all things Welsh including ancient strongholds, abbeys, country houses, prehistoric tombs, palaces and museums of Wales, beaches and landscapes
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all…~ Joni Mitchell
Before being re-erected at Bodnant in the 1930’s, the building was originally put together in 1730 as a picnic house or shooting lodge, or it is thought it may have been used as a garden house. Later, the building was used as a factory for making dressmaking pins with two furnaces for that purpose inside the building.
WPC: Reflecting
…but lots of other Welsh subjects to celebrate St David’s Day today (1 March)
Clockwise from top left: Burry Port lighthouse, Pembroke Castle, Red Kite, Laugharne Castle, Dylan Thomas Writing Shed, Weobley Castle, Harbourmaster Hotel Aberaeron, Dinefwr Castle, Kidwelly Castle, Daffodils, Spring lambs, Rhossili Beach, St Mary the Virgin Rhossili, Dylan Thomas Boathouse, River Aeron, Dryslwyn Castle
Centre: The Black Mountains Range (Brecon Beacons)
Living on the English / Welsh border I have been fortunate to explore the lovely Welsh counties and its many, many castles and beaches and landscapes.
Paula’s black and white Sunday this week is all about Light.
One of the things I do love about winter is how trees become so beautiful with their bare limbs free of leaves so that the structure shows against the sky. Sometimes, as in this case, the sky behind also has a beauty of its own with interesting cloud formations and shooting into the sun produces a monochromatic image without much post-processing required.
Please visit Paula to see other blogger’s light filled images.
Paula over at Lost in Translation runs a weekly Black and White Sunday challenge. I have been intending to write some posts about the castles and priories I have visited in Wales, but like other posts, I haven’t quite got around to them yet. But when I saw this week’s theme I thought about the ruins I have photographed and which, to me anyway, always convey that moody atmosphere which clings to ancient buildings. You can almost hear the chanting of the monks, the slap of leather sandals on Welsh slate floors, the swish of robes through the Cloister and the murmur of voices in the Chapter House where the ‘Black Canons’ assembled each morning.
And of course the background of the Welsh hills and the glowering clouds in a wet January only serve to enhance the mood.
Dawn of “The Day After” runs a monthly architecture challenge as well as her windows, I haven’t joined in for a while, but thought it would be a good opportunity to share some photos of Tintern Abbey. Long since abandoned.
the Cistercian abbey of Tintern is one of the greatest monastic ruins of Wales. It was only the second Cistercian foundation in Britain, and the first in Wales, and was founded on 9 May 1131 by Walter de Clare, lord of Chepstow.
In the 1500s monastic life in England and Wales was brought to an abrupt end by the political actions of King Henry VIII. The Dissolution of the Monasteries was part of the king’s policy to establish total control over the church in his realm.
Tintern Abbey was surrendered to the king’s visitors on 3 September 1536. With the roofs gone and windows smashed it was destined to fall into decay, but was rediscovered in the late 18th century and became a fashionable place to visit by many people wanting to discover a wild and romantic place including the artist JMW Turner and the poet William Wordsworth.
Since the early twentieth century the abandoned ruin has been cared for and restored so that it will remain the perfect ruined abbey for many years to come. If you would like to read more about the abbey then please visit Castle Wales.
TRAVEL WORDS 