May 21, 2003

May 21, 2003

From Bath, UK we head west crossing the Bristol Channel and enter southern Wales. We stop in the capital of Cardiff. In the city center we park outside Cardiff Castle. This walled fortress has a Norman-era Keep in one corner. Later in the Victorian Era, the castle owner, rich from all the local coal mines, incorporated into one side of the outer wall a lavish Gothic Revival mansion. Unfortunately it rained the entire time we toured the site. I guess that is typical English weather.

From Cardiff we drive to nearby Caerphilly castle. This castle is much larger, older and in disrepair. It is built on an island surrounded by a large lake-size moat. The entrance is via a large drawbridge. This very formidable castle was built by an English lord to secure his southern Wales territory against attacks by rebellious natives, the Welsh Gaelic people. Caerphilly is the second largest castle after Windsor. The castle exterior has a display of medieval siege weapons on the grounds including my favorite, the Trebuchet.

From Caerphilly we backtrack east to the Bristol Channel and follow the west bank of the river Wye north. This river follows the southern border between Wales and England. About six miles north we stop at Tintern Abbey. Tintern is the ruins of a medieval monastery of the Cistercians, a sect of Benedictine monks that believed in austerity and hard labor. The abbey went into decay when Henry VIII cut ties with the Catholic Church and dissolved the monasteries. The ruins of the cathedral are eerie, like a stone skeleton, still complete but without roof or windows. It is beautiful, set in a picturesque forested river valley.

After walking the grounds of Tintern we find a country B&B a few miles north called Offa’s Mead. The owners of the guesthouse tell us that their home is often used by hikers walking Offa’s Dyke. We learn that Offa’s Dyke is an earthen wall that was built in the 8th century by Offa, an early Saxon king, to denote the boundary with his enemy, the Welsh. This struggle would endure for years until Edward 1 (the ruthless king in Braveheart) finally conquered Wales, built a string of subjugation castles the length of Wales and installed his son (who by deliberate design had been born in Wales) as Prince of Wales, a tradition that continues to today.

For dinner our hosts suggest we drive into nearby St. Briavels and eat at The George Inn. On the way, we see and walk around a small castle in the middle of town that is now a youth hostel.