Liverpool and North Wales: Day 8

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Thursday, 8th May

Welcome back! It’s our third day in cosy Borth-y-Gest, North Wales. It’s a very quiet spot close to the town of Porthmadog.

After breakfast, we made plans for today and decided to head West!

We’re heading for another Castle, a famous Museum and some photo opportunities of the gorgeous Welsh beaches. The weather forecast for this, our latest adventure, is much the same as when we first arrived – warmISH – but so far, the days have actually been warmer than the numbers suggested. Yesterday, reaching a barmy 20℃! 🥵.

Picnic prepared ✅, Sat-Nav working ✅, Welsh Phrasebook packed ✅ – we’re sorted! 🙂😎. Everything is close together today, so we won’t be covering many miles at all.

9.45am: Off we go!

Criccieth Castle…

10.01am: Our first stop was the iconic Criccieth Castle. The Castle is a ruined thirteenth-century castle (built in 1230) located on a rocky headland overlooking Tremadog Bay. We’re told that the views are amazing and we were just about to find out! Admission was just £7.10 + £7.90 each (one concession!)

As we headed up the steps towards the ruin, we noticed that it wasn’t quite as warm as yesterday, where today, our closeness to the coast meant there was that now familiar icy chill to the breeze! ❄️❄️

It was worth the climb (even with the icy blasts) for those promised views!

Well worth the frostbite! 👍🙂

Returning to the Visitor Centre, there was also a comprehensive display that explained the history of the Castle. It was very informative, explaining the ups and downs of the Castle’s proud history. Overall, it may not have been quite as grand as our visit to Harlech Castle, yesterday but it had a charm all of its own. Note for motorists – there’s no car-park, but nearby on-street parking is available for free.

Lloyd George Museum

10.52am: Next on our itinerary was the Lloyd George Museum. Located in his home village of Llanystumdwy. No prizes for guessing that this is THE Museum dedicated to the life and times of David Lloyd George, who was Prime Minister of the UK from 1916 to 1922. He is also buried here (more about that later).

The Museum has its own small car-park, but it’s easy to miss. Simply turn right through the gates, pass the Museum entrance on your right and you’ll see it straight ahead. There are only about half a dozen spaces though!. It cost us £8 each for admission.

I couldn’t recall much from my school days when we covered DLG’s tenure as PM, but this small-but-packed Museum filled in all the gaps perfectly! From cradle to grave, it explained his humble upbringing, his political career and his ultimate exit from politics.

The Museum even had its own mini-cinema! It showed a thirty-minute piece introduced onscreen and as the voiceover by the late Philip ‘Don’t tell him Pike’ Madoc (who also played DLG in the 1981 series) and it gave an excellent overview of the politician’s life.

We both agreed that the Museum ‘punched well above its weight’ in terms of content – but wait, there’s more! After our Museum visit, we were reminded that there was also a free accompanied tour around nearby ‘Highgate Cottage‘, the homecottage where DLG was brought up between 1864 and 1880. We learned that he lived here with his Uncle, Richard Lloyd, his Mother, Elizabeth, his Grandmother, Rebecca Samuel, his elder Sister, Mary Ellen and his younger brother William George (who was born in the house).

It was only a two-bedroom cottage! Given the number of people living there, it was obviously a very tight squeeze! 🤔

We ended our visit with the short walk to where DLG is buried. We’d seen scenes from his funeral on the film earlier where it showed how popular he was. He had left strict instructions that he wanted a humble burial (including no headstone) with just a plain rock instead at ground level over where the coffin lies.

It was somewhat sad for us to see how the grave and the immediate area appeared to have been forgotten in the intervening years. For someone who had done so much for so many people in his political life, how could this be?

A theory: The location is managed by the local Council, and maybe they simply can’t afford the upkeep! 🙄. If so, that IS a shame!

Midday: At 12, we took the opportunity to observe, like many, the two-minute silence as part of ‘VE80 Day‘. Returning to the car, slightly sad, we headed for our first seaside/beach photo opportunity, just 15 minutes away.

Pwllheli

12.22pm: Pwllheli is a market town on the Llŷn Peninsula. It’s predominantly Welsh-speaking, but fortunately, we weren’t here to chat with anyone! 🤔 – we just wanted to see the views! B***** tourists! 🤔. Currently, the population is currently less than 4000 – and is declining. Answers on a (seaside) postcard to the usual address! 🤔

In a word! ‘Wow!’. It’s maybe hard to believe this is WALES! Why go anywhere else??? 🙂. The obvious comparison is with Cornwall – we found it to be cheaper, the roads are better and the beaches even more attractive!

Abersoch

It was now warming up (although at just 14℃, it wasn’t going to match yesterday!) and so we thought we’d travel further around the coast – to Abersoch. The village is a popular coastal seaside resort, home to around 2,600 locals.

12.54pm: Another nice shot out to sea though! Phew! I think we’re now all ‘beach-photoed-out’. We had our picnic in the car and then headed back to Basecamp.

Tomorrow…

It’s our last full day tomorrow! And for some, maybe where we’re heading is the most significant tourist attraction in Wales! – Portmeirion – It is of course the setting for the rather weird (but very watchable, but often confusing) 60’s TV series, The Prisoner. Luckily, I already know who ‘Number 1’ is (or so I’m told!!) 😉. We’ve got an afternoon tea booked there for 2.30, but before that, we’re going to take a wander around Porthmadog on foot.

Be seeing you! 😂