Headlines
Farewell to Welford-on-Avon
Lots of Driving: then -- it's Goodrich Castle!
More driving: then lunch at Hall Inn
A Bit More Driving: to Brains at Abergavenny
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Stream of Consciousness
Farewell to Welford-on-Avon
Ah well, it was good :-) Now it's time to leave Boat Cottage. Onward -- to Wales!
Lots of Driving: then -- it's Goodrich Castle!
We drive and drive and drive. Mostly on a high speed motorway. Easy but boring. I decide that it's time to take a break... Because (a) I'm tired and (b) I need a toilet. So we take the next motorway exit. No idea where it's going. All we know is, we're still in England.
We've driven in Herefordshire (commenting on the cows), Worcestershire (commenting on the sauce) and Gloucestershire. I think it will be Monmouthshire when we enter Wales. The motorway exit that we pick -- we pick it simply because it's the next one that we come to -- points to Goodrich.
As we turn off -- there is also an English Heritage sign to Goodrich Castle. Sounds interesting!
After a km or two of winding road, we reach the village of Goodrich. We want cofee (and toilet), so we stop at a pub at the start of the village. They tell us that food service starts at noon. It's only 11:30. At the other end of the village, a turnoff into the castle. We turn off.
One pound parking. No worries, we do have a pound coin. Our only worry is the tourist bus in the car park. We park, then walk up to the tea shop / souvenir shop / place to buy entry to the castle. Use their toilets, buy coffee and cake. Victoria sponge -- delicious!
Then on to the castle. Goodrich Castle. It's 400m along a track. Woods on one side, a green field full of sheep -- and lambs -- on the other.
The castle is ruined. And still very impressive...
There's the original keep, a tall, square, stone structure. The castle grew around the keep. After a few hundred years of a peaceful life -- in about 1456 -- the castle was beseiged and mortared and generally knocked about. Then it just sat there until some recent restoration was done.
Interesting about the mortaring: I think there were the usual cannons. Then a special mortar -- a large cannon -- was cast. This one mortar would fire a cannonball -- about 50cm across, weighing almost 100kg and stuffed with gunpowder -- up into the air, then the ball would fall into the castle and explode. It brought the house down...
Though there's still plenty to see. Some parts -- towers, walls, floors -- are missing. But we went up narrow stone stairs, along ramparts, down into dungeons and cellars. There's enough left to be able to visualise the original. It's solid and cramped and well laid out and well built and complex and large but still hard to imagine up to 200 people living in it.
There are even multiple garde robes! That's toilets, to those who don't know from reading fantasy... The gate guard had his own. There are three in a row off the main courtyard. Not just a hole in the wall, either. (We saw one of them in Switzerland.) These ones are a long drop into a cesspit. Every so often a boy would be sent down the long drop, to clear blockages. Nice job :-)
The bus had brought school kids. They were no trouble. Amongst the other tourists were an extended family from Queensland...
It is an amazing castle! Really impressive! It may have had a peaceful life -- till it was beseiged -- but we can see how it was built for defence. And to impress the neighbours, we read. A very lucky turnoff! Our best castle yet :-)
It's after one. I'm determined to have lunch in Wales.
More driving: then lunch at Hall Inn
Back to the motorway. More high speed driving. Waiting for Wales...
Into some mountains. Could these be the mountains that convinced the English and Welsh that they were separate countries? It finally starts to rain. And then... we are in Wales!
Next turnoff is to Raglan. Good for sleeves, Deb comments. Bad for parking, as we find out. Through town, out the other side. Well, out *an*other side. The GPS says turn right, I turn left... It looks more interesting. Less like the entry to the motorway.
A little bit further and we stop at the Hall Inn, Gwehelog. (I copied that off the credit card receipt.) The inn is by itself, at the edge of the very small village. It's old and low and snug. We order baguettes: roast beef, bacon & brie. Very nice! Very filling :-)
We relax. Enjoy our lunch. Then back to the car and back to the motorway. And very very soon... we're at Abergavenny.
A Bit More Driving: to Brains at Abergavenny
Abergavenny is, according to the sign, a traditional (or historic? I forget) market town. We take the through road -- to bypass some of the busy centre of town and to get to our hotel. The hotel -- the Lamb and Flag -- is just outside the western side of town.
I'm getting better at finding parking in a busy town or village. Particularly in the villages, where people park anywhere and everywhere. (Which takes some getting used to.) But I still prefer an inn with its own parking area.
We arrive at the Lamb and Flag. And I think, Oh no! It's a zombie hotel!! Because, right out the front, it says, "Brains" !!
Turns out, the hotel is owned by the Brains group. Still seems suspicious to me...
Bu the inn is fine. It seems oldish and our room is cramped -- compared to the last place. But clean and comfortable. And warm. Later, Deb reads that it was burnt down and rebuilt! Must have been rebuilt from the original plans.
We check in and move in. Relax for a while. Watch the hail. The couple of drinkers in the beer garden put on raincoats and carry on drinking.
I fetch a few odds and ends from the car. Try to get back in via the late-entry door... can't get it to unlock. So I go into the hotel, through the bar, up the stairs to our room.
There's an outside door -- opening onto the roof?! -- that is swinging open. We pull it closed and the handle falls off. We decide to leave it open. Doesn't matter, there are still two closed doors between us and the outside weather.
Temperature has been in single figures all day. Mostly fine, sometimes sunny, the wind is light but chilly. A good day for walking, even better for driving :-)
We relax in our room. Read. Look for things to do tomorrow. (We have a full day here. It's on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park.) Then it's dinner downstairs. And more relaxation upstairs.
It's a friendly pub. As soon as we check in, every one seems to know us. I mention the lack of kettle in our room, one is brought up, with apologies, no need to say who we are or in which room. At dinner we ask for more milk, it's in our room when we get back. All very nice!
And that's about it for today... A lot of driving and a lot of eating. And a lot of most excellent castle.
Now for tea in our room. And more relaxing. Till it's time to sleep.
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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Agamedes Consulting
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"A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top."
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