"Touristy question" Topic

G'day.

At the end of April my better half is dragging me to northern Wales for a week while she explores her ancestors' stamping grounds around Denbigh. We already plan to visit some of the historic buildings, such as Caernarfon castle, etc, and I've convinced her to take a side trip to Cosford to visit the RAF Museum. But I was also wondering if there's any regimental museums or similar to which I'd be able to retreat (especially if it means I can avoid Michelle one of the many gardens she wants to see)?

Cheers.

Dal.

I do believe there is a small museum in north wales, to the Royal Welch Fusileers, …. just let me remember where it is,.

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It is in Caernarfon castle! How convenient…

If you're basing yourself around Denbigh, Chester's in easy reach, with plenty of options for a visit; the castle and regimental museum, lots of Roman stuff, and a lovely town centre.

Dallas, if you are in country on the 25th April, don't forget to go to Salute in London.
A must.

Nic Eureka Miniatures

I wouldn't say salute is a must, but it is a very big showpiece show…

On the outskirts of Carnarfon there's a Roman fort.
You are allowed to crawl all over (& in a few areas, under) it.

Don't forget to go to the Great Orme mine further north at Llandudno. Bronze Age & truly remarkable (if you're not claustrophobic).

BTW there's a small (make a booking) restaurant just outside the castle, well worth going to dine. The wife will thank you.

link

Thanks for the rec's, I appreciate it.

Maddaz, I'd spotted the RWF museum, but was hoping there's be a few others. I agree, it is convenient that they're in the castle. ;-)

Dom, I'd already been told we were going to spend a couple of nights in Chester, so we could explore. I'm looking forward to it.

Nic, we're there for ANZAC Day, but won't be able to get to London for Salute. We're running a fairly tight schedule, unfortunately, and getting Cosford and the RWF museum was a bit of a win. Remember my old plans to do a "Grand Tour" in 2015, for the military anniversaries (50th 1 RAR to Vung Tau, 100th ANZAC Day, 150th end of the ACW and 200th of the 100 Days)? Cosford and the RWF museum are the achievable alternative.

Ochoin, many thanks, mate. That mine sounds very interesting, and any restaurant that serves sea food can have my money. BTW, have you seen the new Osprey MAA 496, The Prussian Army of the Lower Rhine 1815? Some interesting uniform variations that may appeal to you.

Cheers.

Dal.

I hadn't. It's on the list. Ta.

North Wales? April? Bring a raincoat…..

Scenery and castles are brilliant though!

Shouldn't that be "North Wales? Bring a raincoat….."

Having visited North Wales last April I can certainly recommend Harlech and Conwy as points of interest in your journey…

some photos here..

link

Depending on your periods of interest, if you have time after visiting Cosford I'd recommend you visit Tong church which is literally up the road from the museum.

link

It contains church excellent effigies of the Vernon family and Charles Dickens located the 'grave' of Little Nell from the book 'The Old Curiosity Shop' there. There is also plenty of evidence of when it was attacked during the English Civil War as well ie. great big cannon and musket ball dents in the wall.

Speaking of which a short distance, in the opposite direction, is Boscobel House where Charles II famously hid in an oak tree.

There's actually a castle at Denbigh itself:
denbigh.com/castle.html

and another down the road at Rhuddlan:
castlewales.com/rhudln.html

Doug

Depending on the logisitcs of how you're doing Cosford, you could let your wife spend the day in Shrewsbury, in which case Shrewsbury Castle has the Shropshire Regt museum (and very prety gardens) as a quick diversion. Shrewsbury's new museum also has an Egyptology exhbition coming up if that sort of thing flots your boat (but it ends about the time you might be there).

Many thanks for the extra ideas- very much appreciated. I'm used to rain when on holidays (who isn't?), so that won't be a problem. At least it won't be high humidity and 35°+C temperatures, like we've had here recently.

