Woolly says – Having consumed my full English …. I do think that Jo should provide one of these for me every day… we packed our belongings into the car and waved goodbye to Llandudno. A mere fifteen minutes away via a Tesco where Jo speedily filled the boot with supplies for our return home and we were in the town of Conwy.
A walled costal market town and community in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales, the name ‘Conwy’ derives from the old Welsh words cyn (chief) and gwy (water), the river being originally called the ‘Cynwy’. People born within the town walls of Conwy are nicknamed “Jackdaws”, after the jackdaws which live on the walls there. A Jackdaw Society existed until 2011.
The approach into the town was incredible with the huge castle being the first thing that I saw, although given its size it would be difficult to miss. Sadly, I knew that we wouldn’t be able to actually go inside, I sighed and looked across at my carer.
Although I had tried to book tickets the website was down, having phoned I was told that I had to book online, I pointed out that the website wasn’t working and was told to book online! Not helpful so my small friend and I had decided to make the most of a walk around it’s exterior.
Woolly says – Having parked up we set off to see how much of the impressive structure we could see. Conwy Castle and the town walls were built, on the instruction of Edward I of England, between 1283 and 1289, as part of his conquest of the principality of Wales, its construction had cost around £15,000, a huge sum for the period. Over the next few centuries, the castle played an important part in several wars. It withstood the siege of Madog ap Llywelyn in the winter of 1294 – 1295, acted as a temporary haven for Richard II in 1399 and was held for several months by forces loyal to Owain Glyndŵr in 1401. Following the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, the castle was held by forces loyal to Charles I, holding out until 1646 when it surrendered to the Parliamentary armies. In the aftermath, the castle was partially slighted by Parliament to prevent it being used in any further revolt, and was finally completely ruined in 1665 when its remaining iron and lead was stripped and sold off.
It was stunning with towers running along the side we followed the walls round until we found ourselves on the suspension bridge.
Designed by Thomas Telford to replace the ferry, this was completed in 1826 and spans the River Conwy. Telford designed the bridge’s supporting towers to match the castle’s turrets and they certainly did although they did look slightly newer to the original castle walls. The bridge is now open to pedestrians only and as we crossed it gave the most spectacular view of the castle itself.
Having taken our fill of the wonderful fortification we crossed over the road and wandered along the quayside where gulls swooped overhead and fishermen mended their lines and cleaned their lobster pots. A rainbow appeared in the sky and I raced towards it in the hope of finding the gold, no gold to be seen but there was a little treasure to look at.
The Smallest House in Great Britain also known as the Quay House was created in the 16th century and remained in use until 1900, with its tenant, a 6 foot 3 inch (1.91 m) fisherman named Robert Jones. The rooms were too small for him to stand up in fully and he was eventually forced to move out when the council declared the house unfit for human habitation, The house is still owned by his descendants, having been passed to female relatives since Robert’s sons showed a lack of interest in the business, it’s claim to fame has been verified by the Guinness Book of Records. Sadly, it was closed so I could only imagine the tiny inside that messaged a mere 10 feet by 5 foot 9 inches and included a living area with room for coal and an open fire, and a water tap tucked behind the stairs and an upstairs bedroom with a small niche for storage. It looked a perfect size for a small mammoth to reside in.
Passing through the town walls we found ourselves in small streets with some lovely buildings to gaze at, on the corner of the street sat Aberconwy House, a medieval merchant’s house and one of the oldest dateable houses in Wales. Constructed in the 15th century it looked most pleasing but like so many things was closed due to the current situation.
Turning into another street we found the lovely building of Plas Mawr (meaning Great Hall) which was an Elizabethan house built by Robert Wynn, a member of the local gentry, following his marriage to his first wife, Dorothy Griffith. Constructed in three phases between 1576 and 1585 at a total cost of around £800 it was a fine example of architecture and although I itched to see inside again that wasn’t to be.
The small town square allowed us to admire the former Police headquarters before we found our way into the grounds of the Church of St Mary’s & All Saints the parish church which was originally the Cistercian Aberconwy Abbey, which dated back to 1172. A stroll round the graveyard and we arrived back at the car park.
Sad that we hadn’t been able to see inside anywhere I felt that the small town had an awful lot to offer and as we set off for our next port of call, I kept my paws crossed that we could return.
Our walk had been most enjoyable and except for one light shower resulting in the rainbow we had seen the weather had been on our side.
Woolly says – Almost as soon as Jo turned the ignition the heavens descended on us, we crept out of the town with visibility down to a few feet and by the tine we reached our next stop to be I couldn’t even see out of the windscreen. Things had been going so well and as we pulled into the side of the road and looked around us the chances of seeing the Roman bridge I had planned disappeared in a stream of water. I sighed heavily as we set off for home, one to add to the list of places to return to.
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