Personal Blog
Helen went to visit a friend in London today, so I was left to my own devices to adventure alone. I decided to drive to North-West Wales and visit one of my favourite castles: Caernarfon. After dropping Helen off at the station first thing, I got straight on the motorway, and drove exactly 100 miles before finding myself looking up at the walls of the castle.
Tucked away in the little village of Moreton Corbet, a stone’s throw away from the Shawbury RAF base, the remains of Moreton Corbet Castle lie at the side of the road. The signpost had been swallowed by a hedge so we initially missed our turnoff, but a quick U-turn later we found ourselves looking upon the castle.
After a quick lunch in Cafe Rouge, we made our way towards Clifford’s Tower and the York Castle Museum, stopping off at a couple of galleries on the way. One of our favourite artists, Mark Braithwaite, has his gallery just down the road from the cathedral, so naturally we spent a little while rifling through his prints. Helen bought a couple of small prints here and we moved on.
Today we took a road trip up to the beautiful city of York. We set off early to arrive just as the attractions were opening, but even though I was outside York Minster as it opened at 10am, I had to stand in-line for nearly 30 minutes to gain entry. This is by far the busiest cathedral I’ve ever visited, with what must’ve been at least two coach-loads of tourists queueing to get in.
In the middle of Hope Valley in the Peak District, Peveril Castle overlooks the small village of Castleton. The drive down to Castleton itself is very steep, and the area is a major cycling, motorbiking, and walking hotspot. It was a lovely sunny day, so it seemed as though everyone from a 50 mile radius was descending on the Peak District for a Sunday in the sun, it was very busy.