When we were younger, we were time-rich but cash-poor (at least by rose-tinted recollection); whilst by no means being rich financially now, time - it seems - is increasingly harder to come by. Trips away seem to take an age to plan and notice required for everyone grows exponentially. I thought life would somehow get easier as I got older, but the reverse is true and responsibilities have simply increased. I think it was with hope, more than anything, that I was informed of (at that point an unconfirmed) trip to (north) Wales, but the great overseer had aligned everything to enable me to go. Tickets from Dublin to Holyhead were swiftly purchased, after which the sense of excitement only grew daily. It was strange standing in north Belfast at 5:00am nearly sweating in late summer/early autumn heat, conditions that felt completely counter-intuitive.
No-one had had much sleep the night before - an almost child-like sense of excitement had kept everyone awake, but on that adrenaline we were alert. The road to Dublin would be mainly motorway work, and somewhat frenetic given the need to check-in at the port 30mins prior to sailing. As we passed Newry and the Ring of Gullion the sun was rising to our left, a purple streak on the horizon that we all couldn't help but be amazed by. The air here was cooler than the rest of the journey, coming down off the mountains. We hit the outskirts of Dublin just as the early morning commuter traffic was building - a strange concept since Covid. We arrived with 2mins to spare!
The crossing was aboard the Ulysses Ferry - agreeably empty for the early morning crossing on a Thursday. The ship was in a class of its own when launched in 2000 now, though, it feels a little tired and like the set of a made-for-TV movie. The crossing was just over three hours, and we would dock in Holyhead with enough time to have a worthwhile day exploring. The weather was clear and warm as we met up the rest of our troop at The Edinburgh Castle Pub. We set off east - leaving Anglesey - initially on the A55 before turning northwards on the A5025 and B5109. These latter roads were through beautiful rolling countryside, superbly surfaced and with a myriad of twists and turns that were glorious on the bike - a sense of utter freedom.
Day One - Beaumaris and Bryn Celli Ddu
As we entered Beaumaris via Wexham Street, the streetscape tightens, presumably following the medieval layout of the town; many of the period buildings remain and the the town feels (on what was a beautiful sunny day...which always helps) picture-postcard in its quaintness and slightly 'French' in a strange way. We passed St. Mary's & St. Nicholas's medieval church (which we visited and will describe later), but our destination was the Edward I Beaumaris Castle (begun in the late 13th Century but never quite finished). For me, this was something of an epiphany moment - I had studied castles at university and the Welsh examples were lauded (rightly so), to finally see one in the flesh was memorising. The castle was the last stronghold built by 'Longshanks' as part of his 'iron-ring' in Wales.
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| Beaumaris Castle |
The castle was one of near-perfect symmetry; four concentric rings of formidable defences included a water-filled moat with its very own dock. The outer walls alone bristled with 300 arrow loops. However, the project had hit financial difficulty by the early 14th Century - the south gatehouse and the six great towers in the inner ward never reached their intended height. The Llanfaes gate was barely started before being abandoned. The name is ‘beau mareys’ or ‘beautiful/fair marsh’, the town developed as a Viking settlement known as Porth y Wygyr ('Port of the Vikings'), but it was the arrival of Edward that the town began its period of recognisable development c.1295. The ancient village of Llanfaes, a mile to the north of Beaumaris, had been occupied by Anglo-Saxons in 818 but had been regained by Merfyn Frych, King of Gwynedd. What Edward did was typical of the way he stamped his authority on his newly conquered territories in Wales and, it has to be said, Kings and Queens of England did across these islands.
