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llywelaTime for picspam day three of last week's little get-together of me, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nikkimisplaced and galathea_snb!
Our plan for day three was a boat trip to Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel - we'd booked our tickets for the trip weeks in advance. But barely an hour before we were due to catch the boat, the organisers phoned to tell us that the trip had been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Luckily there were three spaces available on the boat for Friday, so we were able to transfer our booking, but that left us wondering what to do with the rest of the day on Wednesday, being so suddenly left at a loose end. Having had fairly long, active trips on the previous two days, and with half the day already gone, we decided on a much more low-key outing to Caerphilly Castle, just a short journey from Cardiff. It's the largest castle in Wales and the second largest in the UK, beautifully located at the heart of a valley (with clear lines of sight across all approaching passes through the mountains - very defensible!) with a tower that leans even more than the one in Pisa! Caerphilly Castle has also been used as a filming location for Doctor Who for more than one episode, most recently the Rebel Flesh two-parter in season five.
On to the pics! Here's a view of the castle as approached from behind (because that's where the car park is)
So you have to walk all the way around to get to bridge that crosses the moat to take you to the entrance
Got to admit, I was rather taken by the double moat
The gatehouse was restored by the Marquis of Bute in the 19th century and is thus in considerably better shape than the rest of the castle - very imposing
The Great Hall is also intact
The rest of the castle is a ruin, having been slighted and left to wrack and ruin during and after the Civil War - but you can still see in those ruins traces of the upper floors and rooms that were once there, an echo of those long-ago days when the castle wasn't a mere monument to the past but was actually lived in, bustling with life and activity
The leaning tower as seen from the inside - apparently there is some debate over whether the tower is leaning because of damage inflicted by the Parliamentary army during the Civil War or simply due to subsidance!
The view from way up on the gatehouse towers is fantastic
Just outside the main castle wall is a second wall, just the perfect height and depth for lounging on and way more comfortable than a stone wall has any business being!
Plus, the view even from this relatively low point is amazing
It was at this point that Nikki and I decided that when we win the lottery and become billionnaires, we have to either buy this castle or have one built in its image (only with mod cons)!
On the way out, past the first circle of castle walls but still within the outer perimeter, lie the remains of more buildings - further evidence of what a bustling, thriving community this once was
Plus, the outer gatehouse also has a tower, offering a good view of both the leaning tower and the crumbled remains of its twin
Plus it's got this amazing window ledge, which again is just the perfect depth to lounge on - and again is more comfortable than stone has any right to be!
So, you know, that settles it - if I ever had a castle, I'd want it to be modelled on Caerphilly!
And that was day three of Chris and Nikki's visit - I'll be back soon with the next instalment!
nikkimisplaced and galathea_snb!Our plan for day three was a boat trip to Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel - we'd booked our tickets for the trip weeks in advance. But barely an hour before we were due to catch the boat, the organisers phoned to tell us that the trip had been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Luckily there were three spaces available on the boat for Friday, so we were able to transfer our booking, but that left us wondering what to do with the rest of the day on Wednesday, being so suddenly left at a loose end. Having had fairly long, active trips on the previous two days, and with half the day already gone, we decided on a much more low-key outing to Caerphilly Castle, just a short journey from Cardiff. It's the largest castle in Wales and the second largest in the UK, beautifully located at the heart of a valley (with clear lines of sight across all approaching passes through the mountains - very defensible!) with a tower that leans even more than the one in Pisa! Caerphilly Castle has also been used as a filming location for Doctor Who for more than one episode, most recently the Rebel Flesh two-parter in season five.
On to the pics! Here's a view of the castle as approached from behind (because that's where the car park is)
So you have to walk all the way around to get to bridge that crosses the moat to take you to the entrance
Got to admit, I was rather taken by the double moat
The gatehouse was restored by the Marquis of Bute in the 19th century and is thus in considerably better shape than the rest of the castle - very imposing
The Great Hall is also intact
The rest of the castle is a ruin, having been slighted and left to wrack and ruin during and after the Civil War - but you can still see in those ruins traces of the upper floors and rooms that were once there, an echo of those long-ago days when the castle wasn't a mere monument to the past but was actually lived in, bustling with life and activity
The leaning tower as seen from the inside - apparently there is some debate over whether the tower is leaning because of damage inflicted by the Parliamentary army during the Civil War or simply due to subsidance!
The view from way up on the gatehouse towers is fantastic
Just outside the main castle wall is a second wall, just the perfect height and depth for lounging on and way more comfortable than a stone wall has any business being!
Plus, the view even from this relatively low point is amazing
It was at this point that Nikki and I decided that when we win the lottery and become billionnaires, we have to either buy this castle or have one built in its image (only with mod cons)!
On the way out, past the first circle of castle walls but still within the outer perimeter, lie the remains of more buildings - further evidence of what a bustling, thriving community this once was
Plus, the outer gatehouse also has a tower, offering a good view of both the leaning tower and the crumbled remains of its twin
Plus it's got this amazing window ledge, which again is just the perfect depth to lounge on - and again is more comfortable than stone has any right to be!
So, you know, that settles it - if I ever had a castle, I'd want it to be modelled on Caerphilly!
And that was day three of Chris and Nikki's visit - I'll be back soon with the next instalment!
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Date: 2011-08-18 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-18 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-18 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-19 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-18 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-19 02:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-19 01:45 pm (UTC)Why yes, I do rather like Caerphilly Castle! How did you guess?
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Date: 2011-08-19 02:13 pm (UTC)We also thought that if CADW weren't willing to sell, we might just have our own castle constructed in its image, possibly on Flatholm (because: built-in moat!)
And we could host all kinds of fabulous parties! And we'd have speedboats. And...well, we came up with all kinds of fabulous ideas for what we'd do with our castle. Just need that multi-billion pound win on the lottery now...*G*
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Date: 2011-08-20 09:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 11:56 am (UTC)Just a thought... do any of you actually do the lottery? I too have Plans for when I win the jackpot, but for that I'd have to buy a ticket...
That nice man at Reader's Digest keeps writing to me to tell me how much he'd like me to win his prize draw. I wish he'd just get on with it and send me the money!
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Date: 2011-08-23 02:42 pm (UTC)I do buy lottery tickets very occasionally, if I remember and am in the mood. I won a whole £2.50 once...
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Date: 2011-08-19 07:08 pm (UTC)P.S. The Great Hall looks like it would be FREEZING in the colder months. Brrrr....
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Date: 2011-08-19 08:18 pm (UTC)The Great Hall has an enormous fireplace. But yes, it would have been pretty chilly!
no subject
Date: 2011-08-23 12:05 pm (UTC)