This is where my obsession with William Marshal continues – bear with me you will enjoy this.

You can read about him in Wikipedia William Marshal 1^st Earl of Pembroke.

Today we visited Pembroke Castle which of course William came to own and improved. This castle is built on a limestone outcrop surrounded on three sides by river and heavily defended on the fourth. The castle was never defeated.

Michael and I climbed all over this castle and I think we climbed every tower … we loved it. From the formidable double gate house … first in Britain … to the round tower that William built in case the gatehouse was breached and the amazing remains of the great hall.

We take it very easy the next day … sore legs from climbing towers.

Enjoy

Before we left north Wales we made a quick visit to Portmeirion, (of The Prisoner fame … a cult TV show of the 1960’s starring Patrick McGoohan) a village set up on the coast that looks like a small Italian town. Needless to say this was a favourite show of Michael’s.

The night before we left this part of Wales we got caught in a sleet storm and it snowed rather heavily in the hills …some nice shots of the snow covered hills.

We stayed for a couple of nights in Shrewsbury … a tale of woe for a four star place… I did speak to them very nicely and we did get a very nice discount!

Stokesay Castle was a find a fortified manor house with a moat, Ludlow Castle with a fantastic early Norman round chapel (did I mention that I love Norman architecture), Wroxeter a Roman city with great ruins and finally Wenlock Priory. We went here because Michael and I just could not resist going to a village called Much Wenlock.

We did a quick tour of the local museum and I have added a couple of snaps from here as well.

Enjoy

PS Why can’t I have a moat?

We stayed in the most amazing B&B … Plas Tan Yr Allt. This beautiful building started life as a Welsh long house and was extended in the 1700’s to the size it is now. Our room was fantastic … the original barn with all of the framework exposed … It was this room that Percy Bushe Shelly used as a theatre and it was here that he composed some of his poetry.

The B&B was just outside a little town called Tremadog which just happened to have a wonderful restaurant … Y Sgwar (the Square) food was absolutely fantastic.

Wales is the land of castles some built by Llewelyn the Great and some built by Edward I. We managed to visit Harlech, Caernarfon and Beaumaris ... all Edward I castles and we drove by Criccieth, Dolbardan and Dollweddlan ... Llewelyn castles. We also spent some time driving around the isle of Angelsey.

Harlech … we arrived here on a bitingly cold and windy morning … It was amazing …perched on a rock headland … you could see for miles (on a clear day) … you really felt that you were in a remote part of the world … we loved it!!!

Caernarfon … for sheer size this is the best castle we have seen … I think we climbed every tower (lots of aches and pains the next day) … you could understand that the sheer size of it was meant to intimidate the Welsh.

Beaumaris … this was supposed to be the perfect castle but is was never finished … Edward needed the money to fight the Scots. With its moat and concentric towers you could imagine how beautiful it would be finished.

Take the time to look at the photos … Enjoy!

Chester is a lovely little town with great pubs and eateries. Lots of Roman action here but most of the archeology is long gone .... we walked the walls (some of it Roman) ... we went to St John the Baptist to see the old norman cathedral, we also went to St Werbergers a lovley early medieval church and we wandered the streets to soak up the atmosphere. Stayed at a quicky little pub just minutes from the centre of town ... we loved Chester would go back again.

Enjoy the photos

Today I was off in search of William Marshall again - Cartmel was established by William in 1090 and visited there just before and while the building was being built.

I am sure you will enjoy the photos.

On the way back from here we stumbled across Blackwell and Arts and Crafts house that I would love to live in. It was beautiful ... from the amazing wood work to the stained glass to the fire places not to mention the wall paper and of course the view.

Enjoy.