"The island of Anglesey, or Ynys Môn, held a special place in Welsh hearts long before Beaumaris was ever thought of. It was celebrated as ‘Môn mam Cymru’ (‘Mona, mother of Wales’) because of its mild climate and fertile fields. The so-called ‘bread basket of Wales’ helped to sustain the nation and support its independence." (Cadw, 2022). We feasted on freshly baked pies and goodies from Tredici Butchers and Deli before walking back up Church Street to St. Mary's and St. Nicholas's medieval Church. The building is evocative, representing what your imagination believes to be an old church; slate headstones and fine architectural details. It is a 14th Century building with a (14th-century) decorated nave with four-bay arcades, the chancel was rebuilt around c.1500 in Perpendicular (Gothic) style. The church retains some earlier artefacts; namely two stone coffins; inside the church is the tomb of William Bulkeley, deputy constable of Beaumaris Castle and his wife (Ellen) which the sign on-site dates to 1260-1307, but other information states died in 1490 (quite the time difference!). In the church entrance is also the coffin and lid of Joan, wife of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, married at the age of 15, and illegitimate daughter (died 1237) of King John. Its location feels a little sad - it was 'rescued' from being used as a horse watering trough and feels like a metaphor for the entire story as to how the 'illegitimate daughter' was likely treated.
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| Bryn Celli Ddu Passage Tomb |
We travelled south on the A545 hugging the coast, to the A4080 (Ffordd Brynsiencyn), the heat now rising from the road in the hot sunshine; I could feel the bike's engine temperature radiating out. Some of the roads were little more than tarmacked lanes, but in stark contrast to what we were used to, relatively pothole-less and a joy to ride. Our destination was the famed passage tomb of Bryn Celli Ddu; Anglicized to the ‘Mound in the Dark Grove’. We parked and meandered the 1/4 mile walk to the site beside the Afon Braint river even nibbling a few blackberries that grow plentifully along the route. What greets you is what in Ireland is referred to as a passage tomb.
However, the site is earlier than the mounded tomb; the earliest identified remains at the site are a row of five postholes, radiocarbon dated to around 4000BC, putting them at the end of the Mesolithic, 1,000 years before the next phase of use. The next (Neolithic) phase consisted of a henge (bank and ditch) enclosing a stone circle, it consisted of a bank (now lost) around an inner ditch, which enclosed a circle of upright stones. The ditch originally measured 21 meters in diameter. The outer edge can still be seen and several stones from the inner stone circle also survive. "1000 years after the henge was built, all but one of the standing stones were intentionally damaged, some were knocked over and six were smashed with heavy stones." (Park, 2014). In its place a passage grave was built; consisting of a long passage that leads to a polygonal stone chamber. Human bones, both burnt and unburnt, were found in the passage, other finds included quartz, two flint arrowheads, a stone bead, and limpet and mussel shells - a decorated pattern stone, carved with sinuous serpentine designs, has also been found.
The passage at Bryn Celli Ddu is aligned with the summer solstice sunrise, the alignment links Bryn Celli Ddu with a handful of other famous sites such as Maes Howe (Orkney) and Newgrange (Pitts, 2006). Describing the solstice event recorded in 2006, Burrow said: "the rays light up a quartz-rich stone at the back of the tomb." We left Anglesey via the Port Britannia Bridge joining the A5 south-east; the road is one of the most phenomenal I have ever ridden, the landscape and mountains rise up with Carnedd Llewelyn on the left and Glyder Fawr on the right appearing like a painted backdrop, a sense that they weren't 'real' they are so spectacular. The road flows, with multiple twists: Tregarth to Bethesda to Braichmelyn the road carving through the gorges in an act of engineering defiance. We passed Llyn Ogwen - a shallow lake with a maximum depth of only a little over 3 metres in which it is said after the Battle of Camlann (King Arthur's final battle), Bedwyr Bedrydant (Sir Bedivere) cast the sword Excalibur where it was caught by the Lady of the Lake. The road mirrors the path of the Afon Llugwy river to Betws-y-Coed before we turned south on the B4406 to our accommodation for the trip in Penmachno.
Day Two - Conwy Castle, Harlech Castle and Dyffryn Ardudwy
We were up early on Friday morning, greeted by another day of clear warm sunshine; combined with further excitement. We had amazed at the condition of the roads and how good the biking had been, today was to incorporate some more of Wales' phenomenal sites and sounds. We travelled northwards on the A470 to the picturesque town of Llanrwst with its beautiful arched Pont Fawr Bridge over the River Conwy. At Tal-y-Cafn we crossed over the River Conwy west onto the B5279 and then to the B5106 northwards to take these smaller (and more exhilarating roads) into Conwy. It made the arrival into the town (from the south-west) picturesque.
