their relationship would raise ‘safeguarding issues.’ Most would agree such ‘grooming’ should lead to interventions, and their lives may then have taken very different courses. I wonder, though, whether it would have made them happier. As Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard observed, Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.

National Eisteddfod of Wales

Within sight of Plas Newydd is a stone circle. Over a thousand stone circles survive in Britain and Ireland from the Neolithic and early Bronze Ages, but this is not one of them.

Not an ancient stone circle, Llangollen

Eisteddfodau are as old as Wales, but the cod druidic ceremonial surrounding the Chairing of the Bard at the National Eisteddfod is a romantic 19th century notion of the past. The ceremony requires a stone circle, so one is built for the occasion, and usually left behind as a memento. Llangollen held the event in 1908, We saw another one in 2018 in Beaumaris on the Island of Anglesey. That post also has a bigger and grander 'Plas Newydd.'

St Collen’s Church

It is a short walk from Plas Newydd…

An old man taking a short plod in Llangollen

… to St Collen’s Church.

St Collen's Church, Llangollen

Llangollen means ‘the church of Collen’ a monk who allegedly arrived by coracle sometime in the 6th or 7th century and built a church. It is the only church dedicated to St Collen, though, Colan in Cornwall has a church of St Colanus, and there is a village of Langolen in Finistère, Britany. He was well-travelled monk.

In the 13th century, a new church was built on this site in Early English Gothic style. It was altered over the centuries and heavily restored in the 19th. A Grade I listed building, its hammerbeam roof is of particular note.

Hammerbeam roof, St Collen's, Llangollen

Mary Carryl died in 1808 and The Ladies buried her here with a fulsome eulogy. What Mary Carryl gained from this relationship, during her long and loyal service is unknown, but they treated her with great respect after she died.

Mary Carryl's stone, St Collen's, Llangollen

They followed in 1829 and 1831, sharing the plot and the memorial.

The graves of The Ladies and their servant

Unlike the Church of England, the Church in Wales was dis-established (hence the ‘in; rather and ‘of’) in 1920. A century later, they took advantage of being an independent member of the Anglican Community to permit the blessing of same-sex partnerships, thus dipping a toe (maybe more) into the 21st century while the C of E continues to vacillate. Appropriately the first such blessing was conducted in St Collen’s Church in 2021 by the Bishop of St Asaph. It was not conducted but the Vicar of Llangollen as he was half of the partnership being blessed.

Lynne’s Birthday Dinner

In the evening, we made the short walk to The Three Eagles in Bridge Street where we started with crusty bread, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Such things were once unknown in rural Wales but times have changed.

A gin, some crusty bread and something to dip it in

We had chosen the Eagles mainly because it offered Stanley Jones Butchers 28-day aged Welsh rump steak. We both like an occasional steak, and two have stuck in my mind as nearing perfection. In Madeira, festa syle steak was utterly lovely (see Madeira: Eating and Drinking) while in 2007 the Abercrave (sic) Inn in Abercraf at the other end of Wales, served a rump of Welsh Black that looked bog-standard pub steak, but was actually sublime. The Jones Family raise Welsh Blacks just 4 miles from Llangollen.

I ordered my steak rare, but by altering the 'saturation' I can make it look anything from well done to raw.

And very good it was, too, though it did not quite squeeze into my very short list of Platonic Ideals. I am not sure the confit cherry tomatoes were the best accompaniment, but the chips (there are always chips) were fine and the meat was (almost) as good as it gets.

07-Sept-2023

Llangollen lacks a castle of its own, but during our wanderings we had a clear view of Castell Dinas Brân (Crow Castle) to the north of the town.

Castell Dinas Brân from beside the Dee in Llangollen

It seemed a good idea to take a look before heading home. As the crow flies, the castle is little over a kilometre from Llangollen Bridge, but the walking routes were not designed by or for crows. Also, the castle is almost 300m (980ft) above the town and the last section is very steep.

Fortunately, a minor road burrows into the hills, rounds the castle to the less steep side and passes a footpath only a 100m (330ft) below the summit.

The easy path to Castell Dinas Brân, though it is till over the hill and out of sight

Leaving the car in the parking space beside the Offa’s Dyke footpath we struggled upwards. Cameras flatten out slopes, but that does not make them easier to walk up.