Eric, excellent info', mate- She Is Obeyed loved your blog and told me to tell you that now Harlech is confirmed for a visit. Yer don't have any piccies of Salute that might swing her towards a "quick visit", do yer?

Very much appreciate the help, everyone.

Dal.

Here you go. The 'setup' one is quite an eye opener!

link

And if you'd like to sample a truly Welsh castle or two that is typically not one of the big, often urban-based type built by the English, I can recommend a native Welsh castle like Ewloe, sitting tucked away in its woody dell: castlewales.com/ewloe.html The website on Welsh native castles that includes that webpage has a good overview of the whole range of native Welsh castles: castlewales.com/native.html

The native castles are almost all much smaller and less complex than the English type but what they lack in size they usually make up in often beautiful settings away from modern built-up areas.

And yes, good waterproof gear is always a must in Wales! :-) (And I suspect the weather puts off a lot of tourists in Wales so you'll probably have a much less crowded and less stressful experience…)

Cheers,

David.

Dal,

Any chance you could wander a bit further south for a game while you're here? As it's you, I'd even be prepared to meet half way in Aberystwyth… And that's not something I'd do lightly…

That said, if you're going to Cosford, do you fancy a meet-up at the museum? A good mate there might give us a close look at some fast jets as well…

Sodding TMPbug strikes again…

Cosford is well worth a visit (and free!). Boscobel House if only a few minutes away and quite interesting.

I did the North Wales castles in 2013. For me Conwy is the perfect castle and the walled town is impressive too – probably the clearest example of the English settlements. The mine on the Great Orme is nearby.
I'd make Caernarfon and Beaumaris my next choices – Harlech is impressive but is quite a long drive from the others (an hour to an hour and a half each way?)
Staying in the north east of Wales at Denbeigh you might be tempted by the Imperial War Museum North at Manchester – don't be! It is more an 'experience' aimed at school trips than a collection of well presented historic objects.
Chester is a much better bet, and if you get decent weather you could try Beeston Castle, about 10 miles south of the city. It featured in the Civil War and has a spectacular setting on a hilltop with very impressive views.

Cerdic, thanks. It didn't work, but it was worth a try.

David, thanks for the suggestions. We'll be looking for Ewloe when we drive back to Chester on the 27th. Did you get that photo's from the DR Nr 6 flag that I sent?

Jemima, our schedule won't allow for a game, unfortunately. And Harlech is about as far south as we can make it, as we've only the five days in Wales and two of those will be near Denbigh. However if you'd like to meet us at Cosford on the 28th, I'd be glad to have a yarn and I'll buy you lunch. My email is my name on this board, as one word, AT westnet DOT com DOT au.

PBI and David P42, thanks. We'll be staying at Conwy, as it's fairly central to Denbigh, Caernarfon and Anglesey (at least according to the map) and we've left a full day to explore that area. Not enough, I know. Thanks for the tip about the IWM. I was thinking of stopping off on the way to the airport (we fly in and out of Manchester), but I'll spend the time in Chester, instead.

1.5 hours each way isn't too bad, so Harlech is doable. That's one (along with Caernarfon) I want to cross off my "bucket list".

Once again, much appreciated.

Dal.

There a museum not far that has trenches etc in the underground bomb shelter used by the Dam Busters.

Also Ludlow our family ancestors castle is well worth a drop in.

If you do give me shout and we can meet up and have a beer my lass was born in Melbourne.

Right, living as I do right in the middle of the target area… a few points.

All of what has been said is pretty spot on – just be aware the A55 is a very busy road in spring/summer and plan accordingly.

Dolbadarn Castle in Llanberis is another to consider, and is somewhat easier to get to than some being within walking distance of Llanberis and its attendant car parks.

The weather is…changeable.

If staying in Conwy, you must go to the Albion pub which is one of the ebst real ale pubs in the area.

A full day is NOT enough to explore the area you detail. The roads aren't good and are busy. Harlech is at least an hours' drive from Bangor for example.