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| Conwy Castle and Castle Plan |
As we came round a corner, Conwy Castle looms over you, bold and impressive atop its bedrock 'perch'. Even more imposing when you consider it was originally gleaming white! The scale of the place is bewildering and the castle and intact town walls (an unbroken 1,400-yard [1.3km] ring of walls) were completed in just four years from 1283-1287. What must it have done to the spirit of Welsh opposition to Edward I? The castle played an important part in several wars. It withstood the siege of Madog ap Llywelyn in the winter of 1294–95, acted as a temporary haven for Richard II in 1399 and was held for several months by forces loyal to Owain Glyndŵr in 1401. UNESCO considers Conwy to be one of; "...the finest examples of late 13th century and early 14th century military architecture in Europe", and it is classed as a World Heritage Site along with the other great Edwardian castles of Harlech, Beaumaris and Caernarfon. Divided into an Inner and an Outer Ward, it is defended by eight large towers and two barbicans, with a postern gate leading down to the river, allowing the castle to be resupplied from the sea. In keeping with other Edwardian castles in North Wales, the architecture of Conwy has close links to that found in the Kingdom of Savoy, an architecture that itself was imitated in Irish castles such as Northburgh/Greencastle (Donegal) among others.
We meandered round the maze of towers and rooms marvelling at what was in front of us, all the while overheating in what had now become a very hot day.
We spent the majority of the morning at Conwy, before starting the bikes up to head south and south-west to Harlech. We doubled back on ourselves towards Betws-y-Coed although there taking the A470 south-west past Dolwyddelan Castle that is on a hilltop overlooking the road. Once through a series of mountainous peaks, the road descends into the other-worldly landscape of Blaenau Ffestiniog slate mines; to either side of the road what look like mountains of slate seem to bring a gloom with their grey hues, they are almost oppressive and it feels like a relief when you leave them behind into greener surroundings - I've no doubt they'd make a great film set. We turned onto the A496 flowing past bodies of water before the B4573 - an even narrower road through dense woodland (Stryd Fawr) in Harlech. What surprised me about the journey into Harlech was its proximity to large sandy expanses and the sea - I don't know why, it just wasn't what I imagined.
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| Harlech Castle (Gwynedd) |
Whilst Conwy takes your breath away, Harlech is more modest in scale (albeit still massive!). I can remember being taught how the 'D-Shaped' great gatehouse - the Tonbridge-style, that became increasingly popular during the 13th century, with two massive "D-shaped" defensive towers flanking the entrance - was copied in later castles as it enabled both a defensive configuration and also the ability to house luxurious accommodation and chambers in the upper levels. Harlech Castle was built between 1282 and 1289 but actually encompasses a much larger site than the 'main' castle walls (see plan here) with walls enclosing the entire 'castle rock' to the shore. Harlech was significant, withstanding the siege of Madog ap Llywelyn between 1294–95 and falling to Owain Glyndŵr in 1404 in the wider Welsh revolt. It then became Glyndŵr's residence and military headquarters for the remainder of the uprising until being recaptured by English forces in 1409. In local mythology, the site of Harlech Castle is associated with the legend of Branwen, a Welsh princess. Harlech town is small and quite quiet - the castle itself wasn't busy and there was a peacefulness that was tangible as we sat and shot the breeze on Twtil (street) beside the great walls. The clouds were starting to get darker, and there was the smell of thunderstorms in the air, and with it a humidity that was uncomfortable. So we decided to hit the road again - what I didn't realise is that on our way out we drove past the 'world's steepest street' - Ffordd Pen Llech.
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| Dyffryn Ardudwy |
Just six miles almost due south of Harlech on the A496 is Dyffryn Ardudwy Burial Chamber; there is little parking, so we had to 'hoik' the bikes onto the pavement; the surrounding area felt somewhat 'tired', but as we walked up through the grove to the site clearing you could have been 1000 miles away. What greets you is an elongated oval of stones on the ground (remnants, presumably, of the cairns that would have once covered the tombs) and two dolmen (cromlech) structures. The site is a two-period Neolithic site comprising an earlier, small portal-dolmen on the west side set within a small oval cairn - when excavated a pit containing fragments of five Neolithic pottery vessels was found sealed by the cairn in front of the tomb. The second tomb was built to the east and set within a large cairn which incorporated the earlier tomb. This later tomb produced both Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery.
