Yesterday, we headed north. Our first stop was Coed y Brenin, a place where hikers can choose to do any number of bush walks. We chose the shortest one - one mile long. Sophie stayed in the visitors centre while the rest of us, Harvey included, followed the heavily wooded, mossy trail, whose main features were pine trees and a narrow, slow moving river. A mile later, we joined Sophie for lunch in the visitors centre. Jean and I had Tarw burgers, whose beef is sourced from local Welsh Black cattle.
On we drove to Harlech Castle, an excellent castle ruin set against the dramatic skyline of Snowdonia. Harlech, a World Heritage site and one of Wales' most famous castles, was built over six years in the 1290s at the behest of the English King Edward I whose mission was the subjugation of both Wales and Scotland.
We enjoyed roaming around inside, acknowledging the former roles played by various rooms such as the Great Hall, the Chapel, as well as climbing the stairs inside the gatehouse which contained the most important rooms. Jess, Sam and I especially enjoyed walking the wallwalks all the way around the top of the castle's four inner walls, which offered impressive views of the coast and nearby mountains. When Harlech was built, the sea was much closer than today. Our high point was climbing the 143 steps to the top of the southwest turret of the gatehouse. We naughtily stepped through a safety barrier here for a better selfie.
From the ground, peering up through the level-less floors of the gatehouse, Sophie and I noticed that one chimney from a lower floor passed behind the chimney of a higher floor. Inspecting Harlech's ruins reminded me just a little of the experience in 2012 of viewing the ruin of a small castle in present-day Poland connected to my family history.
Looking towards the western inner wall.
Sam on the southern wallwalk
Standing atop the southwestern turret of the gatehouse, or highest point possible for today's visitor. Against the northern inner wall is the Chapel.
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