Liverpool, England- Day 3; 1 of 5 CASTLE

Wales is a Country that is part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom (formerly defined as a principality, with England and Scotland defined as countries and Northern Ireland as a province). Confusing? It is bordered by the Irish Sea, England and the Bristol Channel/Celtic Sea with a population of 3.2 million and is 8,192 sq mi. Wales is regarded as a modern Celtic Nation giving it its identity and festivals with its flag a red dragon showing fearlessness. The 2021 census showed that 55.2 percent identified as "Welsh only" and 8.1 per cent identified as "Welsh and British", giving the combined proportion of 63.3 per cent for people identifying as Welsh (currently it is over 67%).

We spent the day in North Wales and Conwy Castle, a UNESCO listed medieval castle and then we walked around the Welsh village near the castle and at Betws-y-Coed, on our way back through Cheshire. We passed beautiful landscapes of hills and lush river valleys.

The castle was built as a fortress in the 13th Century with 2,000 construction workers working for 4 years to build (first it took 4 years of gathering stones). King Edward I and his architect Master James of St George built the castle between 1283 and 1287. Conwy takes its place alongside Edward’s other great castles at Beaumaris, Harlech and Caernarfon as a World Heritage Site. He spent very little time here, one Christmas as we were told, trapped by a Welsh rebellion of 1294 with just one barrel of wine in the castle cellar for comfort. His queen Eleanor of Castile, for whom Master James built a relatively modest first-floor chamber, died in 1290 after years abroad (and only saw the castle under construction).

This famous fortress is exceptionally well preserved and contains medieval royal apartments and a high curtain wall with eight towers. This darkly fortress was originally white, and the walls were built first to make it secure from the start. There is a suite of royal apartments still intact as well as a chapel with stained glass (see photos). We walked up the spiral staircases to see the King’s Great Chamber and his separate area of the chapel.

In 1301 the future Edward II came to the castle to receive homage as Prince of Wales and stayed for a couple of months. Conwy also hosted tense negotiations between Richard II and his eventual captors in 1399. By the 17th century the original suite with two entrances – one for the king and one for the queen – had been converted to a single unit.Read more