When I started compiling this list it was going to be the “Top 10 Places I have Visited” but it quickly became a list with too many places to fit. Before I go on, a few observations are essential. First, I intended to list the top 10 places my wife, Lainie and I have visited, but she was not with me on some of these visits and that meant I had to omit several or rename the list. Also, the list order gets somewhat arbitrary after the first 10 places. Some of the others could easily be moved up or down several spots. Even in the top 10, a few are really tied and no one place really stands out from the next couple on the list, except probably Number 1. Last, there is oddly, not a place in Virginia on this list – – and that is honest. I spent the first 22 years of my life not leaving Virginia for more than a few minutes and I was interviewing for a job in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as a senior in college before I spent my first night out of the state of Virginia.
This just goes to show how provincial people are! Growing up, I would have said that the top ten historic spots in America were in Virginia, and I had been to most of them, some several times. These include Mount Vernon, near DC but in Virginia, Monticello, Richmond – Capitol of the Confederacy, Appomattox Court House, Manassas, Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg. I certainly now, would not consider any of these in my top 30 – – and quite likely not even in my top 50 as the only ones that even entered my mind when compiling this list were Colonial Williamsburg and Monticello.
When I worked for the South Carolina Department of Commerce, John Drummond, Chairman of the South Carolina Senate Finance Committee, who was also a good friend and the most honest politician I ever met (truly, not just rhetoric), remarked while he and I were waiting for the rest of our group to come back to the car so we could continue on our trip, “Bill, why don’t more business just come to South Carolina? Why do we need to spend so much recruiting? We have everything here!” I replied “Senator, most of them have no clue we even exist. We work hard at Commerce to change that, but then, so do hundreds of other places.” He was stunned that I sincerely meant that.
He really saw the world from a very provincial viewpoint! Most people, even some widely traveled people, still do! They just do not have it in their constitution to understand what Robert Burns, the great Scot poet meant when he said “O, wad some power the giftie gie us, to see ourselves as ithers see us!”
(If only God had given us the power to see ourselves (our place in this context) as other do!)
Number 10
To start my countdown, I will begin with # 10 on my list – The Castles of North Wales erected by Edward I (1239-1307). I will focus on counting the top ten in far more detail than the remaining 20 and will occasionally mention a few places that failed to make the top 30. I will also have a few articles on my Bucket List – – places I want to go but have not yet been. That too, is a long list.
These four Castles were built between 1277 and the end of King Edward the First of England’s reign in 1307. He is best known as “the Hammer of the Scots” but first, he hammered the Welsh and built a string of castles along the sea on the Northern Coast of Wales. I have visited all four and managed to get to all in a single day, although we then spent two nights in Conwy and actually visited the castle on the second day. They are Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech Castles. Of these, Caernarfon is by far the most impressive. They were all built roughly a day’s march apart. He crowned his son, Edward, as Prince of Wales in 1301 in Caernarfon Castle. The younger Edward had been born at the castle in 1284 and King Edward hoped this would cement his over-lordship of Wales. Each of these castles is unique and all were “ruined” by the troops of Oliver Cromwell during the Parliamentarian Rule from 1649 to1660. But, today, all remain fairly intact except for a few breached walls. This was done so the Royals could not hide in the castles and use them to expand their opposition to the “Commonwealth” that existed for those 11 years.
Edward was also my 21st Great-Grandfather, according to the best available family data on Ancestry.com. Of course, at the 21st GGF level, everybody has 2,097,152 Great Grandfathers. Obviously, many of them are from several different family lines. The unusual thing is to be able to trace even one them back so far!! From him, though, it was simple to trace back to my 32nd GGF, Gaange Rolf the Viking of, probably, Denmark, who was the first Duke of Normandy. Although he did not have the explicit title, he was given the City of Rouen, France and some surrounding land by King Charles of France to defend Paris from other Vikings. His grandson was the first to explicitly use the title. Rolf is better known by his Latin name, Rollo. He also used the French version, Robert, on occasion.
Now for the castles. I will start with Beaumaris, probably the least impressive of the four, although, taken alone, it is still a very impressive fortress!
The view above is a tower of the castle, which is located on a small Island, barely off the coast of Wales, between Caernarfon and Conwy, both of which are on the mainland. You will barely notice that the bridge to the town of Beaumaris is little more than crossing a river, although it is a narrow channel of the Irish Sea.
