For my birthday this year, I asked for an adventure. A trip somewhere with no plans, no pre-booked place to stay, no real idea of the next destination. A voyage into the Unknown.... For which we decided on Wales. I'd been there as a child, but only ever to the Breccon Beacons. My partner has never really explored it, and being a history fan, wanted to visit some of the castles.
We set off at midday, and decided to head to Tenby. It always looks so picturesque in the brochures, and figured it would be a good place to begin! We arrived at about 3 or 4pm, and I was blown away by just how much it looks EXACTLY like it is represented in photos. How often does that happen?We wandered around the town, and had a drink in the harbour, whilst a seagull warbled away, looking for compliments (and possibly chips.) Speaking of which, we found a Ceoliac fish and chip shop! The queue went to the end of the street, (though this seems to be due to the unwilling-to-serve kids behind the counter!!!) The chips were worth the wait though, and were devoured whilst watching the crashing waves.
We thought we would sleep in the car the first night, no BnB or hotel had grabbed our attention, and it was pretty late by now. Luckily, we have a large estate car, so with the back seats down and blankets, it was like sleeping in a solid 3man tent. We got to watch the sun go down, and the bats come up!
On The Road -
The next day we woke up early, and got straight back to driving. We came across this little picnic spot in Fresh Water East, and enjoyed boiled eggs on toast. Better than a BnB or greasy spoon any day!
We drove to St Martins, and enquired about the boat trip over to an island. However, it was raining, and the trip was 3 hours. We gave it a miss.....
Missing the boat trip meant we instead had time to visit Cilgerran Castle, built by William Marshall around 800 years ago. The site was first home to a an early 'ringwork' castle, built by the Normans.
I love these castles where you are still abale to explore inside, to go up the stairs and share the view our ancestors would have.
The most intteresting part of the trip to Cilgerran however, was learning about Princess Nest, who lived there in the early 12th century. She was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last King of Wales. She had been a lover of Henry I, and was married off to Gerald De Windsor. It seems to have been a happy arrangement, as Nest had around 5 children during their marriage, before being abducted/ ran away with her second cousin, Owain, a Prince of Wales, and is rumoured to have fathered him children, also.
Historians claim that through Nest's many children, they can trace her genealogy down to both the Tudor and the Stuart monarchs.
It was so fascinating reading about her, though so little is really known!
I love these castles where you are still abale to explore inside, to go up the stairs and share the view our ancestors would have.
The most intteresting part of the trip to Cilgerran however, was learning about Princess Nest, who lived there in the early 12th century. She was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last King of Wales. She had been a lover of Henry I, and was married off to Gerald De Windsor. It seems to have been a happy arrangement, as Nest had around 5 children during their marriage, before being abducted/ ran away with her second cousin, Owain, a Prince of Wales, and is rumoured to have fathered him children, also.
Historians claim that through Nest's many children, they can trace her genealogy down to both the Tudor and the Stuart monarchs.
It was so fascinating reading about her, though so little is really known!
I woke up to this stunning view on my Birthday..! <3 p="">
We spent the rest of the day exploring, and found a fun, short walk called the Torrent. You walk downhill alongside a waterfall, cross over, and walk back up again on the other side!
That evening we drove to Betsy-Coed, and knocked on the door of this cute looking B&B, to see if they had any space for us. They did!
It was such a wonderful place to stay, and we ended up deciding not to go back out for dinner, as neither of us really wanted to leave our cosy chocolate box room! We put on our PJ's, had a bed picnic, and watched the Bake Off!
On our last day, before we drove home, we stopped at Fairy Falls, the place I'd really wanted to visit. It was only a very short walk down, but what you find is totally unexpected! Ferns and moss, and trickling water. We had so much fun clambering (and falling) about, taking silly pictures. We plan to go back with a picnic! (As another trip to Wales is most definitely on the cards)
We loved this rock formation - where the constant flow of water has smoothed all the hard edges, proving that persistence, not force, can be a transformative power.
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've enjoyed re-living my adventure with me!
I hope to be able to get some more blogs up soon, perhaps some peeks into all the home stuff I've been doing these last few months.
Love, The British Faery
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