Today I thought I would share a bit of information on my latest holiday to Wales, which I returned from mid July. This year my family and myself and our three dogs went to Wales for the second year in a row, where we stayed in a lovely old detached house in Llanon facing the seaside.
The journey took approximately 4 1/2 hours, but when we got there the house was lovely.
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| Entrance to the Silver Mountain Experience mine, Wales |
The home was a lush blue on the outside and the interior design and layout was very nice, with extremely old stairs that possessed carpet holders made out of wood which would keep the rugs on the stairs in place. Looking closely at the wooden staircase you could tell it was an old house, with the wood carvings created in great detail and the stairs faded by years of sunlight where the rug was not placed.
After unpacking our things we set off to look at the seaside in a neighbouring town. The view was great with rock faces in the distance, and the comforting sound of the waves crashing onto the shore before retreating.
On holiday we visited plenty of places and sights. We visited the beach near Llanrhystud multiple times that week, which is situated about a 5 minute drive from Llanon. Another place we visited which I found interesting was the Silver Mountain Experience, a old mine open to tourists and the public to explore, learn historical facts about and that possessed rumors of ghosts and witches.
We even had a tour into the mines which were dark, damp and extremely cold, but which I found amazingly interesting with my interest in history.
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A collage of my favourite photographs taken at the Magic
of Life Butterfly House, CwmRheidol, Aberystwyth. |
Our tour guide even told us about multiple ghosts claimed to have been sighted and heard by tourists and staff, such as one ghosts of a young boy who one day messed around with the framework and fell to his death. This I found chilling as I believe that we all must go somewhere when we die and that ghosts are likely real, and after the tour guide told us about this ghost, and directed us towards the exit, I couldn't help but feel as someone or something was behind me, like the way you feel when you feel something's presence near you; but I turned around and there was
no one there except the old framework where the boy had fallen. This made me wonder if there really was someone there or if it was a placebo effect from my brain after being told ghosts had been sighted. But with the historical information of the mines causing over 40 deaths a week I can't help but not be surprised if there are ghosts from the poor who worked from the age they could crawl until their premature deaths, and so decided to keep them in my mind as I felt sympathetic for the workers struggle to survive, and grateful for life today and the opportunities it provided for us.
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Hafod Church, Hafod Estate, supported by the
Hafod Trust and sponsored by the
Welsh Government |
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| Information of Hafod Estate. |
Further on in the week, we visited The Magic of Life Butterfly House in CwmRheidol, Aberystwyth which I thought was amazing, and was one of the best places I've been to, housing so many beautiful, elegant and colourful butterflies which were all very friendly and in great condition, alongside amazing Scorpions which turn turquoise under UV light, Hercules Beatles, giant moths, Tarantulas and many more exotic insects that looked content in their homes. One of my favourite Butterflies was the Blue Morpho butterfly with it's amazing bright blue winds which sweep past your face; and after
much perseverance and following the butterflies around waiting to catch a picture of their blue wings, I finally got a clear image which you can see above😄🎆
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| One of Hafod Estates forest walks |
We also visited Hafod Estate, in Aberystwyth, Cwmystwyth, once an estate with a estate home, but that was demolished after WW2; which I would guess was due to issues of bankruptcy which led to multiple estate houses across Britain to be sold or demolished, or in Hafod's abandoned, derelict state before it was demolished. It makes me sad to think grand estate homes were demolished or left to become derelict and abandoned due to the poverty that Britain faced. However, much to my delight, Hafod Church is preserved alongside the forest, and the Estate is now run and preserved by the Hafod Trust, which is supported by the Welsh government. Hafod Estate is a great place to visit, offering amazing opportunities to take some lovely images and the estate is free to access with a charitable donation.
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| One of Hafod Estate's forest walks |
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The small bridge positioned above a
massive cliff and the river. |
It's church houses hundreds of years of history and that is still in use today; hosting a visitors book with visitors from across the globe or in neighbouring locations. The oldest gravestone date I could find was from 1570, which proves how much history the church possessed! I
have included a few images, not the best lighting as they were inside an old stone church, that I assume were provided by the Hafod Trust alongside the support of the Welsh Government, which give historical information about Hafod Estate and the area :)
The estate was lovely, with multiple forest walks you could take, which were great for our working, energetic dogs; and one of which we took included walking alongside and on extremely high cliffs, hills and a waterfall for 2 1/2 hours;
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| Information of the area. |
exploring is the best thing about holidays in Wales and I love it. The waterfall was amazing with the clear water and the multiple rocks gathered around it. Overall, we had a great day and so did the dogs, who were tired after their long walk.
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| Gem exploring the water. |
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The stairs leading to the rooms,
Llanerchaeron. |
On one of the last days, my family and myself set off for horse riding lessons, something my mum had booked after years of hearing me complain about never having horse riding lessons and wanting to try. The lessons were great, and to my surprise, the teacher said I was " very good" and "skilled" at horse riding, when it was the first time I'd ever ridden a horse and first lesson I had taken in my life 😇 I guess I shall just have to see if I can continue to learn 😁 The best part was that the horse I had was called Nepolian, and rather accurately too, as he was very assertive and bossy, moving to the right to see ahead of the other horses and constantly trying to get to the front of the line to lead 😄
We also visited Llanerchaeron House, a house still in perfect condition and opened and run by the National Trust. When first attained by The National Trust, it was in a derelict, overgrown state, but is now restored to a perfect structure with so many places to see.
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| The dining room. |
The home was massive, and kept in such good condition including the servant bedrooms, wine cellar, kitchen, bedrooms and all the small rooms outside that servants worked in such as the cheese room which hosted old equipment like barrels to churn the milk, and a laundry room which included old irons placed onto a standing stove which
would heat them up when they were placed onto the edges on shelves, and a very old turning barrel where washing would be placed with soap and churned, much like a very early washing machine. Llanerchaeron House also had gardens restored and on view for the public. Outside near the entrance was a small, pop up cafe that served delicious food from meals to cakes.
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| The Lounge. |
The national Trust had created the house into a flash back in time, placing historical details, such as a newspaper dating back to Queen Elizabeth's II's Coronation and old magazines dated back to the 1930's and 1940's.
Overall, my holiday was full of interesting sights to see and history; and I loved every part of it. Wales I believe hosts so many natural landscapes that are amazing to see and many historical places to visit; alongside scenic beaches and seaside creatures.
Thank you for reading,
Caris 😃
