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Friday 2 September, northern Wales, Portmeirion

Great Britain 2005 - part XIV

Elisabeth & Teije
2006-08-27 12:32:58

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Great, the sun is shining when we go outside! The owners of the hotel wave us out when we leave, but we only drive a very short distance: on a narrow, 25% steep road through the village to the castle that we could see from our hotel room window last night. In a sharp curve we meet a large truck and after some turning and driving back we can pass each other.

As many castles in Wales, this one is build by the English king Edward I who tried to control Wales in this way, by building castle son their own territory and putting English soldiers in them. The Welshmen consider these castles as a symbol for English oppression and not monuments they are proud of.

Teije starts to glow when he sees this sign, we haven't seen a road so steep until now, but I forbid him to drive it with our car! It is my car as well, and I am sure this is bad for the engine. We had troubles getting up on 30% roads, so this is not for us, at least not with the nice car we have now. And, believe it or not, this time he listens to me...

Via Porthmadog we arrive at Portmeirion, a very special village, designed and build by the architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, who bouhght the whole area in 1925. He mixed all different building styles from several time periods and the result is a large estate with a somewhat kitschy center. Not the way we would buid it (but we are not architects), but very nice to spend to walk through.

We walk over the beach and through the large gardens that have been constructed by the daugther of the architect. The village is situated next to a beautiful bay and we have a great view. Off course, the whole estate has been turned into a sort of amusement park and the entrance fee is £ 5,50. It is even possible to rent apartments in the village, but especially in the hight season that can be quite expensive.

The purpose of the architect was to show that it is possible to build on a spot of natural beauty without ...