Castle but no Roses!

While we were in Powys, we visited the castle (Castell Powys). As with the Hall at Abaty Cwm Hir, we'd been here before, in August 2011. This time, however, we toured the interior. Some of it, anyway. A family still lives in part of it, and not all of the rooms are always open to the public. Unfortunately, photography's not allowed inside, and I didn't take many photos outside because of poor weather. So some of the pictures below are from our 2011 visit.

It's a lovely place in a wonderful setting, steeped in history and interest.

Leaving the castle after lunch in the restaurant, we drove back to Rhayader via a scenic route through the Elan valley. There was a lot of flooding in parts, and some of the reservoir dams were overflowing wildly. It was quite a sight, and an awesome sound.

And now we're back, with just a few things to get done to be ready for Christmas. If we're lucky!

Well, that was fun!

On Monday last, we drove into wet Wales (although, to be fair, not nearly as wet as many other places further north) to a small town called Rayader, Rhaeadr in Welsh, here to stay at The Bear Inn. This is an ancient building, dating back to the 16th century, and retains many of the original features. The bedrooms have been superbly modernised whilst still having exposed oak beams and areas of stone wall. The friendly proprietors, Sian and Gwil, gave us a warm welcome and made us feel at home. Bed was really comfortable, and Breakfasts were lovely, too.

As I said in a previous post, our main reason for going to this area of Wales was to visit the Hall at Abbey Cwm Hir (Abati Cwm Hir in proper Welsh. Goodness knows why the English decided the name should have a bit of both languages). The visit was guided, and the tour of the 52 rooms, all festively decorated, and each with a Christmas tree, took nearly three hours. Paul, the owner/guide, was both very amusing and informative, and our group of about twelve was thoroughly enchanted by the whole experience. These people are collectors of... well, anything old, beautiful or both!

The weather wasn't conducive to an exploration of the grounds, but Grace and I had done that the last time we visited, back in 2011, just before we took possession of Kantara.

It's a quirky, eccentric, crazy place! You really should visit.