North Wales

[poliphilo]

We've been in North Wales for the past couple of days. 

Here's the castle at Flint- a melancholy ruin on marshy land beside the Dee estuary. It was the first of the big castles Edward I built in his attempt to extend his empire into Wales. 



And here's the view across the estuary, with England on the horizon.

Comments

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

These are beautiful - as usual. I love your travel photgraphs.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks. There are more to come.

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

I look forward to seeing them

[amritarosa.livejournal.com]

Looking at your pictures of Wales (and seeing more pictures of St David's Isle of the places near their home in the Three Ginger Cats blog) makes me want to come there for a holiday. Especially in autumn. A week or two of hot-tea mornings and long walks, writing and carving through the rest of the day, meandering about...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That sounds really nice.

Wales is overwhelmingly rural- miles and miles and miles of nothing but hills and sheep.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

a melancholy ruin

Yes, it looks like its brooding.

I need to get the atlas out and see exactly where you´ve been. I love locating things on maps.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've now visited the south coast and the north coast- which leaves the vast, sparsely populated bit in the middle still to explore.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

I envision Wales as being rather harsh and remote, even if it isn't. Your pictures are great.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Wales isn't exactly remote, but it's different. One thing you notice immediately is how all the road signs are bilingual. Flint is only an hour's drive from where we live but feels like a foreign country.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

You have certainly enlarged my outlook!

[goddlefrood.livejournal.com]

It was the first of the big castles Edward I built in his attempt to extend his empire into Wales.

He didn't do too badly as it turned out either. I suppose the Welsh might think otherwise. Still independent, aren't they?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. Very independent. Aggressively so.

[goddlefrood.livejournal.com]

Indeed, many of them are. Once in Aberystwyth I was playing pool with the vice-president of the Welsh pool association. He was being handsomely thrashed, but suddenly changed the rules to suit himself and won. Having at that time been a sympathiser with the EBF it wasn't easy to avert some new invasion. Happily I remembered my Irish side and all was well once they accepted that their beer was foul.

When in England I've never lived further than about 20 miles from the border. The centre of Wales is well worth a bit of exploration, if you go take hiking boots.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The Welsh heartland is completely unknown territory to me. I've nibbled at the Marches and the northern edge and the southern edge but that's it. I'll admit (as a person who has always lived in densely populated areas) to being slightly intimidated by that great mass of hills.

[goddlefrood.livejournal.com]

A little closer to your home, why not try Alderley Edge, there's a lovely trail there and the end view is well worth the effort.

The Cheshire Plain goes on and on from the lookout points up at the Edge and Wales is visible quite easily on a clear day. The centre of Wales is chock full of little villages; you might even come across some interesting medieval and earlier architecture, which you seem fond of.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah, I know Alderley Edge well; it's one of my favourite places. Magical

[fickleasever.livejournal.com]

Beautiful. The top one's very atmospheric.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks