Welsh Holiday Pictures!
Finally, finally, I have uploaded the photos from my holiday in Wales. There are a ridiculous amount of pictures beneath the cut, most of them are rainy days spent at castles or burial chambers with Merlin in the background and me wearing a lot of navy blue. BUT there are yew trees that leak BLOOD, a photo of me in some stocks and the grave of a minor Arthurian character. Feel free to skip!
So we stayed in Fishguard, near Cardigan in South West Wales. We were taking Merlin home, essentially, as he was born near Cardigan!
So, the white building on the left is the beautiful cottage we stayed in.
Merlin loved the garden so much! He pretty much wanted to spend every spare moment out here playing with his frisby. We have a big garden at home, but this one was ridiculously long and he could just run and run.
These were the first sheep he ever saw. I feel a little guilty that he will never have a chance to herd them. It's in his blood, you can tell, his parents were both working dogs and the farmer was considering keeping him to train, so he must have shown some promise. I like to think he has a nice life with me though. :)
The views from the coastal path were breathtaking. This was about five minutes walk from the cottage.
The heather was so pretty.
On the first day we went to visit Carreg Coetan Arthur, a neolithic burial chamber. Merlin's legs make me laugh so much on this photo.
And I honestly don't know what's going on with his face here, he looks like he's been possessed. I assume he was yawning...but you never can tell.
Keeping on a theme, we then visited the Pentre Ifan burial chamber, which is said to be the most impressive example in Wales. It really was beautiful and we had the place to ourselves, which I always really appreciate, I love the atmosphere! Can you spot Merlin in this picture? Just as we were leaving this yuppie couple from the south of England appeared and I heard them say "Well, it's not exactly Stonehenge." Idiots.
Here's Merlin looking extremely Welsh. Poor little guy, I made him pose for ages whilst I took these photos.
This is Pembroke Castle on an extremely rainy day.
This is how it would've looked on a sunny day. Can't help but think that we were robbed.
But it was fun to explore none-the-less.
And Merlin liked reading the information boards (seriously, he did this to every board we encountered)! He's absolutely soaked through here, as were we all.
Scale!
It's rare that I visit castles that aren't completely ruined, so it was odd to look up at a ceiling! This room really reminded me of that scene from Interview With The Vampire. Thankfully no one got turned to ash on this particular day.
Merlin is so nosy, he sat there for ages looking at the people down below.
Grandma, what big teeth you have!
On the third day of (slightly less) rain we went for a walk in this beautiful woodland, we only found it because there was a geocache there!
The river was really full due to the rain...
...so it made for some impressive viewing!
On the fourth day we actually had some sunshine! We visited St David's Bishop's Palace, which was stunning.
It dated from the 1200s, but you could still see so much of the lavish decoration.
It must have been beautiful when it was built.
I always look like such a goth in the summer. As does Merlin.
Right next door to the Bishop's Palace is St. David's Cathedral. We weren't allowed inside with Merlin, so we had to admire it from afar.
After that we went geocaching on the coastal paths, which was super windy fun.
And Merlin made friends with a cow.
When we got home we sat outside in the garden and spotted these enormous birds over the mountain. They glided overhead for a long time, making the most wonderful calls.
We think they were Red Kites.
Just after that Jim found the hugest four leafed clover either of us had ever seen.
In the garden at night I saw the Milky Way for the first time in my life and it was completely magical. I live in the countryside, but there are still too many lights and I'd never been able to spot it before. We went out every night after that, but it was never clear enough for us to see it again.
This was the moment that Merlin spotted "ceiling dog" and was very disconcerted by him.
This is Cilgerran Castle, probably my favourite castle of the holiday.
It was ruined and lovely.
I hated having to keep Merlin on the lead for so much of the holiday, but obviously it's important when you're in a place like this. We made a game of it though.
Merlin looks like a direwolf here. He's so big! :D
This is St. Dogmael's Abbey. It was absolutely amazing and completely free!
Here's a better shot of the ground plan.
I had no idea Jim had taken this picture. I believe I can be seen in mid-conversation with Merlin. I do this a lot.
I swear I do have other coats, lots of other coats, lots of other nicer coats! But this one is great for exploring and it was summer, even if it was raining!
This carving kinda creeped me out, so I took a photo.
Merlin had the best time here at the abbey, I think it's the happiest I've ever seen him on the lead!
Check him out!
♥ This might just be my favourite picture of all time.
There are honestly no flattering photos of me from this holiday. It rained too much for any form of glamour!
On our last day we went to the little village of Nevern, because I'd read that there was a yew tree that BLED in the churchyard! So macabre!