It was at this point the clouds overhead became really dark, and the slight spots of rain became a heavy deluge. We took refuge in the trees that are on the site, mighty oaks providing more than adequate shelter. The rain, though, soon passed and with the heat of the preceding days, the road dried quickly. The road back to Penmachno was as unexpected as it was amazing - climbing high into open moor and heathland we turned onto the B4391, a ribbon or tarmac draped over the peaks that weaves through phenomenal bends - although we had to be cautious due to the roaming sheep. To the east of Cwm Penmachno the road becomes a paved track that plunges downslope, the landscape changes in front of you to pine forests of Gwydyr Forest Park (Parc Coedwig - part of the Snowdonia National Park). We were approaching Penmachno from the south for the first time. It was that night that we ate and drank in The Eagles pub - our ears became tuned to the Welsh being spoken as first language in casual conversation between locals; which was lovely to hear. For me, pale ale and for the rest of the lads Guinness went down with alarming ease - the first time I've sat and had pints in a pub in may years. The 'craic was ninety' and I'm sure we could be heard in the neighbouring houses!
Day Three - Erddig and the Roads West
The third day began overcast but cleared very quickly with the day gradually becoming warmer and warmer; clouds lingered at times giving a muggy feel, and as a precautionary measure (which turned out to be unnecessary) I had donned my Dainese textile gear - which transpired into a decision rued. But nothing would detract from another perfect biking day as we toured almost due east to Erddig National Trust property on the outskirts of Wrexham. Just beyond where the road from Penmachno joins the A5 it is a delight with left, right, left sweeping turns to Clan Conwy. But thereafter the road straightens out and becomes much more of a main arterial route. At Tyn-y-cefn we veered onto the A5104 which is policed at 50mph by average speed cameras. At first there is a tendency to groan, but it soon became apparent that this day was a meander and the slower pace allowed us to look around and take in the beauty of the Welsh landscape - even if there was a frenetic search for a petrol station!
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| East façade of Erddig facing onto the gardens |
At Tyn-y-cefn we could, as it transpired, have carried on due east on the A5 to Plas Newydd Historic House (14th Century house remodelled in the Victorian era), or Tomen y Rhodwydd (a mighty ditched motte and bailey), or Castell Dinas Brân (the hilltop ruins of a 13th century castle built on the site of an earlier Iron Age hillfort). But, perhaps a sign of age, there is nothing quite like a slow day wandering around a National Trust great house. Work commenced at Erddig in 1684 by Joshua Edisbury, who had been appointed High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1682, but by 1709 he was bankrupt. John Meller, a successful London lawyer, bought up the debts of Joshua Edisbury. Once he had purchased Erddig he set about furnishing his new house with the very best furniture and fabrics. He began extending it to the north and south by the addition of two-storey wings, his 'rooms of parade'. But with no heirs he passed the estate to his sister's son, Simon Yorke, in 1733. Erddig was owned by the Yorke family for 240 years; each successive owner being called either Simon or Philip. The house is fantastic and is dimly lit - for the conservation and curatorial needs of many of the artefacts. But it adds to the atmosphere and, if nothing else, is likely a closer approximation to the lighting when it was first built and inhabited. As seems to be the way at a lot of National Trust sites, there was an army of elderly lady volunteers guiding us through the house and full of information about its contents. The road back to Penmachno was the same route we had taken, to be followed by another night in the pub with pints-a-plenty before most fell asleep in front of the wood-burning stove back at the accommodation....rock 'n' roll!!
The journey home was, for me, a solo run back to Holyhead in glorious sunshine to an over packed ferry (due to the cancellation of an earlier sailing) and a motorway blast home. However, there have been several 'take aways' from this trip: 1) ferry hops to Wales and Scotland for biking trips are the way forward - the fastest sailing to Wales from Dublin is just over 2hrs and a similar time from Belfast to Scotland so, surely, this is the way forward? 2) My spirit needed this trip, partly due to a few years of pent up travel frustration due to Covid and also as a break. My thanks to Caoimhin, Dee and Kivi.
