Exploring Edward I’s iron ring of castles, an ornate home and a spectacular garden
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: Sue Hughes
At the tender age of seven I contracted tuberculosis. As a part of a rather, now I think about it, brutal recovery, my parents had taken me to Dolgellau to stay with a friend of theirs who was warden of the youth hostel there.
Whilst there, we walked to Harlech following the medieval packhorse route over the Roman steps. It was then I got my first view of the castle. Now 70 years later it was high time to revisit that same castle.
As we headed north from our home in Cambridgeshire, I could hardly contain my excitement. I couldn’t help but wonder how much of Harlech I would remember and I was equally looking forward to exploring more of the Edward I’s castles.
Our research informed us that after the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Welsh were none too pleased to be under the thumb of the conquerors. By the early twelfth century the Norman king, Edward I, saw the need to quell the ‘troublesome’ Welsh who, under the leadership of Llywelyn, Prince of Wales, naturally wanted their lands back. Edward’s answer was to build a series of fortresses across the land.
So, it was with a sense of adventure that we set off to do some castle ‘bagging’ and to better understand the reason behind the building of so many castles. After all, we had explored the world in our motorhome, Nicolle, but didn’t really know many parts of our own fair lands.
Naturally, we started our trip with a visit to Harlech Castle, which had been built on the edge of a then 61m coastal bluff. The castle is an impressive site, especially when viewed from the Brit Stop situated directly below on land that had previously been sea.
We puffed and panted our way up Ffordd Pen Llech, one of the disputed steepest streets in the world, to reach the castle entrance. A few years previously, when motorhoming around New Zealand, we had walked up Baldwin Street in Dunedin, which also claims to be the steepest street in the world. Having now walked up both (and down again), our leg muscles tell us which is the steeper of the two, but who are we to argue with the experts?
With the catchy tune, Men of Harlech, which was playing in the visitor centre, in our heads, we set out to explore this castle, which, if I was honest, I don’t remember at all from all those years ago, although I vividly remember the strenuous walk to get there!
Walking aroun
