Wales and Harlech Castle

 Dear Gentle Reader

Today we went to the Llandudno SDA Church (don't ask me to pronounce it) for Sabbath worship. The internet said the main service started at 11.30 but when we got there we found it didn't start till 12.10pm after Sabbath School. Sabbath School went over time and didn't finish till 12.15pm. At this point we realised that if we stayed till 1.30pm when it finished, we would be very late to our destination, so we reluctantly left after Sabbath School finished. It was a very traditional church singing only hymns and only had about 20 people in attendance. They met in a Methodist church and were very welcoming.

It was much cooler today, thank goodness so we drove to Harlech Castle, another of Edward I constructions. The drive there was very scenic with high hills covered in verdant greenery and dotted here and there with sheep. Like Switzerland, photos cannot capture the grandeur of the scenery. Of course there were the usual towns with very narrow streets, some requiring waiting until cars coming the other way had passed before continuing.

This was our first view of Harlech Castle from the carpark. Construction started in 1283 and was completed in 1290 at the cost of £9,500 - £5 million in today's money.
 

Remember from Caernarfon Castle I bemoaned the fact that the names of the labourers who built the castle were lost to history. Well in 1963, historian Arnold Taylor published newly discovered accounts of building works so you can see the names of the craftsmen and how much they were paid. To put it into perspective when you read this list, a skilled stone mason earned about 4 pence per day, around £4 3s 4d per year. A labourer £1.5 - £2.5 per year. A sheep would cost 1-2 shillings, an oxen 10-15 shillings and a house could be bought for a few pounds. 4 pence per day wasn't rich but it was a decent income that allowed them to provide for their families.

Building a 52 foot tower cost 45s per foot for a total of £117, equivalent to 29 years salary so getting a job building a castle was a lucrative bit of work.

This is the tower we climbed by mistake, thinking it would take us to the top of the wall, but it was much higher than that.

This was the view from the top of the tower down into the castle proper.

When it was built, it was right next to the sea, but as you can see here, the sea has retreated about a kilometre.

Edward had a secret walled path from the castle down to the sea built, so the castle could still be supplied during sieges. This the Water Gate or Way of the Sea depending on who is describing it. During the siege of 1468, the Water Gate allowed the castle to hold out for years after the surrounding territory had fallen.

Talking about holding out, these are some of the cannon balls that were lobbed at the castle during one siege.

This was a fireplace to keep the occupants warm. Castles were very cold places so numerous fireplaces are found around the castle. Of course there would have been a wooden floor just below this fireplace, long gone now.

This map of the castle lets you see where everything was located.

These are typical of the stairs in every tower. Look closely at the section near the wall. Remember the stairs I displayed at Conwy Castle where they just jutted out from the wall precariously? These stairs would have been the same but you can see where modern concrete has been joined on and continued to the centre post (also not present originally). I could not imagine ascending those steps as they were originally.

And just in case you can't recall what they were like, here they are again. Which would you prefer to use?

The ever present well as everyone needed water. Not a special weapon, every castle had one. This was not as deep as the Conwy Castle one.

This is the wall surrounding the main part of the castle where defenders could stand and happily shoot at every attacker who came in range. Interestingly, you could not access any of the corner towers from this wall. You had to descend down to the bottom and go up one of those accursed spiral staircases again!

Harlech Castle is unique in that it had three sets of walls, one inside each other. Here you can see the remains of all three walls, including the one I am standing on.

Unlike the towers, the stairs down from the wall were these, still very precarious and slippery when wet. The rope would not have been there in the castle's heyday.

These stone projections are supports for the floor that used to be here. You would want to be damn sure of the carpenters who built the floors to be safe and secure!

Finally, this is a window seat where the ladies could sit and take in the view. Of course the floor would have been present then so this would not have looked so precarious.

After visiting this castle, we took the coastal route down to Aberystwyth (again, don't ask me to pronounce it - I tried and my tongue tied itself in knots). Extremely beautiful scenery on the way, Wales is certainly picturesque, somewhat like Switzerland but without the snow.

We arrived in Aberystwyth to much cooler conditions, and our hotel room has a large window we can open to let in the cool air. Another minor disaster, we had purchased a sheet to use instead of the hotel-supplied doonas, as they were much too hot to sleep under. However, yours truly left it in the hotel in Conwy, so another £19 down the drain. Along with the £15 SD card and the £28 lens hood, I have left quite a trail of expensive things behind. However in the grand scheme of things, they will matter little later on.

This is a typical street in Aberystwyth along the foreshore. They are having some sort of cycle race here over the next few days, so a lot of the streets are fenced off with these barriers you can see here.

This is the beach with grey sand and pebbles near the waterline. They need to come to Australia to see our pristine white sand beaches.

We will rest here for a couple of days.

Later on, the cycle race went right past our window, here you can see the Peloton racing past. 

The race was the Lloyds National Road Championships. Why was it held in Aberystwyth? Because it is the centre of cycling in Britain and the course is fairly level except for one steep climb.