Part 7

Our drive to Cardigan passed uneventfully, with a nice road, not too much traffic and peeps of the coastline. We located a parking area right near the centre of town and parked the old girl trying to take up as little space as possible haha. Cardigan and its Castle have been around since about 1176, situated on the banks of the Afon Teifi (Afon meaning River in Welsh). Cardigan grew to  become a centre for maritime trade, but as with all places like this the introduction of steam and rail diminished its usefulness. Today the Castle and some walls are still standing and the Guildhall is still in use. We had hoped again to find some traditional Welsh crafts in the Craft Centre in the Guildhall, but we were disappointed. 

 

Guildhall in Cardigan 

 

Cardigan River and old warehouses 

On the road again we passed some lovely coast on our route North, we got slightly lost in the middle of Aberystwyth (we have no idea how to pronounce that one). But continued North to Snowdonia National Park. This area of Wales is very much like Scotland to the untrained eye. If you asked a Geologist or a Mountain Climber they are probably totally different. But again we loved it, the terrain was rugged and the hill/mountain tops were bare of trees, hinting at the snow coverage in winter. Snowdonia is the home of Slate, in the 1800's becoming the worlds largest exporter of Slate for roofing, Slate boards for schools and flooring. As you drive through the area you can see large waste piles of the slate from the mining operations, as well as the mountains themselves calving off Slate rubble with erosion. This area is well known for its Mountain climbing, Mt Snowdon is the tallest Mountain in England (but not the tallest in the United Kingdom), and the other peaks in the area are quite spectacular.We passed many lay-bys on the road choked with the cars of the climbers, and you could spot people up on the tops or struggling up the slopes of these peaks, not my cup of tea. 

 

North west Wales

 

Slate waste piles

 

Snowdonia National Park.

There was no where suitable to stay in Snowdonia and the roads again were quite narrow, so we decided to base ourselves in Bangor for a couple of nights. Our first night Wednesday 2nd of November was at a pub of course. The next day we nipped into Bangor and parked up at Port Penhryn for the day so we could explore the city. Bangor was founded in c525 by Deiniol who built a wattle fence (a Bangor) and founded a church on the site. Bangor now boasts the oldest church in England with the current church being built in about the 1300's, this has been altered and rebuilt over the centuries to what it is today. The Garth pier in Bangor used to be a big draw card in years gone by, think "Didn't we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor". It fell into disrepair and was closed in 1971and slated for demolition, but the Bangor City Council purchased the pier for 1p and obtained a Grade II listing, it is considered to be one of the three finest pier structures in Great Britain. A renovation of the pier was completed in 1982 and it was reopened for public use. During the summer months it would be hiving with tourists and all the stalls would be open, but in Autumn it was quiet, with the old gentleman selling crab fishing sets and the cafe right at the end being the only stalls open. While we were there a bus load of Ladies from Yorkshire arrived, I got chatting to them and they were from Ilkley Moor Baht'at, I said I was from New Zealand and I had heard a song about Ilkley Moor Baht'at sung by a gentleman in my theatre group who was from Yorkshire, they seemed quite chuffed. 

 

Bangor Pier 

 

Bangor Pier.

 

Bangor Cathedral 

We wandered further into Bangor town, heading to the Museum where we found a small but quite surprising array of Welsh items, and also a Kakapo of all things. The Ladies at the desk were speaking Welsh so it was lovely to just stand and listen to them, a very musical language. Bangor Cathedral was next and then up to the High Street in search of the Wetherspoons for lunch. We then wandered back to the camper, buying some hiking poles at a bargain price on the way. Paul went and asked if we could stay for just one night in the Port car park, they agreed. It then started to rain, so we hunkered down in the camper watching the activity at the Port. 

 

Bangor Cathedral 

Friday the 4th saw us on the road again, this time heading to a campsite. We left Bangor at just after 9 am hoping to miss the heavy going to work traffic, we set off east towards Conwy our first stop for groceries. We had noticed on the map that there was a Castle at Conwy, so we programmed in a car park we had located near the Castle entrance. We negotiated the motorhome to our waypoint, but thankfully a very kind gentleman came over and informed us that no campers were allowed in the car park, we had missed that sign, apparently the parking warden was very hot on the subject. The gentleman advised us that there was a long stay carpark for buses and motorhomes over the other side of the Castle wall. So we reprogrammed Helga and she set us on our course, this involved going through the castle walls at 3 seperate gates/archways, this became close quarters driving, wing mirror in and slowly does it (we can only pull one mirror in as the other one is smashed and duck taped).Parked up safely we set out to explore. Unfortunately the Castle was shut for the winter but we could walk most of the city walls, and explore the little town within the walls. It was built in circa1284 by King Edward I, as part of a line of defensive Castles to deal to the pesky Welsh. From the Castle walls and ramparts you got a unique perspective of the town within, a maze of narrow streets and alleyways, all looking very old and careworn, with TV aerials bristling out of the rooftops. We had ventured about half way around the wall when a squall came through, so we sheltered in one of the round towers till it passed. The Castle is set right beside the river Conwy and has a small Harbour where they were selling mussels, the small black variety not our monster greenlip ones. It looked like more rain so I headed back to the camper while Paul went for more photos. We then had to brave the narrow archways to extract ourselves from the walled town, but once out it was off to the campsite. The North West of Wales is now one of the prime tourist areas in Great Britain along with Scotland, this is because of the Snowdonia region. People over here are really into mountain climbing and finding the great outdoors, perhaps that is because the great outdoors is harder to find here. 

 

The Castle at Conwy over the bristling antennas.

 

Top of the Castle walls or barbican

 

The town inside the Castle.

 

The Barbican surrounding the town

 

River Conwy

Coming here has made me realise how very, very lucky we are in New Zealand and Australia to have expanses of great outdoors to explore without having another 1000 people doing it with you. To the Brits, going into a forest with another 20 people is like exploring unmanned territory. Perhaps I am being a bit harsh, but we had heard how remote and removed northern Scotland was, even in Autumn the off season, there were motorhomes, campers, trucks and cars, no remoteness that we could see. 

St Asalph was our stop, at the Rhualt Country Park, sounds a bit flash eh. Was just a camp ground with a big tin shed, insulated and with heated floors for the amenities block, but it had showers and water and toilet disposal. The rain started so we turned on the TV and had a quiet night in, we use the TV at campsites as we can plug into the mains power . We had a good nights sleep but it turned cold in the morning with a good breeze that made it even colder. Winter has got a bit closer and the next few days will be hard, but we are prepared for it...hopefully.