I've since found out that there's something of far greater interest in this Churchyard. THE GRAVE OF VORTIGERN. OMG. I've always made it a priority to seek out sites of Arthurian interest, ever since I was a small child visiting Tintagel Castle in Cornwall. And I missed this! I can't even find it in the background of any of my photos. :( So I've borrowed this one from Google.
I must've walked right past it! I think I did notice it, but had no idea what it was.
Here's a picture I found that shows the inscription a little better.
We had a look around the churchyard, it was amazing and wild, graves at all angles!
It was the most beautiful churchyard I'd ever been in, it even had different tiers!
Cute little door!
This is the Nevern Cross. It's 13ft high and dates from the 10-11th century.
OK, I know you've all been waiting for the Bleeding Yew Tree, so here it is.
Alas, I'm not sure we visited at the right time of the year and I don't even think this was the right tree, but it was still pretty hideous though. Apparently it's 700+ years old. It reminds me of that scene in The Last Unicorn where Schmendrick accidentally turns the tree into a hideous big-bosomed woman.
ETA: I wrote this in the comments and thought I should probably include it here. At the time I remember thinking that it looked like the tree had someone trapped inside it. Like it had absorbed them and they were still alive in there, in agony! Kinda like this guy from Fallout
ARGH!
This was more like a weeping sore.
The fact that it had rained so heavily made the entire thing look so much worse. Seriously though, prepare yourself for the next picture, which I found on Google.
(Credit)
Holy crap, that is hideous. And yeah, we're all thinking the same thing, it isn't just you ;-). Apparently the legend says that it will continue to bleed until a Welsh King is restored to the throne at Nevern Castle. It'll be bleeding for a long time then, because, well...
(Credit)
This is Nevern Castle! Another legend says that it bleeds for an innocent man who was hanged in the village. It's odd how none of the other trees which stand next to it bleed in the same manner.
After we left the Church we went up to see some stone cairns above Ty Canol Woods. Honestly, it was just magical up there. Again, we only found this place because we saw the location on the geocaching website (I really need to do a blog about geocaching and show you all my finds!).
The views were just amazing and it had the most wonderful atmosphere!
Those dark clouds came over very quickly and we got absolutely drenched whilst finding the cache. It was worth it though, what an experience! :D
On our way home to Derbyshire we decided to find somewhere pleasant to stop for lunch and just as we were getting hungry we saw a signpost for a castle!
This was the view we had as we ate our sandwiches! Can you believe it?
Here's a clearer view of the ruins.
And another.
Wow, that sure was a lot of photos! Thanks for sticking with me!
So we stayed in Fishguard, near Cardigan in South West Wales. We were taking Merlin home, essentially, as he was born near Cardigan!
So, the white building on the left is the beautiful cottage we stayed in.
Merlin loved the garden so much! He pretty much wanted to spend every spare moment out here playing with his frisby. We have a big garden at home, but this one was ridiculously long and he could just run and run.
These were the first sheep he ever saw. I feel a little guilty that he will never have a chance to herd them. It's in his blood, you can tell, his parents were both working dogs and the farmer was considering keeping him to train, so he must have shown some promise. I like to think he has a nice life with me though. :)
The views from the coastal path were breathtaking. This was about five minutes walk from the cottage.
The heather was so pretty.
On the first day we went to visit Carreg Coetan Arthur, a neolithic burial chamber. Merlin's legs make me laugh so much on this photo.
And I honestly don't know what's going on with his face here, he looks like he's been possessed. I assume he was yawning...but you never can tell.
Keeping on a theme, we then visited the Pentre Ifan burial chamber, which is said to be the most impressive example in Wales. It really was beautiful and we had the place to ourselves, which I always really appreciate, I love the atmosphere! Can you spot Merlin in this picture? Just as we were leaving this yuppie couple from the south of England appeared and I heard them say "Well, it's not exactly Stonehenge." Idiots.
Here's Merlin looking extremely Welsh. Poor little guy, I made him pose for ages whilst I took these photos.
This is Pembroke Castle on an extremely rainy day.
This is how it would've looked on a sunny day. Can't help but think that we were robbed.
But it was fun to explore none-the-less.
And Merlin liked reading the information boards (seriously, he did this to every board we encountered)! He's absolutely soaked through here, as were we all.
Scale!
It's rare that I visit castles that aren't completely ruined, so it was odd to look up at a ceiling! This room really reminded me of that scene from Interview With The Vampire. Thankfully no one got turned to ash on this particular day.
Merlin is so nosy, he sat there for ages looking at the people down below.
Grandma, what big teeth you have!
On the third day of (slightly less) rain we went for a walk in this beautiful woodland, we only found it because there was a geocache there!
