Day 19 – August 5 – Wales to Belfast

In order to catch our ferry from Holyhead, Wales to Dun Laoghaire, Ireland (just south of Dublin) we had to get up early to flag down the 8:15 train. Colin was kind enough to open up breakfast earlier than usual to provide us with a hot breakfast. The intermittent rain of the previous day had been replaced by a solid downpour so we were glad that our B&B was so close to the station. As it turned out there were quite a few people catching the Monday morning train to westward to the likes of Bangor and Welsh towns on the Isle of Angelsey. At one stop, Deana spotted the town with the longest name in the UK, possibly anywhere. Margaret had mentioned it when we were at dinner with them and when it rolled off her tongue it sounded lyrical. This wasn’t too surprising as she had talked about her choir and their frequent trips to competitions. I’m sure the Welsh version (top) could be used as an example of the various pronunciations in the Welsh language: “LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLGOGERYCHWYRNDROBWLLLLANTYSILIOGOGOGOCH”

Train station sign for the Welsh town with the longest name in Great Britain

Here is the rough translation into English.

As we continued on to Holyhead we met a couple from Williams Lake which is relatively close to home and we compared our travel experiences so far. It was interesting that they echoed comments we had heard earlier, both at home and the first half of our trip, such as “Belfast isn’t safe” or “I’d never go to Belfast”. Although this was definitely a concern that Jeff had during his brief trip to Ireland in 1982, the peace that has been in place for many years now laid these concerns to rest.

Our reason for heading directly to Belfast was to meet our friends, Ron and Marsha. Ron is competing in the 2013 World Police and Fire Games. The only other games, outside of the Para-Olympic and Special Olympics to be sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee. The games take place every 2 years and Ron has competed in Squash at several previous games.

The train station is connected to the docks where the ships leave Wales for various ports around the Irish Sea. We boarded the Stena Line ship for the 2 hour crossing to Dun Laoghaire.

Deana enjoying the standard seating in the Stena line ferry from Holy Head to Dun Laoghaire

We were informed that there would be a 1 metre swell that appeared to be just enough off the starboard bow to cause the ship to develop a predictable roll as we made the crossing. It was mildly entertaining to watch as people walked along the wide corridors, suddenly veering in unison, first 3 steps to the right, catch themselves and then 2 steps back to the left. I guess it was a slow voyage as this entertained us for a good part of the voyage to Dun Laoghaire. Well I guess it was a slow voyage as this entertained us for a good part of the voyage to Dun Laoghaire.

We arrived south of Dublin early in the afternoon to learn that Dublin was in the second day of a bus driver strike. So we found a cab to take us to the Dublin Airport, which is just North of the city.

The interesting part of this half of our trip is that we aren’t taking a bus tour and we won’t be travelling by train anymore. The idea of Jeff driving us on one of our european vacations is not unusual. However, Jeff has never driven on the other side of the road before, or shifted a manual transmission with his left hand. But as Victor told us in Conwy, he frequently drives on the continent and North American and it doesn’t take long to get used to switching to the other side of the road. We picked up our rental and fortunately Jeff’s Hertz Gold status got us an upgrade from a 4-door sedan to an SUV/Crossover. It turned out to be a Nissan Qashqai (soon to be known as Quasimodo) with lots of room.

Our Nissan Qashqai, with a 6-speed manual, diesel engine

We hooked up our Tom Tom GPS, loaded with John Cleese’s voice, and headed off for the drive to Belfast. A few gentle reminders from Deana to keep Quasimodo aligned with the driver’s side close to the right hand lines and it was all good. It was probably good that the first driving was on a freeway with wide lanes and not too many corners to negotiate. By the time we got to Belfast we were used to the new side of the road.

We met Marsha and Ron at the Stormont Hotel. We didn’t realize at the time that the name Stormont also refers to the Northern Ireland Parliament building that is situated across the road.

We headed out for dinner at a local restaurant (where our waitress Leslie, happened to have relatives in our hometown) and got caught up with Marsha and Ron . . . . of course those who know Deana and Marsha will realize that will take at least a couple of weeks.