Below are two pictures of the castle from Wikipedia, one from the water and one from the air.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos were taken by the author. This castle was begun around 1285 but not completed until after Edward’s death.
For reference of any future travelers, the least expensive admission is to buy a membership from CADW, the group that administers most of the important castles in Wales. An annual membership pays for itself after visiting two or three castles. This can be purchased at the first Welsh castle you visit.
Harlech
This castle is a little more complex, or at least, more interesting than Beaumaris. Located in the town of Harlech, Wales, the castle was built between 1282 and 1284 and cost “only” 8,000 pounds. A years revenues for the English treasury then was about 30,000 pounds. I say only because Beaumaris and Conwy each cost twice as much and Caernarfon almost three to four times as much, depending on whose figures you use.
Harlech is Southwest of the other castles and is another that can be skipped if you are on a tight schedule. It is the furthest from Conwy but is also the closest to Snowdonia National Park and Cardiff.
Above is a view of the town of Harlech from the castle wall. It was a very dreary March day. Below is a picture of the modern entrance to the castle, added as a safety feature and also to force traffic through the office and gift shop. The castle is right in the heart of the business district of Harlech. It would be very difficult to enter without a modern entrance.
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This castle is the furthest from Conwy. It is about 45 minutes by car from Caernarfon and 75 minutes from Beaumaris. Conwy is an additional half hour past Beaumaris, or about 105 minutes from Harlech, but because Beaumaris is on an island, the return trip is shortened almost 30 minutes by not going out of the way to get there again. Thus a complete round trip, starting from either Harlech or Conwy is about 2 and one-half hours. While Caernarfon is definitely the crown jewel of the four, Conwy is the best place to stay because, as you will see, the town of Conwy is a walled village, unequaled in all of Great Britain. The town is far more impressive than just the castle. The Wall is actually part of the castle’s fortifications and the castle itself is little more than a large Keep.
Caernarfon
I have been to this castle twice, first in 2003 with my wife and then again with my wife, daughter, grandson and granddaughter in 2017. As far as the castle itself, it is probably my favorite single castle in Europe. The picture below was taken just a couple of hours (at most) after the ones above at Harlech. What a difference a little sunshine makes!
The slightly raised platform with steps in the foreground is where coronations take place. Prince Charles was the last person crowned as Prince of Wales here, in July, 1958. He is also the longest serving Prince of Wales.
Some of the interior of Caernarfon was destroyed, a good bit remains, and some was never finished. There is a huge open courtyard here, possibly unique among the many castles of Europe.
The huge shadow is from the Southwestern wall of the Castle.
It is difficult to miss the major features of the castle once inside as English language signs throughout explain almost everything.
The kids loved these old ruined castles as they can run free in them and climb all over the ramparts, which generally are quite safe.
We were there in March and there were very few tourists that time of year. It was slightly chilly but much better than a large crowd.
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The view below is from about 50 feet back from the spot as the above, just more to the right wall. The “dragon” on the far right was new this visit. There was, in fact, a good bit more in the way of displays on this trip. In 2003, it looked more natural and in my opinion, the changes are not positive.
Conwy
As far as an overall visit, if you can only see one of these four, go to Conwy. It is a far better overall experience than any one of the others. Of course, if you are just passing through and are not spending the night in the area, definitely go instead to Caernarfon as it is clearly the best castle.
Conwy’s walls are far more interesting than the small castle they defend. They enclose an area of 25 acres and while I have found no figures on how many people live inside the walls, the town has a population of over 14,000 and a sizable number of those live within the walls. Every building I saw in the two full days we were there was architecturally interesting, Our hotel, “The Castle Hotel” which was more like a very large B&B, was extremely comfortable and there were three restaurants in the hotel, offering a wide variety. The food was beyond excellent.
A street outside the Conwy wall, leading into the castle wall.
The Smallest House in Great Britain
The “smallest house” is just the red portion of the overall structure. Inside, it is less than six feet wide and 10 feet deep. The last occupant, who was 6’ 3” tall, was unable to stand in it. Thus, the Town declared it uninhabitable. It is still in his family as a tourist attraction. The man in the picture is slightly less than six feet.
My Scribbles!! 