Friday, December 20, 2013

Castell Y Bere


Deep in the mountainous heart of mid Wales, nestling at the foot of Cader Idris in the Snowdonian National Park, lie the ruins of Castell y Bere and at just 6 miles away from us it was the perfect destination for an October Saturday afternoon walk in the autumn sun.  Castell y Bere is an atmospheric site steeped in history and is an outstanding example of a stronghold of the native Welsh Princes.

Castell y Bere - c. Cadw, Welsh Government (Crown Copyright)/Cadw, Llywodraeth Cymru (Hawlfraint y Goron)

We parked at the small gravel car park on the edge of the country lane and made our way to the castle up the hill through the woods.


The walk up to the ruins was more of a climb than I remember but having said that, the last time I came here I was younger than The Boy and Girl so I could be forgiven for not remembering as it was some 30 odd years ago.

Once there, we took advantage of the wonderful sunny autumn day and took one or two photos.  

Top of The Barbican:


Making their way up the side of The Middle Tower:


Ruins of the round tower:


Sitting on the ruins of the Middle Tower:







Sitting on the walls of the South Tower:


The rocky hill on the left of this picture is Bird's Rock or to give the hill it's Welsh name, Craig yr Aderyn.   It was named Bird's Rock as it is the only place in the UK where the Great Cormorant nests inland.  The rock was originally on the shore but over the centuries the sea has receded and the coast is now some 6 miles away.  It really is an outstanding sight in this beautiful Welsh valley.









Just as we were finishing taking photos the sky clouded over and we made a speedy decent to the car.


North Tower ruins:



The boy helping his little Sister on the uneven path.  Like me she struggles on uneven ground, another joy of RA/JIA.


Stopping for a rest half way down while I caught them up.





Some little whatnots just couldn't use the kissing gate to leave the Castle grounds and had climb over the other gate instead!



On our journey home those clouds well and truly opened and the rain fell and fell.  So much fell that evening that a road flooded in town and the water had to be pumped away the next day.

A little history about Castell y Bere:



A - South Tower, B - Ditch Yard, C - Middle Tower
D - Barbican, E - Round Tower, F - Courtyard,
G - North Tower

Today the ruins still stand on a rocky outcrop with protective ditches cut in to the stone on the south and east sides of the castle.

The entrance lies to the west where the Barbican was believed to have been built by Edward I.

Unusually for an early Welsh castle, there is evidence of decorative sculpture, including statues of soldiers, having been built into the castle, along with decorative floor tiles.  Castell y Bere is the only castle, other than Criccieth, to display such features.



After a 5 week break from my blog due to illness (Some scheduled posts did publish during this time) I am linking up with Country kids over at  Coombe Mill and #PoCoLo.

PoCoLo.SoFoLo

13 comments:

Coombe Mill - Fiona said...

Welcome back and I do hope that you are feeling much better! What a lovely post, the scenery is so beautiful and the ruins are great for exploring, definitely worthy of the climb to see them. Thanks for linking up and sharing with Country Kids.

Little Steps said...

Wow, the scenery here is absolutely stunning! Have now put this on my list of places to visit but maybe in the summer or late spring :) Stopping over from #CountryKids.

Jaime Oliver said...

what a really beautiful place to visit xx

mumturnedmom said...

Oh, those views are absolutely stunning! What a beautiful ruin :) Lovely photos of your day, looks like you had a gat day. Welcome back! #CountryKids

Charly Dove said...

What an incredible place! I just love the scenery - sounds and looks wonderful :)

Katie said...

Beautiful! I love ruins and hoping to head over to Wales soon to see some!

Katie said...

Beautiful! I love ruins and I'm hoping to see some in Wales soon too!

Betseyloves studley & cherub pie said...

Wow stunning photos. Looks fab there. So enchanting. Love that u included a bit of history from the area u visited! #countrykids

Mammasaurus said...

Breathtaking scenery and photos - looks like the sort of family day out I enjoyed as a child, climbing ruins and racing through the countryside x

Merry Christmas!

LAM said...

Loving the photography and scenery! It all looks so pretty.
*Blow your own bloghorn*
Merry Xmas x
Louise Abena Mensah

Holly said...

These photos are GORGEOUS! I not explored Wales when I studied in England during college, but I really wish I had. Seeing these photos reminds me of one of the many reasons I miss Britain so much - we just don't have the architectural history like that here in the States!

Morgan Prince said...

That looks like a really beautiful place. You have some great photos too. And welcome back and hope you're feeling better. x

Unknown said...

This looks absolutely and utterly stunning. What great photos. Thank you for linking to PoCoLo x