AAAAAAAAAAAA
WALES
AAAAAAAAAAAA
I visited Wales twice, once in October with a BUNAC/Magic Tours (the latter of which seems to have since ceased to exist, on the web at least) tour and once on my own in March. Both times, surprisingly, had spectacularly gorgeous weather.
Welsh landscape with ponies (not, surprisingly, sheep, which constitute a majority of the Welsh population...I wouldn't be surprised if they got their own MP one of these days). I took these pictures from the hostel (bunkhouse, really) where we spent the night on the BUNAC tour. I have no idea where it was located, other than at the end of a long, dark driveway that seemed to go on forever when the coach dropped us off at the end of it the first night.
Chepstow Castle
I like taking pictures of ruined castles even when there isn't anything particularly exciting to say about them. Chepstow, on a cliff overlooking the River Wye, was the first stone castle in Wales and possibly in Britain.
Tintern Abbey
Despite being burned during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, an impressive amount of the 14th-century abbey remains. It was of course the inspiration for Wordsworth's poem, and it is a truly awesome sight. The sense of vertiginous verticality was what fascinated me the most, and I suspect the abbey creates a greater impression with the sky as its roof and the internal columns destroyed than it did as a complete building. I had great fun taking pictures of the arches and columns from various angles.
The triangle on the wall marks the angle of the roof of the monks' dormitory. On the right the tracery is still visible from the blocked-up window.
..
The west window, from outside and inside.
..
Internal arches, with people for scale.
Snowdonia
I didn't have much time to
spend
in Wales on my final whirlwind wanderings, so I didn't get a chance to
visit Mount Snowdon itself. Instead I focused on Cader Idris
("The
Seat of Arthur"), which plays a large role in my all-time favourite
children's
books, the Dark is Rising series by Susan
Cooper (which I still reread every six months or so). Cooper
cites the legend that Cader Idris is the home of the Brenin Llwyd,
the Grey King, and that anyone who spends the night on the mountain
alone
will come down either a poet or mad. (While the lack of Welsh
hostels open
in March made me briefly consider that option, my visit took place
entirely
in daylight, so I am neither madder nor more poetic than I was when I
started.) The
lack of useful bus services
meant that I had to walk four miles to get to Cader Idris from the
hostel,
but that had the benefit that I got to see Tal y Llyn, the "pleasant
lake"
that also figures in Cooper's books.
The lake is located in a valley whose flatness is rendered all the more dramatic by the mountains towering on either side.
Farmland and marsh on the shores of Tal y Llyn.
Two views from the first part of the climb up Cader Idris. The path begins as stone stairs going steeply up the mountain, and is not recommended for the weak of heart (or of knee).
These mountains resemble austere Scotland more than green England, and are home to several rare species of alpine plants.
The peak in the centre is Cader Idris.
View from Llyn Cau back along the path.
Llyn Cau in the shadow of Cader Idris (scroll right if necessary). It is even more amazing than this picture suggests, and one of my favourites of all the places I visited. The peace and serenity of the landscape, and the sense of being outside of time, are incredible.
Three more views of Llyn Cau.
At the bottom of the path.
