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North Wales – an ancient land of castles, craggy mountains and deep mines, it is a corner of Britain yet to be discovered by overseas visitors. Welsh is spoken locally but everyone also speaks English and signs are bilingual. My biggest challenge was pronouncing names of towns such as Pwllheli, Llangollen or Betws-y-Coed (pronounced Betoos-ah-Coyd).
North Wales – A Land of Mountains and Mines
Angelica2006-04-05 12:36:34
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North Wales – an ancient land of castles, craggy mountains and deep mines, it is a corner of Britain yet to be discovered by overseas visitors. Welsh is spoken locally but everyone also speaks English and signs are bilingual. My biggest challenge was pronouncing names of towns such as Pwllheli, Llangollen or Betws-y-Coed (pronounced Betoos-ah-Coyd).
Having allocated five days to ‘do’ North Wales, we began our circular trip from Chester which abuts the English/Welsh border. Our first overnight was in the little town of Llangollen which nestles in a deep mountain valley carved out by the River Dee. Absorbing the ambience, we wandered across its Gothic bridge, indulged in a poke of hot off-the-griddle Welsh cakes and watched families taking horse-drawn narrowboat trips along the picturesque Llangollen Canal of Thomas Telford repute. I relished the quiet scene because I knew it would soon change when thousands of visitors would descend upon the town for the annual International Music Eisteddfod in early July.
Our evening entertainment was to be in Ruthin Castle, a half-hour drive north past Valle Crucis Abbey, a beautiful Cisterian monastery. Now a hotel, Ruthin Castle is famous for its mediaeval banquets. Several evenings a week, the townspeople don costumes and provide musical entertainment for today’s modern pilgrims. With bibs tucked round our necks, goblets of mead at the ready and a dagger in our hands, we dined to the accompaniment of a melodic Welsh choir and harpist. Our ‘removes’ otherwise known as ‘courses’ included Welsh lamb and a syllabub of fruit, cream and wine. On departure, we discovered to our chagrin that the heavens had opened and within ten minutes of driving, we were completely lost. However, there’s an angel around every corner and ours turned out to be the local police who were hiding behind a high hedge on the lookout for speedsters. Standing with my now soggy map, I asked for directions back to Llangollen.
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