After recovering from my trip to the west, I spent the morning just a few minutes away in Cardigan. It is an ancient Welsh cultural and commercial centre on the Teifi River Estuary. The town was founded in 1093 by the Norman Roger de Montgomery. Now a thriving market town of about 4000 people, it is famous for its many festivals. The town is full of Georgian and Victorian buildings, traditional shops, and inns. Cardigan’s largely unspoiled townscape and its rich cultural heritage make it a very special place to visit and enjoy. (See Pics above)
On St Patrick’s day, I made a trip to Cilgerran Castle, the scene of Kissed by a Rose, Book 2 in my Scorpion Moon series. Cilgerran is a small town, just about a 10 minute drive from Cardigan. The castle is the UK National Trust List. Fortunately, this is the off season and I pretty much had the entire place to myself. My first sight of the west tower was so awe inspiring that I had to stop in my tracks and look up. (See Cardigan and Cilgerran-Pt 2). Though for my time period, the castle would not have been nearly as big, I can still imaging people walking the bulwarks and shooting arrows out of the loopholes. I wondered how women dressed in long kirtles and bulky cloaks, managed to climb all those narrow winding stairs. I am really inspired to write now!
Next Time: Llangoedmor and Treforgan Farm
Your trip looks like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteI am very green with envy right now. What an awesome experience you had.
ReplyDeleteIt must be so amazing to travel to do research for your books! I loved Wales when I visited over a decade ago, although the castles gave me a bit of vertigo. It's so awesome to use your imagination to people the sites as they would have been "back in the day"!
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