A ranger explores Fforest Ganol, Fforest fawr

(title cont.) & two castles

Waking up on Tuesday morning I noticed immediately that the weather forecast had it right this time and I got deliriously cheery because of it. The night before I had planned and prepared everything for my adventure to the two castles. I prepared the travel schedule to get there and home again and I even printed out a walking route (text) and made a map to navigate the forests around Castle Coch. My bag was packed with supplies and my camera was hanging in its pouch around my neck.
After taking bus 132 to Tongwynlais the quaint little place where Castle Coch was situated I set out to find the road to the castle where there would be a split in the road if my directions were correct. After reaching this road I sat out on the path that led into the forest. I was off to wander around in the wilderness. According to my route I would first visit Fforest Fawr (yes forest is written with one f, but this is the Welsh name :P), then Fforest Ganol and afterwards FForest Fawr again.

Wandering paths led me through a beautiful hilly forest. Most times I was surrounded by trees, that had not yet come into their leaves this early in spring, and that filtered the sunlight. Accompanied by sprightly tunes (in my head), the playful and beautiful songs of the birds, sparrows, tomtits and robins among them, and occasionally the sound of a gurgling brook I navigated my way in the wild. There were moments I had to climb and others where there were descents into small valleys. On plenty of moments I was reminded that I was not the only one enjoying the forest on this fine sunny morning. Quite often I saw squirrels chasing each other or digging up leftovers from their winter hoard. And as I mentioned earlier the birds voiced their opinion of the fine day quite clearly. When I passed the first 30 minutes mark of the journey I came upon a kind of halfway house for travelers. Someone must have seen me snap a picture of the place, because a few moments later a guy came out and invited me in for coffee. Since I don’t drink coffee, had enough supplies with me to not have to resort to buying them and wanted to keep moving I politely declined and continued my journey.

It was not long after that I made my exit from Fforest Fawr and entered Fforest Ganol. Following a stream on my left hand side I merely skimmed Fforest Ganol before I once again entered Fforest Fawr. The section that I entered now had some nice decorative carvings in them. There were carvings of birds, a bat, a dragon and more. It also featured a track especially for children. The lost or found trail where a few sculptures were set up that suggested that a giant had been in those woods and had lost stuff there like a watch. At the end of that trail I stood on the crest of a hill looking out upon the neighboring towns of Tongwynlais. Now up till then my directions had led me true, but the last phase of my journey to Castle Coch was more a matter of following instinct and the directions of a passerby. Still, that last phase of the journey I made the most navigational errors. But in the end I saw Castle Coch through the trees. The only problem was that there was no path or road down and so I had to find my way down a very steep slope. I managed though even if I almost kissed a tree by running into it when I decided to speed the process up. Luckily I succeeded in averting that painful experience by simply holding out my hands in front of me at the last moment. I still hurt my wrists in the process, but the alternative would have been far more painful I think.

After that ordeal I had arrived at Castle Coch. I managed to ensnare a few passersby in taking a picture of me with the castle in the background and then I moved on to explore the castle. There was an entrance fee of ₤3.40 for students but it was worth it. Now I will spare you most of the historical details but Castle Coch, like many of the Welsh castles were in ruins before a remarkably rich man decided upon restoring them to their former glory. The 3rd Marquess of Bute was a very rich man and his passion was history and heraldry from the Middle Ages especially. He found a man who shared his passions: William Burges. He however valued a different perspective: Architecture. Together they have restored many a castle and their interior as well. Now of course in some cases they may have let their fantasy lead them on but the results speak for themselves. At Castle Coch they have restored the Castle itself beautifully and the interior really gave me the feeling of being in that time. As I said to myself many a time on that walk: “Yes, I could definitely picture myself living in a castle in those times”. When I had finished admiring the castle I made a brief stop at the gift shop (just to look, really ;)) I decided it was time to move on to the exploration of the next castle: Caerphilly Castle.

Now Caephilly Castle had also been (partially) restored by this duo. But the purpose of this castle was totally different. Where the size of Castle Coch hints at a “romantic weekend getaway castle” The sheer vastness of Caerphilly Castle firmly states “I am here to defend this region”. In the pictures shown there (and also the ones I’ve made) one can clearly deduce the defensive tactical reasoning behind the layout of the castle. And while walking around the castle grounds and climbing the battlements towers I could easily believe the statement that Caerphilly Castle had never been taken from the moment it was completed. Upon arriving at the entrance of the castle I was quite surprised to see a sign that said that there was filming in progress on certain days. I still wonder if it was for a movie or a documentary. Either way one specific place of the castle was off limits because of it. Not that that mattered for me. I still enjoyed walking around the grounds, towers, battlements, gatehouse, etc. It was a real treat for a guy fascinated by history.

After all these adventures the day was nearly at an end. Marring the bus I missed when I went back to the bus stop around 17.00, and the one hour of waiting I had to endure because of it, I had a marvelous day. And the best part is it wasn´t over yet. I may have walked for miles and have tired legs because of it I went to the Croft’s pub as soon as I reached home. “What for?” I’m glad you asked. The Croft’s pub is the home base of RAWsoc. It is the location where all the games take place and tonight was board- and card games night. Once again I played games I had never played before and had a lot of fun doing it. I played Pastiche (I think that was the name) with Owen Henry and a girl whose name I forgot and I played Ygdrassil with Kieran and Michaël (no idea if I got the spelling correct).

When I was stepping into my bed that night I had already decided to take the next day off. Little did I know that I would have some nasty experiences that day. But you’ll hear all about it in the next exciting episode of … Sarajan’s adventures in Wales!