Conwy, Wales - Day 4

Friday, June 20

Another day, another castle, this time Conwy Castle. This was also built by Edward l in the late 13th century and only took 4 years to build at a cost of 15,000 pounds (about 45 million in today's money), and is now part of a World Heritage site. The castle is in a fantastic position on the River Conwy and is built on an outcrop of rock for its foundations.

Looking over the Conwy River (in the wind)

View of Conwy town

It's located within the walls of the town of Conwy, which is one of the finest remaining medieval walled towns in Britain. Access to the town is via one of 3 bridges: the suspension bridge built in 1826 and up until 1958 was the only road bridge across the river to the town; the rail bridge built in 1858/9 and is still in use; and the road bridge is modern.

Road bridge, suspension bridge and enclosed rail bridge

 

In the castle there were towers to climb, fantastic views from the turrets, walls to walk around and rooms and corridors within the towers to explore. The royal apartments were the fanciest we've seen as this castle was the only one completely finished. Amazingly though, only 3 kings have ever stayed here in the castle's 700 year history!

The apartments inside the castle

 

The custodians of the castle have integrated some interesting works of art into the story of the castle, sometimes using similar materials to that originally used, others evoking the spirit of the Welsh and English princes and kings, while others highlighted the scenery of Northern Wales with poetry. A really good thing they have done for kids is to have a quiz card for them to fill out with clues that can be solved at various sites around the castle making it interesting for them while teaching them some history.

Noelle and friend made from beams of oak

King Edward l hovers over his Chamber

 

After exploring the castle we wandered through the town which contains the smallest house in Great Britain (it only measures 10 ft by 4 ft 2 in), a lovely square, some 14th century houses and some classy shops.

Lady in Welsh costume outside the smallest house in Great Britain

Lancaster Square in Conwy

 

It was time for a change of pace so we headed back to the seaside resort of Llandudno to visit some of the attractions we didn't have time to see yesterday. We drove up the Great Orme (the big hill overlooking the town) to see a 4,000 year old mine which is the world's largest Bronze Age mine. It was only discovered in 1987.

The Bronze Age mine on the Great Orme

While we were there we saw the cable cars going up and down from the town to the summit. The tramway opened in 1902 and was an engineering marvel of its age - it is the only cable-hauled tramway still operating on British public roads. The track is only 1500 metres long but it climbs over 200 metres in height, and it was easy to see why it was built - the gradient of the road was 20 degrees in some parts! The views from the summit were spectacular.

Al and a cable car on the Great Orme Tramway

 

Being a Friday and in a seaside resort, we couldn't go past fish and chips for dinner, and found a pub located in a renovated old theatre called The Palladium. What could be better than cod, chips and peas with a pint of ale to end another sunny day.

Inside The Palladium pub in Llandudno

 

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