After having driven past Beaumaris Castle at least four times, we decided we would have a good look inside. It would have been a beautiful castle that was started during the reign of King Edward I, but it was never completed. What we did see of it showed intelligent design and it would have been a difficult fortress to penetrate. The corridors were within the thick walls, and were narrow and dark. Many arrow holes were built in for the archers to take down the enemy, and the walls were ramparted and had many towers for more archers and troops to fight from.
It was getting on in the day so we took a flying visit to the town in Wales that boasts one of the longest place names in the world: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
(pronounced Llan-vire-pooll-guin-gill-go-ger-u-queern-drob-ooll-llandus-ilio-gogo-goch, and often shortened to Llanfair P G). All of the Welsh place names have meanings when broken down, this one means: St Mary's Church (Llanfair) in a hollow (pwll) of white hazel (gwyngyll) near (goger) the swirling whirlpool (y chwyrndrobwll) of the church of St Tysilio (llantysilio) with a red cave ([a]g ogo goch). Feeling really glad that I had a wide angle lens, we took lots of photos and did a spot of shopping before heading off to Derby.
The TomTom refused to connect (I had forgotten to charge the Bluetooth GPS device before we left) so we decided instead to rely on our own sense of navigation. After I took a wrong turn at the first roundabout we came across and got stuck in a line of traffic in Bangor, I decided to let Mum do the navigating – otherwise it might be Lyon all over again!
Deciding to avoid Liverpool, we took a series of A roads (via Nantwich) that would get us to Derby. Fortunately, the TomTom activated for a section where the roads were getting busy, and it guided us to where we could get there by ourselves just before it ran out of charge completely. We were glad when we arrived at Pete and Lynn’s without getting horribly lost – although, the roads in England are very well signposted so it would be quite hard.
After having a quick rest, and a cup of tea, we all drove over to Rob and Lucy’s to look at the changes they had made to their house before walking over to Ye Olde Spa Inne for a couple of pints. After a couple of hours, we drove back to Pete and Lynn’s to feast on some Tandoori chicken that Lynn had prepared. We all retired to bed on the right side of midnight, and while in bed, I wrote my eulogy for Dad’s memorial service tomorrow.