Lynne struggles up towards Castell Dinas Brân

We looked down on the car, but although it is on the line of Offa’s Dyke there no dyke to see here.

Cars are parked on the left, two thirds of the way up photo. There is no sign of a dyke

Approaching the castle we passed through a gate appropriately crowned with a crow.

Fine crow, Castell Dinas Brân

The Kingdom of Powys once ruled most of what is now East Wales. There is an unbroken regnal list from the departure of the Romans in 430 up to 855, though some of the earlier rulers are ‘semi-legendary’ and their dates are best guesses.

Made it to the top! Castell Dinas Brân

Offa built his eponymous dyke around 780 to protect his Kingdom of Mercia from marauders from the west. In the 9th century Mercia was absorbed by Wessex and then became part of a newly united England in 937. In 855 Powys was annexed by the Kingdom of Gwynedd.

Llangollen from Castell Dinas Brân

While England united Wales fractured. The 11th century saw the return of not one Kingdom of Powys but two, one northern, one southern. Unity is strength, and it was the Welsh kingdoms that now needed to defend themselves from marauders from the east. A wooden Castell Dinas Brân, built around 1200, was rebuilt in stone in the 1260s by Gruffydd Maelor II, Prince of Powys Fadog.

Edward I became King of England in 1272. After resolving hangovers from the Barons War, and some frustratingly pointless Crusading, he decided he needed to add to his portfolio. Already King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Gascony, he thought Wales and Scotland looked attractive additions.

Lynne among the ruins, Castell Dinas Brân

Edward was not a pleasant man, but he was an efficient administrator and ruthless warrior. He took Wales by 1289 and would probably have taken Scotland, too, had he not died of dysentery marching north in 1307. Edward gave Castell Dinas Brân and surrounding land to John de Warenne, (who would later make such a rickets of the Battle of Stirling Bridge - see Stirling post - when Edward sent him to deal with William Wallace). De Warenne did not want a war-damaged a castle on a hill, so he left it to crumble.

Me marching through the ruins, Castell Dinas Brân

Denbighshire Council erected a board (now rather weather-damaged) showing how the castle might have looked, but making sense of the crumbling masonry as we walked among it was beyond me.

Helpful information for the visitor

There is now little left of Castell Dinas Brân, but it is certainly an atmospheric ruin.

Atmospheric ruins

Valle Crucis Abbey

Driving back round the hill and a little way north on the A452 brought us to the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary more usually known by its Latin name Valle Crucis (in Welsh Glyn yr Groes) or in English, Valley of the Cross. The abbey was built around 1200 and the site name comes from the Pillar of Elisedd, a cross erected by Cyngen ap Cadell, King of Powys in memory of his great-grandfather, Elisedd ap Gwylog some 400 year earlier. The pillar still stands in a field beside the Abbey.

The Pillar of Elisedd, Valle Crucis

The Abbey was built by Madog ap Gruffudd Maelor the father of Gruffudd Maelor II who built Castell Dinas Brân.

Eastern end of the Abbey Church, Valle Crucis

It is tempting to think the rulers of these petty kingdoms on the far western edge of Europe, far from the centres of civilisation, were barbaric and uncouth. In some ways they were, but Valle Crucis Abbey is a fine building.

Western end of the Abbey Church, Valle Crucis

Once completed it housed sixty brethren and 20 choir monks. There were also 40 lay-members who worked in the fields and carried out the day-to-day duties.

A cloister sits next to the main church.

Cloister, Valle Crucis

Between them is what might be termed a Chapter House….

Chapter House, Valle Crucis

….from where a flight of stairs…

Stone stairs, Valle Crucis

…takes you up to a loft where they have a magnificent collection of carved gravestones.

Carved Gravestone, Valle Crucis

The finest of them bears a faded Latin inscription round the lion shield: + HIC IACET : MA/DOC’ : FIL’ : GRIFINI : DCI : VYCHAN – here lies Madog son of Gruffudd also called Fychan. Gruffudd Fychan II, as he appears on the regnal list, was the great-grandson of the founder of the abbey and the last ruler of the Kingdom of Powys (1283-c1309), by then very much a vassal state. His was also the great-grandfather of Owain Glyndŵr whose long if ultimately unsuccessful rebellion led to him claiming to be Prince of Wales from 1400 to 1415.