Day Deunaw “two nine” (18) – August 4 – Conwy

We woke up without feeling we had to catch a train or be anywhere by a certain time …. except to make sure we didn’t miss breakfast.  Colin and Monica ask you to indicate the night before what you would like for breakfast the next morning, in terms of hot food.  That way Colin is able to prepare the right amount of bacon, sausages, etc before you get there.  With only 5 rooms its a little different than some of the larger places we stayed on our tour where they would have warming trays full of the different type of food, including haggis and black pudding.  But this must lead to a considerable amount of wastage so the smaller places tend to ask what you’d like and then serve you a plate with all the hot food.  Cereals, juices, sometimes yogurt and often freshly prepared fruit salads, tea & coffee are always available to help yourself.  But today, after a wonderful day yesterday, we’re content to just relax and take it easy.  We continued discussing some of the topics relating to Wales that we talked about with Margaret and Victor.

View of the highest points of the Conwy wall from our room at the B&B

Today we’re going to learn a little bit more about the history of Wales with a walk around the wall that surrounds the city and a visit to the Conwy ( Con-wee) Castle.  The walk to the castle and the walls, like everything in Conwy, is less than 400 m. from our B&B, so no need to figure out public transportation.

View from the highest point in the Conwy wall with the Castle over Deana’s shoulder

 

The crack in one of the towers in the Conwy wall with the culprit (the railway) visible through the hole

Our guide book suggested a walking tour of the walls around the city so we started by walking to the highest point.  This gave us a great view of both the inside and the outside of the walled portion of the city.  There’s been some precipitation throughout the UK after about a month of dry hot weather earlier in the summer, so there are many shades of green as you look across the countryside.  There’s one point in the wall where one of the towers has obviously cracked as the ground has settled.  Then you look around and notice that the railway tunnel passes directly beneath this part of the wall and then you understand why they might have had a problem.  To resist the “official” Christian worship of English-style Anglican Church the Welsh people joined “nonconformist” congregations such as Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalism.

Conwy Castle and the train tracks passing under a section of the town wall

 

Deana walking down the Conwy wall towards the harbour

The “Smallest House in Great Britain”

As we walked down to the harbours edge we saw “The smallest house in Great Britian” with a lady dressed in period costume standing in front of the 72” wide and 122” high structure.  We didn’t actually go in the house but it was an interesting novelty.  From there we made our way to the castle itself.

The statue of “Llywelyn the Great” standing in Lancaster Square, just a few metres from our B&B

Conwy Castle is a little bit different from many of the other castles we’ve seen on this trip.  This one, and several others in North Wales were built by the English as protection from the locals.  In the 13th century, two Welsh princes named Llywelyn created a unified and independent Wales which was not to the liking of England.  Finally, in 1282 the English King Edward I’s army killed the last prince, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and began building Conwy Castle.

In all there were at least 20 castles that were either built or rebuilt for King Edward I over a 20 year span. One account we say suggested that there are 5 in North Wales that are particularly good and worthy of a visit.  They are Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech, Beaumaris, Criccieth.  In 1986, the first four were inscribed on the World Heritage List as “a historic site of outstanding universal value”. Touring these 5 castles would be an excellent 2 day trip if you had a rental car ….. we’ll put that on our list for a future adventure!

Looking down into Conwy Castle from the SE tower

 

The interior walls of Conwy Castle from the NE tower

Originally it was started in 1283 and completed fairly quickly, but was remodelled again in the mid 14th century.  Work continued to be done in later centuries and in a few places you can see how the stone inner wall is not directly connected to the stone of the outer wall.  Now it’s possible that when King Edward I originally had his architect design it he made it so that it could be easily remodelled, but I doubt that was part of the master plan.  Some of the fun in poking around these old structures is trying to envision what it looked like in its day and also spotting places where they made changes.

A view of Conwy Castle’s “Great Hall” from the basement. Note the fireplace 10 ft. above Deana’s head and the unique curved shape for this hall

As you stand on the stone floor and look at the tall walls above you, you can often see evidence that you are simply on the ground floor.  From slots in the walls (to secure floor joists) and the fireplaces 15 and 30 feet up the wall you can easily see how the stone walls that remaining are is just the support infrastructure for a multi-floor dwelling.

The one remaining arch of the Great Hall of Conwy Castle

 

Originally Conwy was intended to be the centre of administration for the area but that focus shifted to nearby Caernarfon when it became the shire town.  However, Conwy Castle did play an important role over the years.  King Edward I used it as shelter over Christmas in 1294 and into the next spring, during a Welsh rebellion.  In 1399, Richard II hosted tense negotiations here before he was captured and his tenure as king came to an end, he died a year later.

