As an American living in the United Kingdom I have the chance to travel all over Europe and really get a feel for how Europeans feel about various things. For anybody who doesn't know, Wales or Cymru (in Welsh) is a small country in the United Kingdom. The best way to describe the nation of Wales is to call it a semi-autonomous state, no exactly independent but it "sort of" is.
It is a beautiful country to begin with and looks completely different from England, to this author at least! I travelled to the northern part of Wales; this is where people actually speak Welsh. I was there to see the castles that were erected by the English as a bulwark of sorts to keep the Welsh suppressed in times past. The castles are now mostly ruins, but they are MASSIVE(!) ruins and some of the most imposing buildings I have ever seen.
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| The front of the castle from the inside while standing on the wall. |
All right enough with the history lesson, let’s get to the actually stuff!!! The first day we saw Rhuddlan Castle shortly after entering Wales and it was, and I use the term loosely, a small castle. It was physically imposing (as they all were) and it sat on the bank of the Rlwyd River. The picture below is what you first see when crossing the bridge to the castle, the bridge is built on the ruins of the old bridge and gatehouse built in centuries past. The castle dates from 1277 and construction continued to 1282 and again from 1300 to 1302. Today the castle has nothing inside and is only consist of the walls, towers, and grounds. near the coast is a small hollow tower and a remains of a wall. When you walk atop the walls and get a view of the surrounding area, and yes, sheep it will take your breath away.
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| What I first saw as I crossed the bridge to the castle! |
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| This is crossing the bridge, you walk over the down dry moat. |
History tells us that eventually the castle fell into disrepair and and the locals took their hammers to it to build their fences and homes! I loved the castle and it stands to last another thousand years I'd reckon, unless
YOU go see it, to help keep it around...and the locals from taking more stones ;).
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| What you see as you walk into the castle! |