Conwy is around half an hours from Anglesey on a good day. You can easily double that if the traffic is bad – remember all the traffic has to get across two bridges, and one of them is tiny!

If you need any advice, feel free to ask.
The castles are big and each takes a couple of hours to go round.

Hi Dal,

Tidy. I'll drop you a line. I think I've still got your e-mail saved, but mine is rmarkdavies at hotmail dot co dot uk.

Re lunch – a mate owns a pub in Wimborne, just a couple of miles south of Cosford! :)

And I'll second wot Stu said! :)

G'day.

bgbboogie, we probably won't get down to Ludlow, mate, but thanks for the offer. The one extra day to see Cosford was doable because Michelle and I both have a love for aircraft (and because I sulked for three days). We'll probably spend the entire day at Cosford- not even the temptation of shopping in Shrewesbury will drag Michelle away from aircraft.

Stu, thanks for the advice on the roads and I appreciate any advice you'd care to offer. Luckily driving in the UK was (at least in '96) very similar to driving here, so far as road rules go. I'll stick to main roads where possible, traffic's easier to negotiate than poor navigation. I remember from my visit in '96 that we could zip along the motorway from London to Cambridge, but really slowed down once we got off the motorway- especially if we took a wrong turn. Here an hour in a car is an average sort of drive. My daily drive to and from work was 1.5 hours (130km) for a long time. Now it takes just under 2 hours to get up to Canberra and 2.5 to get to the farm from here at Malua Bay, and they're just day trips.

I know we're not giving ourselves enough time (and want to see too many things to do justice to any), but it's a matter of the leave Michelle could get, the budget and seizing an opportunity. With luck we'll get another chance and do things properly. I'm looking at this as a close recce.

JF, mail received and reply sent.

Cheers.

Dal.

We've now had two days exploring the wilds of North Wales. Michelle is in love with the place and wonders why her grandparents' families left. We found one former family farm, Waun Wen near Llandyrnog. We also found Llanrhaeadr, but not the Vron Fawr.

I have decided I don't care who has right of way on some of the back lanes and B "roads"- if I see them coming I get out of the way and stop. Thy know what they're doing, I don't. I haven't had this much "fun" driving since I tried to take a 110 GMV up the escarpment at Cultana, on blackout lights.

Coming from the country where 4-lane tollways can have maximum speed limits of 90kmh and any area with one house and two gates is declared a suburb with a 50kmh speed limit, being able to roll along at 70mph (and watch the locals fly past) has been fun.

Tomorrow we put a couple of poppies on the memorial at Llandyrnog and then may head off to Caernarfon.

Cheers.

Dal.

Dal – if you're still going to Cosford, you may be able to cut through Shrewsbury which has the Shrosphire regimental museum.

You ought to pay a vist to
Plas Newydd Country House and Gardens
Llanfairpwll, Isle of Anglesey
home of Henry Paget ((Waterloo 'by god sir, I've lost my leg' fame) but the house will also appeal to to the wife and Children if you have/take any.

G'day, PM and 1961.

We're overnighting in Shrewsbury, so I should have time to get in to the Shropshires museum. And Michelle had already informed me that we'll be visiting Plas Newydd when we visit Beaumaris. At the moment the bed is covered with pam's detailing various places Michelle wants to visit. We'd need an extra month here to see them all- two to do 'em justice.

Tomorrow it's Llanberis and a mini-rail ride around that area, with perhaps a visit to Betws-Y-Coed (sp?) if there's time (She Is Obeyed is a train nut). Schedule subject to change at 5 sec notice and the weather……

On the gaming side my Timeline 28mm buidings and Perry Prussians and Bavarians were waiting for me to arrive. I'm very impressed with the detail Timeline has included, though I got a severely raised eyebrow when I started to open one of the kits. That joy will wait unti I get back to Oz. Michelle was also very impressed by the Perry guns and crews. Though "Pretty!" is possibly not one of the compliments the Perry lads hear too often.

Cheers.

Dal.