Deana at the floor level of the Great Hall with the SE tower in the background

 

Something we haven’t seen to this extent in the castles we’ve been to is a series of plaques designed to interest children as they tour the castle.  With their entrance ticket they get a colour by numbers card.  As they progress around the castle they find colourful information boards that teach them something about the castle and the history it represents and then instructs them to fill in the shapes corresponding to certain numbers on their card with a red crayon.  Once they’ve finished all the stations they will have created a red dragon, the symbol for Wales.

One of dozens of interactive displays to provide children with some entertainment while they are learning about history!

 

After touring the castle we made our way to the Castle Hotel which was rumoured to be a good spot to enjoy a pint of the locally brewed ales, with the locals.  The skies also appeared to be threatening some precipitation, so we sought it out for shelter as well.  Shortly after arriving the heavens opened up and so we spent a while watching the people coming into the hotel for refuge.  For dinner we had made reservations at Watson’s Bistro.  We had tried to eat there two nights ago but we couldn’t make a reservation, so we had booked for tonight.  Somehow we ended up with an “early menu” so I’m not sure we got their best, but we enjoyed the Italian restaurant much more.

Day Dwy ar bymtheg “two on fifteen” (17) – August 3 – Conwy Wales

As we’ve travelled around the UK we seen a predominance of homes with slate roofs.  In Culross there were a lot of red clay tile roofs, but this was only because the ships taking coal to the continent needed to have some ballast for the return voyage that they loaded the hold with clay tiles.  There are a number of places in Wales that currently mine slate, but if you go back more than 100 years they were going underground to mine seams of slate.  Colin and Monica helped Jeff determine the available trains that would work for us to visit Blaenau Ffestiniog to see the Llechwedd (lek-weth) Slate Caverns and the Rheilffordd Ffestiniog Railway.

Deana securing her helmet for the train trip underground into the Llechwedd Slate mine.

The word SLATE is derived from the Old French verb esclater, meaning “to split”.  Although it is applied to a wide variety of stones possessing some degree of splitting properties, the world’s finest example is Welsh slate (according to a Welsh publication) – the superb Ordovician blue-grey variety in the Blaenau Ffestiniog area.

In Llechwedd there are 5 beds – known in the mines as veins. The veins are sandwiched between layers of hard chert (we were told this was granite).  The veins of slate do not run horizontally but instead at an angle of approx. 30 degrees, approximately parallel to the slope of the mountain. The company built the tunnel into the mountain so that on one level it would run along the length of the veins.  At the Llechwedd mine there are 5 veins but the tunnels were dug at 16 different levels. The amount of chert between the veins would vary and the challenge for the company was to tunnel only into veins that would run a long distance and not be just a pocket of slate.

The “Surveyor” would walk down the tunnel and mark on the walls with white paint where a 36 ft “chamber” would start and where it would end.  Then he’d measure off another 30 ft. of rock to be left as support, then another 36 ft. for the next chamber.  The 30 ft stretch, although perfectly good slate, was calculated to line up with the 30 ft of support on the level above and below and this would maintain the integrity of the mine.  You didn’t want to have the weight of 30 ft. of “supporting” rock sitting overtop of a chamber that was being hollowed out or it could lead to a collapse.  We were told that there were 256 chambers spread across 16 levels in this mine.

The weighted poles used to “drill” holes through the slate

What was really interesting was the “ownership” of each chamber.  A group of 4 miners would be given a chamber and they were then responsible for working the chamber and removing all of the slate.  This could take up 12-15 years.  Two would work in the chamber and the other two worked in the “factory” on the surface where they were assigned a bench to split the slate.  The workers in the chambers would use a 7 ft. long steel pole with a 10 lbs weight about 12 inches from one end.  The end of the pole was sharpened by the “Smithie” (blacksmith) near the factory and they would drop the pole onto a spot and give it a turn to loosen some material then lift and drop the pole again.  Over the course of 4 hours they would create a whole into the slate (which is much softer than granite).  When the depth of the hole reached the weight they would switch the pole around and use the longer end. In the pictures you can see how clean the holes were made.  Once they had reached the depth they desired they would swab it out with some moss threaded through the eye of an oversized needle and then carefully pack the whole with gun powder.

A bore hole perpendicular to the slant of the slate

Dynamite couldn’t be used because it was too powerful and it would break the slate into little pieces. To make a fuse a piece of string was pulled through a rag full of tar to make it sticky and then it would be coated with gun powder and tamped into the powder at the bottom of the hole.  They’d light the fuse and then yell “RUN” …. or something similar and vacate the chamber into the tunnel for the blast.  After the blast they would return to the chamber and start removing the pieces of slate.  They would pile them on a cart in a “load” that would be a manageable size for transport to the surface.