The river was really full due to the rain...
...so it made for some impressive viewing!
On the fourth day we actually had some sunshine! We visited St David's Bishop's Palace, which was stunning.
It dated from the 1200s, but you could still see so much of the lavish decoration.
It must have been beautiful when it was built.
I always look like such a goth in the summer. As does Merlin.
Right next door to the Bishop's Palace is St. David's Cathedral. We weren't allowed inside with Merlin, so we had to admire it from afar.
After that we went geocaching on the coastal paths, which was super windy fun.
And Merlin made friends with a cow.
When we got home we sat outside in the garden and spotted these enormous birds over the mountain. They glided overhead for a long time, making the most wonderful calls.
We think they were Red Kites.
Just after that Jim found the hugest four leafed clover either of us had ever seen.
In the garden at night I saw the Milky Way for the first time in my life and it was completely magical. I live in the countryside, but there are still too many lights and I'd never been able to spot it before. We went out every night after that, but it was never clear enough for us to see it again.
This was the moment that Merlin spotted "ceiling dog" and was very disconcerted by him.
This is Cilgerran Castle, probably my favourite castle of the holiday.
It was ruined and lovely.
I hated having to keep Merlin on the lead for so much of the holiday, but obviously it's important when you're in a place like this. We made a game of it though.
Merlin looks like a direwolf here. He's so big! :D
This is St. Dogmael's Abbey. It was absolutely amazing and completely free!
Here's a better shot of the ground plan.
I had no idea Jim had taken this picture. I believe I can be seen in mid-conversation with Merlin. I do this a lot.
I swear I do have other coats, lots of other coats, lots of other nicer coats! But this one is great for exploring and it was summer, even if it was raining!
This carving kinda creeped me out, so I took a photo.
Merlin had the best time here at the abbey, I think it's the happiest I've ever seen him on the lead!
Check him out!
♥ This might just be my favourite picture of all time.
There are honestly no flattering photos of me from this holiday. It rained too much for any form of glamour!
On our last day we went to the little village of Nevern, because I'd read that there was a yew tree that BLED in the churchyard! So macabre!
I've since found out that there's something of far greater interest in this Churchyard. THE GRAVE OF VORTIGERN. OMG. I've always made it a priority to seek out sites of Arthurian interest, ever since I was a small child visiting Tintagel Castle in Cornwall. And I missed this! I can't even find it in the background of any of my photos. :( So I've borrowed this one from Google.
I must've walked right past it! I think I did notice it, but had no idea what it was.
Here's a picture I found that shows the inscription a little better.
We had a look around the churchyard, it was amazing and wild, graves at all angles!
It was the most beautiful churchyard I'd ever been in, it even had different tiers!
Cute little door!
This is the Nevern Cross. It's 13ft high and dates from the 10-11th century.
OK, I know you've all been waiting for the Bleeding Yew Tree, so here it is.
Alas, I'm not sure we visited at the right time of the year and I don't even think this was the right tree, but it was still pretty hideous though. Apparently it's 700+ years old. It reminds me of that scene in The Last Unicorn where Schmendrick accidentally turns the tree into a hideous big-bosomed woman.
ETA: I wrote this in the comments and thought I should probably include it here. At the time I remember thinking that it looked like the tree had someone trapped inside it. Like it had absorbed them and they were still alive in there, in agony! Kinda like this guy from Fallout
ARGH!
This was more like a weeping sore.
The fact that it had rained so heavily made the entire thing look so much worse. Seriously though, prepare yourself for the next picture, which I found on Google.
(Credit)
Holy crap, that is hideous. And yeah, we're all thinking the same thing, it isn't just you ;-). Apparently the legend says that it will continue to bleed until a Welsh King is restored to the throne at Nevern Castle. It'll be bleeding for a long time then, because, well...
(Credit)
This is Nevern Castle! Another legend says that it bleeds for an innocent man who was hanged in the village. It's odd how none of the other trees which stand next to it bleed in the same manner.
After we left the Church we went up to see some stone cairns above Ty Canol Woods. Honestly, it was just magical up there. Again, we only found this place because we saw the location on the geocaching website (I really need to do a blog about geocaching and show you all my finds!).
The views were just amazing and it had the most wonderful atmosphere!
Those dark clouds came over very quickly and we got absolutely drenched whilst finding the cache. It was worth it though, what an experience! :D
On our way home to Derbyshire we decided to find somewhere pleasant to stop for lunch and just as we were getting hungry we saw a signpost for a castle!
This was the view we had as we ate our sandwiches! Can you believe it?
Here's a clearer view of the ruins.
And another.
Wow, that sure was a lot of photos! Thanks for sticking with me!