The Abbey dissolved itself in 1537 when Henry VIII did not think it rich enough to bother with. After that it had a chequered career, as a ruin, a manor house and a farm before finally being rescued by CADW.

And having seen Valle Crucis, we went home.

Lynne's Birthday Jaunts

2018: Harrogate

2019: Forest of Dean

2021: Liverpool

2022: Newtown

2023: Dee Valley

2024: Caernafon

Caernafon and Seguntium (coming soon)

Tuesday, 5 September 2023

Pontcysyllte and Chirk: Dee Valley Part 1

A Thomas Telford Aqueduct and a Much Changed Medieval Castle

Where are we Going, and Why are we Going There?


Wales
Wrexham
I am unsure if Lynne has entirely lost her Welsh accent, she certainly sounded Welsh when we first met, but 1974 was a long time ago. In those days I sounded noticeably London (or, more precisely, Slough), but that has faded after five decades in the English Midlands.

Despite long absence, our roots are in Wales. At 15, Lynne left Cardiff for Solihull when her father relocated from Cardiff to his employer's Birmingham Office. I left Porthcawl for Southampton before my third birthday when my father went to work at Fawley Oil Refinery. He moved to head office in London in 1955, settling the family in Iver in Buckinghamshire, which accounted for my London twang - which survived an expensive education.

The reason for this pre-amble is that tomorrow is Lynne’s birthday, and to celebrate we are heading (not for the first time) for a short break in the Principality. It was not a long trek, our first stop, at Trevor, is only 35 miles from home, as the crow flies, about 70 minutes as the car drives - the roads are not fast, and the route is not straight.

The County Borough of Wrexham and its position in Wales
Map by Nilfanian (with additions) includes ordinance survey data (crown copyright) reproduced under CC-BY-SA 3.0

Trevor

Trevor is a compact village of some 1,440 people within the County Borough of Wrexham but separated by green fields (for the moment, at least) from the urban sprawl south of the city - Wrexham was awarded city status in September 2022.

Sitting on the edge of the Dee Valley, some way above the river, Trevor has strategic importance. Offa’s Dyke, the 82-mile-long earthwork built by King Offa of Mercia (reigned 757-786) to keep out the marauding Welsh runs past Trevor, as does the Llangollen Canal built just over a thousand years later to link together those whom Offa was so keen to keep apart.

Trevor canal basin

Originally just a branch of the Shropshire Union canal, the Llangollen Canal runs from Nantwich in Cheshire to just west of Llangollen. As the commercial value of the Shropshire Union waned, the touristic vale of the Llangollen Canal waxed. 11 miles of the canal, from Chirk to Llangollen form a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the main reason for that starts (or finishes) at Trevor.

Pontcysyllte

Building the short northbound section between Chirk and Trevor involved crossing two rivers. The Ceiriog just outside Chirk required a small aqueduct, while the much deeper Dee Valley required more thought. Various work-arounds were considered, but in the end Chief Engineer William Jessop decided to grasp the nettle and attempt one long, tall aqueduct. He asked Thomas Telford, the greatest road and canal engineer of the late 18th and early 19th centuries to make it happen.

The foundation stone of what was to become the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was laid in 1795 and by 1805, using only the strength and power of men and horses, it was finished. By walking to the end of the Trevor canal basin anyone could survey one of the greatest engineering feats of the age. Indeed, anyone still can, so we did.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

They put the canal in a cast iron trough, 1007 feet long, 11 ft 10 ins wide and 3 ft 3 ins deep. And that (307m x 3.6m x 1.0m in proper units) was just big enough for the standard narrowboats that plied the canals 200+ years ago, and still do today.

A narrow boat completes the crossing, Pontcysyllte

Behind the narrowboat, like ducklings following their mother, was a flotilla of kayaks.

Followed by a flotilla of kayaks.

19th century, narrowboats did not move themselves, they and their one or two barges had to be pulled by a horse, so a towpath was required for Dobbin to plod along. Obviously, traffic across Pontcysyllte was one way at a time, so only one tow path was required – and it now provides a walk way for tourists.

Lynne sets out along the towpath

The aqueduct has 18 piers, and at river level they are 126 feet (38 metres) high - not including the ironwork. The view from a boat is more dramatic, there being no railings and your feet may possibly be above what little parapet there is. From the safety of the towpath, however, the Dee is a delightful river, winding its way through verdant woodland…

The River Dee winding through verdant woodland

…but like all such rivers it has short stretches of turbulence.

