Tan-y-Bryn Farm, Bryn Pydew, Llandudno Junction, Conwy

     

We could have done without today, although if we had fast forwarded, I probably would have had something else to whine about. We woke to more rain although it did ease a little mid-morning, so we set off for the day, firstly to attend to errands.

Chris was concerned about the availability of gas in Ireland, and while you initially may roll your eyes and say “Really?” it is because the gas we use here in the United Kingdom is swap-a-bottle business, with Calor certified bottles. When we bought our spare in London two years ago, we had a screed of paperwork to complete and the documentation now resides with Chris’s brother. So what happens when you take your UK bottle to the Calor gas man in Eire, essentially a foreign country as far as the certification process is concerned, or is it? Because we couldn’t find an answer to this, we needed to travel with our two bottles full of UK Calor gas, so the issue would not even arise.

Generally we get our bottles changed at a Caravan & Motorhome Club or a Camping & Caravan Club site, but there are none near here, so we checked on-line and found the distributor had a centre back east near Rhyll; too far. So we asked David, our host, who indicated a spot far below us in Penrhyn Bay and gave us a screed of verbal directions. All credit to The Chauffeur, who normally leaves navigational matters to yours truly, we found our way down a maze of even narrower and steeper lanes that any travelled hereabout to a garage where the mechanic told us that he no longer dealt with the gas, but there was a hardware shop in Colwyn Bay, east of here but not as far as Rhyll which probably could help. 

Clouds frequently have a silver lining and this was a drive around the coastline through Rhos-on-Sea around to Colwyn Bay, an area we had whizzed through en route to Chester and back but not dallied in. We found the hardware shop with the help of our often trusty Tomtom, and better still, were able to buy more gas at a price as fair as the Clubs offer.

Back on the road, we headed west to Conwy to finish off what we had missed yesterday. No sooner had we parked up, did the showers return. 

We made our way to the Castle, another CADWR heritage attraction and joined the throngs of school holiday folk doing the same. The showers were spasmodic for the first hour and then grew heavier. Given that Conwy Castle is more an open ruin than anything else; this did not make for fun exploration. Here like Caernarfon Castle, there are dozens of towers and wall walkways to explore, and unlike that in Chester, we were able to squeeze our way up and down the spiral staircases without ridiculous safety obstacles.

This is another built for Edward I, all completed with the town walls in just four years during the 1280s. It is reputedly amongst the finest surviving medieval fortifications in Britain. Its high towers are impressive and I was particularly taken with the extent of the suites that once existed, their outer walls still in evidence. Interpretation of the castle and its history and related exhibitions pall beside Caernarfon, but is still well worth a visit. In fact a visit to Conwy must include the castle at the very least.

In over seven hundred years, only three monarchs ever stayed in the royal apartments: Edward I, Edward II and Richard II. Edward I spent a miserable Christmas here in 1294, besieged by the Welsh army, apparently spending much of it in his hidey hole above the chapel, but that might just be poetic licence.

From the height of the castle ramparts there are wonderful views over the Conwy River and the various bridges that each has their own claim to fame.

For five hundred years the Conwy Castle guarded the river and its ferry crossing. Since the Industrial Revolution four river crossings have been built,  all with an attenpt to copy the castle’s architecture and materials, or be completely invisible.

In 1826 the Chain Suspension bridge, designed by Thomas Telford and nowadays under the care of the National Trust, was built; it carried the coast road for more than one hundred and thirty years. In 1848 Robert Stephenson developed the first ever tubular bridge in the world, a wrought iron bridge that carries the rail even today. In 1938, the single arch steel road bridge faced with stone to blend with the ancient castle and to cope with the increased traffic was built. This was followed by the invisible bridge, the immersed tube, this part of the North Wales Expressway to deal with the even heavier traffic. It was this we travelled east on to Chester, passing under the River Conwy in a pre-fabricated tube, floated out then sunk onto the bed of the river. It was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. 

By the time we were finished with the castle, the rain had really set in and we wondered where we could possibly find a dry picnic place; in this country covered picnic spots are more likely to be known as cafes or tearooms or pubs, without the picnic. We retreated to the car then emerged again into even worse weather to access the town walls, easier said than done. There is work being done on part of the 1.2 kilometres of 30 foot high wall as there is on a large part of the castle, this latter under a shroud of scaffolding. We made our way along the Quay pausing to check the mussel vendors out before continuing on, well wrapped up in our raincoats.

The mussel industry has been quite important to Conwy for centuries, although now would hardly compete with the tourist trade. In the season, the fishermen gather the mussels with hand rakes, leaving the small ones to grow bigger for next year. In the early 20^th century, Conwy was the pioneer for mussel purification, first to implement the initial chlorination methods of purifying the water used for mussel filtering. The marine science lab just below the castle was responsible for all kinds of shellfish culture research that led the way for the rest of the United Kingdom, including the first lobster hatchery.

Unfortunately, and typically, the old marine science lab and its mussel processing plant didn’t quite meet the new EU legislation and was all closed down in 1999. A new set up has taken its place but it was a serious blow to the industry.

One little quirky bit of trivia picked up regarded the identity of the person responsible for inventing the initial chlorination method of purifying mussels: he was Robert Dodgson, brother to Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll.

The views from the walls, considered amongst the finest and most complete sets in Europe and sporting twenty one towers and three gateways, are just marvellous, even in a screen of rain. Unlike those of Chester, the walls are quite steep in places, although in fairness, those in Chester have many steps which probably deal with the varying contours.

It had been our intention to wander about the town when we descended from the walls, but we were wet and cold and took temporary refuge in St Mary’s Church, originally part of the Cistercian Aberconwy Abbey which Edward I moved to Maenan in 1283. 

The foundations of the church date back to 1172 while the abbey was completed in 1186. Like most churches it has evolved over the centuries and is still the local parish church to those in the town, including the three very elderly welcomers who sat near the entrance. The remains of Robert Wynne, builder and resident of Plas Mawr visited yesterday, lie next to the altar; he didn’t have to go far to meet his maker. There are also two lovely stained glass windows, the works of pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones. 

Outside the weather had not improved and the welcomers remarked we looked like drowned rats, although used slightly more diplomatic language. We headed back to the car, drove to Tesco, stocked up and headed home to divest ourselves of our rain-sodden garments and to deal with other matters that returned to bother us during the day.

Most particularly was the matter of Mr Fowler’s dented Mercedes; his grandson had rung with a ridiculous quote for repair. Later he emailed through two more quotes, at our request, even more horrendous than the first. We have since paid the money, cried a bit and have moved on over a bottle of red. Actually I lie about the crying but you can be assured we were not toasting the joys of culpability.