Our guide describing the technique for boring holes in front of the cart used to transport a “load” of slate to the surface and the other half of the team

The group of 4 men would usually hire a fifth person as a “labourer” to move the slate to the surface and also keep the chamber tidy by removing the chert.  In a year, an average chamber would produce 1,200 tons of slate and 2,000 tons of chert and waste material.  An inspector would regularly come around to each chamber and examine the load of slate and they would haggle over the value of the slate.  We were told that a common value was 12 shillings per load and in some cases they would move 1,000 loads/day to the factory for splitting.  They started work at 7am Monday to Friday and worked until 4:30. On Saturday they finished at 1pm.  On Sunday they attended Sunday school which was their opportunity to learn to read and write.  Literacy was at an amazing level in the slate mining families due to the Sunday schools.  They were expected to attend church 3 times on Sunday and several times throughout the week as well.  In the small town of Blaenau Ffestiniog there were 37 churches and only 22 bars in those days, so that gives you an idea of which one was given greater importance.

Deana walking through the mine shaft, note the smooth underside of the slate on the left and rough rock on the right

Due to the working conditions the fine white powder would coat the lungs of the miners and they generally developed a lung disease called Silicosis, caused by breathing in silica dust. As a result, miners, who frequently started as young as 10 years old, would have progressively diminished lung capacity until they finally died shortly after they turned 40.  Women in the mines were deemed to be bad luck, so they were not permitted to work there.  Sounds like women probably started that myth!

Typical height of the 36′ wide chamber. This one happened to reach the surface so there was a lot more light available

One of the 256 underground chambers, lite up with some different coloured lights for better effects

The chair and simple tools used on the surface to split the slate into very thin, flat pieces of slate.

A splitter separating two halves of the slate block

Typical use of the slate on the roof

Notice the high piles of discarded slate pieces and rock material above Blaneau Ffestiniog

Coal fired steam locomotive to take it’s load to the coast, and back again

Fireman working his fire to get the most of the coal

After the tours we walked back into Blaenau Ffestiniog and took a ride on the narrow gauge steam train towards the coast.  In 1836 the line was completed and began transporting the slate to the deep water port at Porthmadog.  They’ve done a great job of creating comfortable coaches with large windows to give you a wide open view of the beautiful Welsh scenery.  Unlike so many restored steam locomotives that are heated by diesel fuel, this train’s tender was full of coal and the man tending the fire in the boiler was covered in soot.  At one stop he got down onto the track and used a long steel pole to move the coal.  You could see how how hot the furnace was by the orange glow that illuminated his face. The train is somewhat of a novelty but it did afford us a good view of more of the country side and at one point the train passed almost directly above what appeared to be yet another castle, perched on the side of the valley.

Chugging our way to the coast

Time didn’t permit us to make it all the way to Porthmadog, so we turned around at Minffordd for the return to Blaenau Ffestiniog in time to catch the last regular Welsh Highland Railway train back to Llandudno on the north coast.

Unique use of the excess slate to direct you to the “Arts Centre”

From there we walked from Llandudno Junction across the Conwy river with the Conwy Castle rising to greet us.

Deana and Jeff with the Conwy Castle in the background

We went to the pub just around the corner from our B&B for a pint of ale (for Jeff) and lager (for Deana).

The Albion pub, just around the corner from our B&B – no food, just good beer

We’d been there the night before as well, but tonight it was quite busy.  We stood at the bar for a few minutes and then looked into what at one time had been the “Smoking Room” and saw a couple of chairs near a couple in one corner.  We asked if the seats were taken and they invited us to sit down.  We soon learned that Margaret and Victor were Welsh and they had just come to this pub because they enjoyed the locally brewed ale.  They were extremely interesting and we learned a great deal about the Welsh culture and language.  Although the language was in decline the students are now taught both Welsh language and literature as well as English and the language is starting to thrive again.  The cost of having to translate everything into both Welsh and English was similar to the situation we experienced when we lived in New Brunswick and everything relating to the government was recorded in both English and French.  They lived on the island of Anglesey, that we would be travelling across on our way to Holyhead for the ferry to Ireland.  We talked about some of the issues currently facing Anglesey, like the need to refresh their nuclear power plant and the use of wind turbines, like the ones we saw from the train on our way to Wales yesterday.  After we finished our Ales they invited us to join them for dinner at one of their favourite restaurants. in Llandudno.  It was a terrific dinner and then Margaret and Victor gave us a tour of Llandudno and the Great Orme before returning us to our B&B.

