Hiraeth 2016: Dydd 17, Church, Beaupre, Tinkinswood, and St. Lythans

It was Sunday, so we went to LDS church services in Cardiff again. There were some missionaries leaving for home so the members stood to sing them the "farewell and come back again" song (I didn't get that quite right). And I couldn't resist snapping a phone pic in church.

"Farewell and Come Back Again"

And what do you do after church on Sunday? Why, visit ancient sites in surrounding Glamorgan, of course!

First up was Beaupre Castle.

We climbed over a sty and hiked across a field to Old Beaupre

Hiraeth 2016: Dydd 16, Big Pit, Blaenavon, Romans at Caerleon

It was good that I was uploading my pics every day as on this day, back in Cymru in the land of my fathers, my SD card failed. I only have a few that I took with my cell phone. We couldn't take pics in the coal mine anyway, and I had already been to Blaenavon. So really, only Caerleon out of Newport was lost. Well, so was the Round Table.

Our group readying for a trip down the mine.

This idea just came to me, but I wonder if "lift" for "elevator" in Britain comes from the industrial use of the 19th Century in these pits. One had to get out of those by lifting up to the surface while in America, we started building skyscrapers to "elevate" us.

Hiraeth 2016: Dydd 15, St. Michael's Mount, Cotehele, Scorhill on Dartmoor

St. Michael's Mount is the little brother to Mont Saint-Michel. I mean, I'd heard of Mont Saint-Michel in France or at least off the Normandy Coast thereof. I didn't know Cornwall had a its own little one going.

St. Michael's Mount at low tide.

Hiraeth 2016: Dydd 14, In which we travel to West Wales (AKA Cornwall)

Cornwall was known as West Wales in medieval times because the Saxons recognized they were up against another plucky group of strange little people with pixies. It is a Celtic country, if only a county of England now. And it is a strange, mysterious place.

We started off at Tintagel, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. Here I am excited beyond belief at Merlin's Cave at the Sea below the Castle!

"You're a Wizard, Merlin!"

This place was just astounding, the ruins of the castle are high above the cliffs dropping off to the Sea.

My wife at Tintagel Castle

Hiraeth 2016: Dydd 13, Kenilworth, Tolkien, Stratford-upon-River

Woke to a glorious Cardiff morning:

Went to Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, bastion of Simon de Montfort, John of Gaunt (Father of the Lancasterians), and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who wooed or not Elizabeth I (It depends on what "woo" means, not to mention "virgin" Queen).

We approach Kenilworth, a beautiful, red-sandstone castle.

Hiraeth 2016: Dydd 12--Seeking the Welsh in Oxford (and the Cotswolds)

Once more over the Severn Crossing, we headed to the nearby Cotswolds. The first stop was some little church I'm going to need help with in remembering the location (all I had to do is Google "hobbit door church in the Cotswolds"). It is in Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire at St. Edward's Church.

Very Tolkienesque or C.S.Lewisy

Hiraeth 2016: Dydd 11, Harry Potter in Lacock and Roman-Georgian Bath

We left Wales again (sigh) but saw some great places.

The A-Team

The village and abbey of Lacock, Wiltshire is mostly preserved in its bygone eras. It has been used as a setting for many a film and BBC series including, ta-dah! Harry Potter. Yes, welcome to Godric's Hollow:

If you throw some dirt, mud, and straw on the street, you can get to "Old English Village" pretty quick.