Cymru - Wales in a weekend.

Hello Everyone!!!  So, all of my time here in the UK has not been spent in London.  My boss-lady at the Anglican Communion Office, Angharad, insisted that I could not spend this much time in the UK and not get a chance to see Wales.  So one weekend a couple of weeks ago we hopped on a train to North Wales to her home village of Llangollen.  Her parents live there in a 300 year old cottage that they have expanded over the years.  It was an absolutely beautiful little place!  I say little, and I mean it - I had to bend down to walk into the kitchen because the 5' 10" doorway would not allow my 6' 1" self to walk through standing upright.  Here are some pictures of the cottage in Llangollen:

A view up the hill to the cottage

View up the hill, opposite direction.

 So, the cottage sits on the top of a hill.  When one drives to the house there is an interesting and death-defying driveway to surmount, all while driving on the left-hand side of the road mind you!  Here are some "up the driveway" shots:

Approaching the driveway. . . quick cut up the left side of the fork. . .

Name of the cottage in Welsh Blaen y Cwm, 'Front of the valley' . . .

Imagine you're speeding up this incline at 40-45 mph!  You have to go fast because it's loose stone and very steep . . .

Zooming up at full throttle . . .

WOW!  Quick turn to the left . . . 

As soon as you come around the turn THIS is directly in front of you 5-6 ft. away . . . TURN LEFT!!

Ah!!  Safe in the parking area beside the lovely little cottage . . . see, no big deal.

Surrounded by a little fence, the cottage looks so cozy and friendly.  Come to the gate and someone's there to greet you:

This is Samson. The picture is deceiving, he's about 16 in. across that big ol' chest of his.
He looks really scary.

But he's not, he's a big ol' baby.

Samson playing with his football, a hard plastic ball that he wants you to
kick around the back yard so he can chase it.  It's too big for his mouth though, so
he ends up shoving it around too.

Stop for a drink from the pond, blah!!

 Samson is not only a big baby, he also thinks that he is a lap dog.  For the two days I was with them Samson continually tried to crawl into my lap, but he's just to darn big.  Mr. Jones, Anghard's dad Phil, said that he must weight about 7 or 8 stone (98-112 lbs.).  But he was very sweet.

On the front of their little cottage on the edge of the valley the Joneses have a wonderful deck with an amazing view of the mountains and valleys:

Remember the driveway?  If you go right at the bottom straight to the cottage there . . .
this is the roof of that cottage.  Taken from the driveway, btw.

The hills and trees are so pretty.  This was a hazy/misty/drizzly day, but it has its own
kind of charm.

This is the roof of that cottage from the deck.

The deck and front facing dining room of  Blaen y cwm.

Their garden area, goes up for a little further with veggies, flowers and trees.

So you can see how steep the garden is.

I love this shot!  Just at sunset (about 10 pm) from the deck.

Non hazy/drizzly view from the deck.

A panoramic shot from the deck, a little distorted, but you can see the beauty.

  I also got the opportunity to visit the Church in Wales Cathedral for the Diocese of St. Asaph or Eglwys Gadeiriol Llanelwy.  This cathedral church has the distinction of being the smallest cathedral in all of Europe.  Here are some shots:

Eglwys Gadeiriol Llanelwy - Cathedral of St. Asaph

Across the lawn and cemetery.

An artsy shot from outside of the boundary wall

The only iron remaining on the boundary wall.  An iron fence was cut down
so that it could be melted and forged into arms during WWII.

Another artsy shot - but I think it's cool.

Behind the Cathedral.  At first I thought these were grave markers taken down and stacked,
but I'm pretty sure it's stone for repairs.

Juxtaposition of electric lights with a 500 year old door.

The most impressive marker in the cemetery.

"To the precious memory of Benjamin Davies..."

Ornaments on every window, no two the same.

Me, resting after walking around and around the outside of the Cathedral.

A little info on St. Asaph.

I can't imagine what these are for?!?  They are obviously old and hand
forged - square type nails with eyelets on the heads.

Interior of the Cathedral from the altar.

The controversial naked and apparently decaying Christ in the Cathedral.  Follow the link to learn more about the sculpture and sculptress.

Later the same afternoon, I was privileged to meet the Bishop of the Diocese of St. Asaph, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Gregory Cameron, or Bishop Gregory.  He gave me some historical insight into the Church in Wales and about the Cathedral and town around it.  Here's a picture of us together in the chapel of the Bishop's Office / Residence:

I also walked around the town.  Here are some shots:

Map of Llanelwy - St. Asaph

The River Elwy

Bowling pitch with an interesting effigy that I couldn't get a better close-up on.

Memorial to the fallen heroes of St. Asaph - WWI

An interesting - read strange - piece of art at the center of town.

Street shots of Llanelwy.

Outside of the Cathedral, which you can see in the photo above, it a memorial to the men who first translated the Bible into Welsh, known as the William Morgan Bible.  I was a little fascinated with this memorial, so here are my shots and some pics of the Bible and William Morgan.

William Morgan

The William Morgan Bible

 Finally, there is a parish church in Llanelwy, the Parish Church of St. Asaph and St. Kentigern.  The church is rarely used for services because of its age and disrepair, but on special occasions the faithful will gather there.  You can see from the pictures that most of the churchyard is taken up with burials.  It is an amazing place where you can almost feel the holiness radiating from it.

There had been a scarecrow contest among the children of the town.  This
is "Joseph."  Can you tell by the coat of many colors?

Burial markers hundreds of years old.

Even squeezed in behind the parish building.

The most special place in Wales that I got to visit was Pennant Melangell.  This is the shrine of St. Melangell, who you can learn more about from the pics below, or by following the links above.  The Yew trees in the churchyard are over 2000 years old and many people travel just to see the yews without ever entering the shrine.  The trees are special, but skipping the shrine is, I think, a mistake.  I didn't take any photos inside the shrine because it is a place of prayer, but here are some shots of the outside.  (The Wikipedia articles linked above give some interior shots.)

Narrow roads of Wales

Wildlife!!  Some wandering sheep spotted along the way.

Another sheep

Grouse (I think.)

Welsh: "Melangell Pilgrimage"

Entrance to the Shrine church

If you read the legend in the link, the hare will make sense.
It is the symbol of St. Melangell

The Church of the Shrine of St. Melangell

Church interior

The Shrine was destroyed in the 16th century when Henry VIII disbanded the monasteries and outlawed shrines.  The locals, faithful to St. Melangell however, built the pieces of the shrine into the walls of the church.  In the 1950's they were discovered and put back together into the shrine you see below.  The ugly bit at the top is plain concrete - taking the place of a piece that is lost.  They left the concrete plain so that the historical parts of the shrine would be highlighted.

The Shrine of St. Melangell

Melangell's cell restored.  When excavated, pieces of human remains were found beneath the floor,
these are believed to be the relics of St. Melangell, hidden by the faithful when the shrine was destroyed. 

The 2,000-year old Yew tree.

Wales was amazing and beautiful, even in the wet weather that persisted while I was there.  If you ever have a chance to visit, I'd highly recommend Wales.  Next up, the British Museum. . .