Hanging in Snowdonia

Harlech castle was the plains spread out below

After the epic drive we had finally made it to north Wales, and I have to say, whilst I really like Pembrokeshire, I think I definitely have to explore this area a bit more.  It feels a lot more wild up in the north, well as wild as the UK can ever really get, which means you are maybe 40 minutes drive between tea houses, as opposed to 30 minutes elsewhere.

It's up in the north that the castles really ramp up in frequency and size, I guess because of the wildness the original inhabitants could put up more of a fight against the English than the southerners.  It's here that Edward I built some of the most famous castles, Caernarfon, Harlech, Beaumaris.

Caernarfon Castle on a rainy day

A tower on top of another tower

We stopped off at Harlech castle, didn't go inside.  It's in a great spot though, on a rocky outcrop above the massive plain stretching out below.  Apparently when the castle was built the sea actually reached the rock upon which it sat, the sea has certainly receded a lot in the intervening 800 years.

The castle that we went inside was Caernarfon, it was here that Edward II was born, and he was the first English Prince of Wales.  Since that time, 1301, this title has been held by the British monarch's eldest son.  Caernarfon was the grandest of the castles built by Edward, there were a lot of modern (for the time) ideas used in the construction.  The walls were like the walls of Constantinople, with bands of coloured rocks, and the arrow slits were actually 3 slits in one, in that 3 archers could fire through each slit at different angles.  It really looked quite impenetrable from the outside.  But inside it was never really finished.  I guess the Welsh eventually kind of gave up the fight, particularly when the Tudors claimed the throne, being partially Welsh themselves.

I think the weather in Pembrokeshire is definitely better than up north.  When we visited the castle it was absolutely bucketing down, and when we drove through Snowdonia the winds were almost gale force.  I can kind of understand how people die up there, if the weather changed and you weren't prepared than you could be in a spot of bother.  I haven't got a good feel as to how extensive the park is though, it didn't feel particularly huge, but perhaps it is possible to head off into the wilderness and not see or hear a car for a while.

The peaceful coast of north Wales

The colours were amazing there, up north I mean.  Driving back from Harlech in the dusk we had to pull over in a little town, just to watch the sun setting

I'm not sure where next in Wales, we haven't yet visited the Brecon Beacons, which is a mountain range just north of Cardiff, so maybe there next summer.  And perhaps another trip to Snowdonia, just to get out into the mountains and see how wild it really is.