Woolly says – The sun was out, although Jo had still packed to conquer all and any weather conditions we might meet whilst out along with my snack collection and a treat for Alfie the Dog. I’d planned the day carefully and we were heading a bit further than normal but having looked at pictures on google I knew it would be worth the extra ten minutes of driving. With the radio on and the open road in front of us I settled in with my after breakfast snack.
Fforest Fawr is an extensive upland area in the county of Powys, Wales. Formerly known as the Great Forest of Brecknock in English, it was a royal hunting area for several centuries but is now used primarily for sheep grazing, forestry, water catchment and recreation, it lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The forest is filled with remnants of iron mines including a large cave which I was excited to investigate. But first having parked up and released the barking beast we headed into the forests sculpture trail.
With the sunlight dappling through the trees, it made everything seem somewhat surreal.
Passing Merlin, I remembered reading that the forest had in fact been used for filming the series of the same name, I nodded to the famous wizard and headed deeper into the trees.
Furry paws raced ahead passing an interesting sculpture of a boar being hugged by two people, brave people if they liked hugging boars I thought as I passed by a small wooden forest scene.
Another wizard marked a turn in the path that led us past a wolf and a beautifully carved bench.
Next came Bob the Cat who was busy watching something in the undergrowth before I caught up with an otter and a weasel.
A face carved into a tree and another bench covered in birds led us to a viewing point across the valley.
We turned onto a different path and ambled along passing uprooted trees and a newer saplings.
Two large bears stopped us, and I raced over to have a look at their famous cave. Three Bears Cave was once the entrance to a huge mine with the mine face being around 50 metres inside with passages covered in fools’ gold leading into the main shaft area. Rich in coal, limestone and iron ore it was closed in 1870. The mine was used as the location of a film set as the dragon’s cave in the BBC 1989 adaptation of Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Sadly, as it was fenced off and the human wouldn’t allow me to duck under the fence, I had to content myself with looking at it rather than looking into it. We wandered on finding that the path got wider and led us directly back to the carpark, which was where I found the best sculpture yet, a dragon! It was wonderful and all saddled up ready for me to fly through the skies on my scaley friend, sadly Jo had other ideas and herded Alfie the Dog and myself back into the car ready to find the next destination. Leaving the muddy mutt in the car parked under a huge tree with the windows opened I knew we had a timeline for visiting, we raced up the driveway and came to a sudden stop at the sight in front of us.
Castell Coch (Welsh for Red Castle) was stunning and a proper fairytale castle.
A 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of Tongwynlais in South Wales, the first castle on the site was built by the Normans after 1081 to protect the newly conquered town of Cardiff and control the route along the Taff Gorge. Abandoned shortly afterwards, the castle’s earth motte was reused by Gilbert de Clare as the basis for a new stone fortification, which he built between 1267 and 1277 to control his freshly annexed Welsh lands. The castle is thought to have been destroyed in the native Welsh rebellion of 1314. In 1760, the ruins were acquired by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, as part of a marriage settlement that brought the family vast estates in South Wales. John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, inherited the castle in 1848. One of Britain’s wealthiest men, with interests in architecture and antiquarian studies, he employed the architect William Burges to rebuild the castle, “as a country residence for occasional occupation in the summer”, using the medieval remains as a basis for the design. Burges rebuilt the outside of the castle between 1875 and 1879, before turning to the interior; he died in 1881 and the work was finished by Burges’s remaining team in 1891.
Climbing up the drawbridge I looked at the outside where red shutter covered the windows of the towers and a lovely depiction of the Mary mother of Christ.
Inside was a courtyard area with small entrances and arrow slots set into the wall, benches meant that you could put out your paws up and enjoy the surrounding forest views.
A covered balcony was on the first floor, as we headed upstairs my excitement could hardly be contained. It gave us a better view of the towers and weathervanes, but I hadn’t got time to admire them for long.
We arrived in the banqueting hall. It was incredible with its high wooden ceiling painted with stars and window seats leading towards the leaded windows.
A mammoth fireplace with a large statue in place took centre stage but my eye was drawn to the religious figures painted on the far wall and a few pictures of the families’ relatives. The whole room was stunning, and I could barely drag myself away but with time of the essence I headed into the next delight.
The domed ceiling in the next room was even better, again they had the window seats, and I would have been quite happy settling into one and spending the day there with a pile of snacks of course.
Above the beautiful fireplace were carved statues with the most incredible detailing.
In fact, the room was covered in the most wonderful décor, and I paused to feast my eyes on it.
Lady Bute’s bedroom was next with its own bathroom area it was bright and welcoming not to mention the incredible ceiling that she would have woken up to.
Next door was a small toilet which of course I couldn’t resist using before we headed up the spiral staircase to find ourselves in another bedroom.
The bed took centre stage and was even better than the last room with its wonderful ceiling and armoire.
A sink sat to one side of the room sitting between to castle turrets which was rather novel.
Down the steep staircases we went to the portcullis room where we were told that it was still in full working order and was raised every night to protect the castle.
Up we went again to arrive in the chapel which seemed quite under decorated in comparison to everything else the small windows were very cute though and the stained glass panels proved interesting.
The arrows took us outside to circumnavigate the top of one of the towers with its red shutters and narrow slits.
Heading down one flight we arrived at a viewing platform which allowed us to take in the buildings more fully as well as to admire the ceramic roof toppers.
Next came the large kitchen with its huge dresser and a small doorway which sadly was closed so I was unable to find out more.
Lady Margret’s bedroom was reached by another set of steps with its original 13th century furniture. The décor was very plain in comparison to everything else, but the views were wonderful.
With time running out I dashed into the wine cellar before poking my tusks into the former boiler room with its gigantic contraption that would have once heated the family rooms.
Arriving back in the courtyard Jo checked the time and we raced back to the car to unleash the beast before considering where we might get a late lunch, all of us delighted with finds for the day.