Yesterday we decided to check out Abergavenny as this is where Pete's grandmother was from. Such a lovely town with a wonderful market. It was a 'proper' locals market not one of these arty farty ones with exorbitant prices that claim to be town markets. Anyway we also took a trip to the castle and a sweet little museum. I love the Welsh National Costume. I got my granddaughters some little aprons but have yet to find the tall hats in their size. I got Bobby a flat cap that he will look really cute in.
Some of the locals had knitted/crocheted squares that had been sewn together and wrapped around trees in a 'knit the community together' project. So colourful, fabulous idea.
We then went on to Raglan Castle, which really is worth a visit. The original castle was partly destroyed by the Parliamentarians but enough of the castle remains so that you can see what a magnificent place it must have been. A walk up to the top of the great tower via a narrow, stone spiral staircase results in stunning views across the Black Mountains. I recently treated myself to a digital SLR camera and have been playing with that for a lot of the holiday. Unfortunately, I have to wait until I get home to put all my photos on to the laptop, so I can only show you some photos here that I took with my phone. I will post some of the mountains on my return, until then you have to take my word about how beautiful the mountains are or google it!
Raglan Castle. What impressed me was that you could see all the many fireplaces at all three levels, the poor servants must have spent all their winter days just keeping the fires going to keep the place warm. The size and grandeur of the fireplaces also depended on which room they were in, the differences fascinated me as you got a good sense about the use of individual rooms and the people who lived there.
Today we are off to Blackwood in the mountains to visit Pete's Aunt. But I have to go now as Pete has just said that my breakfast is ready, veggie sausages, beans and toast. It's hard work this camping lark!
Dear me Fran, you visited Raglan and you omitted to mention the worldwide sleeve known as the Raglan sleeve and next you will forget about that well known article of the Welsh winter clothing called the Cardigan. Good job I'm here to keep the teacher on track , you have obviously relaxed too much :-) xxx
ReplyDeleteMel - sorry about the omission - I humbly bow to your superior knowledge ;) xxx
ReplyDeleteHaha, I did enjoy Mel"s comment. That made me chuckle! Can I add one too about the Parliamentarians being those of Oliver Cromwell's side in the English Civil War? Just in case some of your international blog pals don't know that bit of UK history ;) This is a wonderful travel blog, Fran and I'm really enjoying it. I adore Wales and am quite envious of you being there. The costumes are gorgeous too and I can't wait to see the mountains...so beautiful! Xxxx
ReplyDeleteWe have had some fab times in and around Wales. Beautiful countryside and gorgeous mountains.
ReplyDeleteVal - thank you for making that clear, I should have done. I have seen the mountains many times over the years, but they are still breath taking xxx
ReplyDeleteDC - I agree with you, we will be back soon xxx
I love visiting castles too : )
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like a hot shower on a camping trip. I remember when I was a kid camping with my parents. We would find campgrounds with showers when possible. When not, we used the two plastic tub method, wash with the water in one and rinse with the other. I still have the larger red one. - Margy
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