Turbulence on the River Dee

Horses never had to pass each other on the towpath, but humans do, which can be a careful process for those whom age has rendered less confident of their balance – and on a working day, after schools have re-started, such people may be in the majority.

There are no passing places on the towpath

As we discovered 11 years ago in Myanmar, once you have reached the end of U Bein's magnificent teak bridge, there is nothing to do but turn round and come back. And so it was here

Once you have reached far end, there is nothing to do but turn round and come back

The Llangollen Canal, Failure and Success

Despite Telford’s genius, the Llangollen branch was not a success. The plan was to continue north to industrial Wrexham where a new reservoir would keep it topped up, but that never happened. Canals were creatures of the industrial revolution, they could move fuel, raw materials or finished products in bulk cheaper, faster and safer than horses and carts, but they cost money to build, and sometimes the money ran out. The canals modern success with tourists would have bemused the industrialists of Ruabon and Brymbo who profited little from their investment, but perhaps Thomas Telford should be pleased his work is still appreciated.

At Trevor the canal turns west following the line of the Dee to Llangollen. Although no longer navigable, it continues westwards until meeting the river at the Horseshoe Falls, which keep it topped up. We would visit the falls on Thursday, but this is the appropriate place for the photograph. The falls are well signed, but it is unclear why, the word ‘underwhelming’ hardly does them justice.

The Horseshoe Falls at Niagara are a little bigger

All surviving canals are leisure facilities, but they still attract interesting feats of engineering. As an imaginative – and perhaps over-elaborate - solution to an old problem, The Falkirk Wheel – see the Falkirk post – takes some beating.

Pronouncing Pontcysyllte

The word looks forbidding and is not easy on a tongue tuned only to English. English readers will (or should) spot the problems immediately, Americans, (this blog’s largest group of visitors) might, not unreasonably, feel bewildered. Syllables one and three are stressed and the pronunciation is roughly PONT–kih-SILL-ter. Simple, except the double LL, is a ‘voiceless lateral fricative.’ And if that means as little to you as it does to me, go to Google Translate, write We arrived at Pontcysyllte, translate into Welsh and listen.

Pontcysyllte to Chirk

On the short journey to Chirk (pronounced: Chirk) we crossed the bridge over the Dee shown in one of aqueduct photos, and enjoyed the view from the valley bottom.

Pontcysyllte from the River Dee bridge

Chirk (Y Waun in Welsh) is a border town of some 4,500 people 3 miles south of Trevor. It was a colliery town, until the last pit closed in 1949.

Chirk Castle

We did not visit Chirk, but went straight to Chirk Castle a mile to the west.

Chirk Castle History

Lovely vistas abound around Chirk and its castle. Unfortunately, after walking up from the main car park, the visitor’s first proper views of the castle involves a lot of bins.

Chirk Castle waste disposal area

Fortunately, better views are not hard to find.

Chirk Castle

Fyvie Castle, started 1211
Is Chirk a medieval castle transformed into a country house, like Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire, or a country house like Castle Drogo in Devon, made to resemble a castle on a whim of a rich man? As most English castles were slighted after the Civil War ended (1651), it could well be the latter, but the location tells another story. The castle is half a mile from the English/Welsh border a fault line that much occupied King Edward I. The first Chirk Castle castle was built in 1295 on Edward’s instructions and became the administrative centre for the Marcher Lordship of Chirkland.
Castle Drogo, started 1910
Whether there was ever a keep or a curtain wall, I do not know, but it does not seem to have seen action.

Border problems became history and in 1593, the castle was bought by Sir Thomas Myddelton, a wealthy self-made merchant who wished to turn the castle into a family home. To that end, he inserted the first mullioned and transomed windows, thus acknowledging the castle was no longer a military stronghold.

His son, another Thomas supported Parliament in the Civil War, but became a Royalist in 1659 in plenty of time for the Restoration of the Monarchy, when he was allowed to repair the Civil War damage.

The castle remained in the Myddelton family until ownership was transferred to the National Trust in 1981.

Inside Chirk Castle

Inside the walls is a large courtyard, partly occupied in part by the café. The rooms of the castle surround the courtyard and the visit starts in the Cromwell Room. They are proud of their collection of Civil War muskets….

