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"); nw.document.close(); nw.focus(); } Caernarfon and the Duality of Wales Home Caerffili Caernarfon Chirk Castell Dinas Bran Castell Dinbych Pembrokeshire Coast Castell Rhaglan Rhossili and Worm's Head

Caernarfon, the Heart of North Wales

We arrived in Caernarfon in late afternoon and found our B&B with little difficulty, just inside the city wall, nearly ½ mile in circumference. Setting off to explore, we found the Menai Straits and Angelsey Island right in front of us. Enjoying the shore and watching the sailboats, we wandered up towards Edward I´s great fortress. Caernarfon is located just north of the Roman fort of Segontium, occupied from c77 to c380. The Celts also occupied the site, although we haven´t got these dates. The walled city dates to the reign of Edward I, who has a reputation that is not very favorable, in today's Caernarfon.
After a while we were ready for a bite, so we started the menu reading that is so much a part of our typical travel evening. With something specific in mind, we found that the only pub serving food that we wanted, at a reasonable price, had, to our American ears, an offputting name, The Black Boy.

(The owner subsequently told us that the name dates to 1457, which made a great difference to our feelings on this issue.) After a great deal of effort, we could not find a more satisfactory pub meal, so we entered The Black Boy and found a table in a corner of the room.
Soon the room was filled with locals, definitely not a tourist spot. We were well into our entrés when two men and a woman came in and sat next to us. Mair, Chris and Hywel, are Welsh nationalists, but not from the same political party.

We fell into a wide ranging conversation, covering poetry, politics, food, politics, the local bitters, politics, life in the US vs the UK, politics, etc.

The very first topic our group discussed was why we were visiting Wales. They found novelty in the idea that we could be visiting Wales without family ties to draw us. We cited the history, natural beauty and charm of the people as reason enough, which on consideration struck them as satisfactory arguments. Hywel was curious as to which were our favorite American poets. When we replied with Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan, Hywel was able to immediately summon up their works, a feat that demonstrated the depth of his love for this art form.

Hywel, on right, as captured by Chris Blake

Mair, who continues to help me understand Welsh ways

Mair, Hywel and Chris all where passionate about the issues of Welsh Nationalism. Hywel taught us about the technical side of the issues, talking about the efforts to level the playing field with the English, so long dominant in the decision making for Wales. Hywel, now MP for Caernarfon, talked about the Welsh National Assembly, and about visions for developing the economy of Wales.
Bitters and malts kept appearing on our table, evidence of the prolific depth of Welsh hospitality, even as Mair spoke with great passion about the difficulties that were dumped on Wales, in particular, by Margaret Thatcher's conservative government. While these events were occuring in Wales, we were aware of them, but they seemed an abstraction. In Wales, hundreds of thousands were tossed out of work. The only resolution, for many, was diaspora to the ends of Britain, wherever work could be found. Mair talked about the history of Wales, her passion made us aware of the modern dichotomy represented by the English castles that crowd the Welsh skyline.

She gave a personal dimension to the story, which was confirmed by much of what Chris had to say. We spent most of the night talking with Mair, creeping back to our bed & breakfast in the wee hours of the morning, heads still buzzing from the concepts, company and drink.

A look across the rooftops of Caernarfon, from the castle towers

After cleaning up and a bit of breakfast, we went off for a tour of the city, including the castle. We found great charm in the dark grey stone buildings that are the stuff of Caernarfon. The shopping was fun, with great variety from which we could choose. After purchasing the usual touristic t-shirts, postcards, booklets and maps, we wandered over to Caernarfon Castle, which sits brooding darkly over the heart of the city.

Caernarfon's city wall and an anchor from a Napoleonic War era ship-of-the-line

The city wall runs off to the north from the castle

Home visit Caerffili Castle visit the Gardens at Chirk visit Castell Dinas Bran visit Castell Dinbych visit the magificent Pembrokeshire Coast visit Rhossili and Worm's Head Useful Reference Materials for Wales

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