It was an absolutely wonderful evening with a truly delightful couple.  We exchanged contact information and offered them a place to stay and a personal tour of our part of Canada.  We really hope to return to this part of Wales at some time in the not too distance future.

Over the course of the evening we also learned a little bit about the Welsh language.

“FF” makes the “f” sound as in “fairy”

“CH” makes the “c” sound as in “cat”

“DD” makes the “th” sound as in “thistle”

Day 16 – August 2 – Edinburgh to Wales

We got up at the usual time and started towards the Waverley train station in Edinburgh. We were early for the 10:50 train to Conwy, (Con-wee) Wales, so we sat in Princes Garden Park next to the statue for Sir Walter Scott, reading in the sunshine rather than trying to find a piece of concrete to rest against in the train station.  Sir Walter Scott died in 1832 and this monument was built in 1840 it was said to a man that “Scotland never owed so much to one man.” To many he is considered the father of the romantic historical novel.

Sir Walter Scott statue

Sir Walter Scott monument

It was a beautiful morning and we watched as the volunteer guide assembled her group for the Georgian Town and Garden walking tour and then headed off.

We jumped on our train with the Britrail pass and found some available seats that would get us to Crewe so that we could change to a train to Chester.  Once in Chester we happened to visit the lady at the ticket window who let us know that there had been a problem with the train coming in from London (we’d later learn that there was some sort of problem with someone stepping in front of the trail and this caused a delay) so we hustled to catch the next train to Chester.

The train gave us an opportunity to reflect on our time in Scotland and the Rick Steves tour.  We definitely felt this was a very a terrific part of our trip.  Roy our guide was extraordinary in conveying a large amount of knowledge in a learnable way.  Not everyone can do this.  We’ve all had teachers who presented the data on a given topic and left it up to us to turn that data into useable information.  Roy helped to bridge that gap between data and information by starting out many discussions with “Do you remember when we talked about …..”.  For many things the measure of how much you enjoyed something is “Would you do it again?”  We would definitely take another Rick Steves tour and if we could pick one that Roy is leading we’d sign up right away. We’ve mentioned previously that the people we traveled with on the tour seemed to have common interests and we’ll certainly consider coordinating a trip with a few of the people we’ve met on this tour.

The ride from Chester to Conwy heads overland for a while before it reaches the coast of the Irish Sea.

Wind turbines in the Irish Sea

There we started to see a very large tidal beach as the tide was out.  In the distance were a number of wind turbines that have been set up in the sea to minimize the impact on existing properties.  Part way along the journey a fellow was getting off the train at the next stop and somehow Jeff learned that he was originally from Vancouver but is living in Birmingham now and he was wearing a golf shirt sporting the name of a Birmingham electrical company so we figured that was his employer. He wondered where we were headed and then asked how a couple from Canada would select this small town as our destination.  Jeff was tempted to say we just threw a dart at a map and it landed on Conwy, but if you know Jeff, that just doesn’t happen that way.  Guide books were consulted, research done for things to do using this as a hub and then suitable accommodation was selected.  Two stops before Conwy Jeff struck up a conversation with someone who was going to be getting off at the same stop so we were confident that conductor had notified the engineer and we’d make our stop.  He’d also learned from the woman a few directions to our B&B once we left the train platform.  The instructions were easy and we located Gwynfryn B&B in short order.

Our B&B in Conwy, Wales

Colin greeted us and carried our bags (which are getting heavier with every stop) to the 2nd floor (in UK/Europe speak that is above the 1st floor which is above the ground floor, where you generally enter the building), Le Rouge room.  It has a beautiful view of the wall that surrounds the town.

Le Rouge room at Gwynfryn B&B

Great big bathroom, with a large tub.

We went for dinner at the Alfredo Italian restaurant just a few doors down from the B&B and managed to squeeze into a seat just by the kitchen.  As the young waiter brought a couple of glasses of red wine and started to put one of them down for Deana he managed catch something and sprayed the glass over Jeff, the guy behind him and and the cash register beside Deana.  We didn’t get excited and this endeared us to the owner we joked with them the rest of the night.  Through the rest of the meal we watched large groups of locals come in and enjoy the wonderful food and atmosphere.