The Cromwell Room, Chirk Castle

… but there are also leather bottles…

Leather bottle, Cromwell Room, Chirk Castle

…and hats which have more peaceful uses.

Hats, Cromwell Room, Chirk Castle

We ascended the stairs….

The stairs, Chirk Castle

… and mounted at the top is what appears to be a hollow log.

Part of London's first clean water supply

The plaque underneath informed us that this is a relic of London’s first clean water supply. Between 1609 and 1613 the New River Company built a 61km pipeline to London from springs in Hertfordshire and this section of piping was unearthed at Clerkenwell in 1895. The project engineer had been Sir Hugh Myddelton.

Next door is a drawing room which looks supremely elegant. Unfortunately, it does not look supremely comfortable, nor supremely warm in the winter, nor particularly light when the sun sets…

Elegant drawing room, Chirk Castle

…but that was 18th century life for the rich – it was much worse for the poor, and they could never gaze up at a ceiling like this.

Sumptuous ceiling, Chirk Castle

We went through to the long gallery. Every house had to have a long gallery in the 17th and 18th centuries, and this one is as long as most.

Long Gallery, Chirk Castle

It is also full of treasures, none finer than the King’s Box, a gift from Charles II after the Restoration. It is made of ebony with inlays of tortoiseshell and ivory.

The King's Box, Chirk Castle long gallery

In 1631, Sir Thomas Myddelton handed the castle over to his son. Back downstairs we saw the room described at the time as Sir Thomas Myddelton, his owne room.

It looks Spartan to the 21st century eye, but it was well furnished at the time and included Sir Thomas’ ‘Great Bedstead.’ With its curtaines valance and curtaine Rods, featherbed, bolster, I pillowe, 1 Blankett. one Tapestrie covering. It was valued at 3 pounds, 10 shillings, maybe £1,000 now.

Thomas Myddelton, his owne room

Next door, the stucco in the Magistrates Court is the only surviving pre-Civil War decoration. It was never a courtroom, but derives its name from the plaster figure over the fireplace, presumed to be a personification of Justice.

Pre-Civil War representation of Justice (maybe), Magistrates Court

Outside the Castle

Outside there is a formal garden, which has changed since 1920, but is still recognisable…

Formal Garden, Chirk Castle, photographed 1920

…and beyond drifts of flowers and views into the green Welsh hinterland.

Informal garden, Chirk Castle

Leaving Chirk we headed for Llangollen.

Llangollen


Denbighshire
Llangollen is a town of almost 4,000, 3½ miles up the Dee from Pontcysyllte. It is the main feature of the next post, so here I will only observe that it has two of those testing double ells. Best bet for the uninitiated is to pronounce ‘ll’ as if it were ‘thl’ (this does not work for Pontcysyllte because it lacks a vowel after the ‘ll’). An evenly stressed Thlan-goth-len is an acceptable approximation to Llangollen.

We checked into our hotel and then walked beside the Dee, a popular place on a September evening pretending to be still summer.

The Dee at Llangollen

Dining in Llangollen

We intended to eat at the Corn Mill as it had been recommended by a neighbour for its food and its open-air riverside dining space. Perhaps predictably, it was fully booked. A nearby alternative had a sign on the bar saying ‘Cash Only.’ Amazed that such a place should exist in 2023, we set out to find an ATM or another restaurant, whichever came first. For a moment I feared a re-run of last year’s Newtown debacle, but Llangollen, though smaller, receives many more visitors and has many more restaurants.

Fauzi’s Café Bar and Pizzeria was a brightly lit café just across Castle Street. Lynne chose scampi and chips, because sometimes she feels nostalgia for the 1970s. Her only regret was that it had not been served in a basket.

Scampi, Fauzi's, Llangollen

I had smoked haddock and prawn risotto, the poached fish sitting on a poached egg atop a well-made risotto with a rich seafood flavour. I liked it a lot.

Haddock and Prawn Risotto, Fauzi's, Llangollen

We drank an inexpensive but robust Italian white and felt pleased with our choices, and our day

Lynne's Birthday Jaunts

2018: Harrogate

2019: Forest of Dean

2021: Liverpool

2022: Newtown

2023: Dee Valley

2024: Caernafon

Caernafon and Seguntium (coming soon)