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Published: October 18th 2005
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First of all, I want to say there should be a flag of Wales for this entry, not the UK flag. It is so cool, with the bright red dragon. So you could see it, I'm trying to put a link here and by the way you can also get a recipe for Welsh Cakes at this site and boy are they good. If we had known how good, we would have bought a lot more than we did the day we left.
http://www.grossi.co.uk/wales/recipe.htm
Where does the time go? And don't you get tired of hearing people say that?
We had the nicest (only 1-yr old) self catered cottage in Llangollen. Self catered is like home away from home, fully furnished, including linens, pots and pans, even a nice welcome basket of goodies from the owner and we loved "Blossom Cottage". All except for the cramped parking space at the back, but that was better than in Bath where we had to pay for public parking.
The cottage was very near the center of town, we could walk anywhere 'in town' we wanted to. We had specifically chosen Llangollen, reasons I'll go into later, now it's time
for Welsh pronounciation 101, and we will start with that pesky double LL - put your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth and blow out a little almost like a gluttural "cl" for the first double l's and then the rest is "angothlin". That's the best I can explain it for Llangollen. We actually heard it pronounced a wide range of ways, which made us feed better; but by the time we left we both had it down pretty good. Try it for yourself!
We chose Llangollen because my great-grandfather Robert Edwards immigrated to America from there when he was not yet a teen - BY HIMSELF! And I was going to do some genealogy work. I had good success and have emailed those pictures and summary of findings to family so as not to bore everyone here. If anyone didn't get that email and/or the pictures or would like to see them, let me know. In summary, we found his parents' gravestone, the farm where they had all lived "Tyno Issa" - meaning lower farm, and may have found someone we are related to. She was on holiday (vacation as we would say),
River Dee Bridge
Where the flowers are (cutout angles of bridge) used to be where horse drawn carts could pull aside to let others pass. but I have written to her and am hopeful for reply. Also got names of both Robert's parents, his wife's maiden name and his paternal grandmother's name so we can search even further back. I'm excited to be able to delve further into the past. An unexpected bonus due to Welsh hospitality was that we made friends with the family currently living on the farm. We were invited in, as if we were family. We are looking forward to continued correspondence with them, maybe to even go back some day. Their family bought the farm from the Edwards in 1935.
Even without the genealogy, Llangollen is a great town to visit. "Where Wales welcomes the World". The beautiful River Dee flows through and the bridge over it is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales.
Thomas Telford built a canal throgh Llangollen as transport for the slate and lime industries and is still part of 2,000 miles of active waterways. People own barges to live on, holiday on, rent out or to take people on cruises. We enjoyed a leisurely 2 hour cruise and then a 5 minute bus trip back to our starting point. I couldn't spend
Robert's Parents' Headstone
Buried at St. John's Cemetery in Llangollen. much time looking out as we went over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, but I guess the view from 126 feet up is spectacular.
The railroad soon took over, and you can still take a pleasure steam ride, but it wasn't long before Telford also designed the A5, the modern motorway that connects Northern Wales with the rest of England. It runs through town and only a block or so from our cottage.
One day we thought we would "drive" to Castell Dinas Bran. They actually are only ruins now, as the castle was probably from the 13th century. Turns out, there is no driving to them. There is a 750m hike up to them, but we just enjoyed the view, as did the sheep that were grazing nearby as we enjoyed our picnic in the car.
Ruins that we could explore, and they are magnificent! are those of the Valle Crucis Abbey, founded in 1200. It's Latin for 'Valley of the Cross'. The name derives from the nearby Eliseg's Pillar (a cross erected in the 9th century in memory of a man who was King of Powys - a region of Wales - in the 8th century) which
Tyno Isa
Small stone cottage would have been where Robert lived. House in front built early 1900's. stood in the valley. Cistercian monks lived in the abbey and the location was good because of their preference to live in isolation. It prospered for 300 years, but was one of the first in Wales to be closed by Henry VIII in 1536. It has since seen time as a dwelling and even a farm, but now is owned by the Welsh Heritage Society.
Plas Newydd - (pronounced plas newith). It means New Hall and Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby made it just that. They had run away from their families in Ireland to live together, and found a small stone cottage that they began making extensive improvements to, inside and out. Soon they were known as the 'Ladies of Langollen' and famous people were invited, and came, to visit them, including the Duke of Wellington. The home is not as it was during their time, due to successive owners, nor would the ladies probably approve of the general public trampling through their Plas Newydd like a museum, but it was very interesting and the gardens pretty.
The last thing we wanted to do in Llangollen was see the Dr. Who Museum. We were very disappointed to
Llangollen Canal Barge Trip
It was fun to see the colorful barges and just relax as we leisurely putted along. hear it had been moved to Chirk and we actually spent a day on a 'wild goose chase' in Chirk looking for it, but instead got to see Chirk Castle surrounded by a flock of black sheep. Nobody seems to know where the Dr. Who Museum has gone. If only we could get Dr. Who to come back to this time and tell us! We are keeping our eyes open for the Tardis. In the meantime, we go on to Scotland via Liverpool.
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Bill Greenwood
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Pronouncing Llangollen
Gaile, I always wondered why my mother pronounced the name something like "lan-goth-in". Now I know, that's how she heard it at home! Bill