The unmistakable silhouette of Raglan crowning a ridge amid glorious countryside is the grandest castle ever built by Welshmen.

We can thank Sir William ap Thomas, the ‘blue knight of Gwent’, for the moated Great Tower of 1435 that still dominates this mighty fortress-palace. His son Sir William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, created the gatehouse with its flared ‘machicolations’.

These stone arches allowed missiles to be rained down on attackers. But Raglan came 150 years later than the turbulent heyday of castle-building. It was designed to impress as much as to intimidate.

Under various earls of Worcester Raglan was transformed into a magnificent country seat with a fashionable long gallery and one of the finest Renaissance gardens in Britain. But loyalty to the crown was to prove its undoing.

Despite a garrison of 800 men and one of the longest sieges of the Civil War, it fell to parliamentary forces and was deliberately destroyed. Among the looted treasures was a piece of Tudor wooden panelling, now proudly displayed in the visitor centre after being rescued from a cow shed in the 1950s.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Our breakfast was accompanied by a loud teleconference call that was taking place on a nearby table. The call was upsetting and my heart went out to the family who were coping with a premature birth. The nature of some of the conversation turned my stomach a little whilst I was trying to enjoy my breakfast. I think the conversation would have been more appropriate in a quiet area away from the breakfast room but I hope the little one is doing well after its unexpected early ordeal.

We loaded the car, checked out and took the Welsh border route in order to take in a couple of castles on the way home.

The first castle on Mr C’s itinerary was Monmouth. The remains were minimal and the attached museum wasn’t open until the afternoon. Walking back through the town, we noticed a book shop which called us inside. We didn’t leave empty handed. I found a book that I had looked for on my previous holiday in Brighton; “Steeple Chasing: Around Britain by Church” (Peter Ross). It is a book that I read about in Country Walking magazine which features a lovely church (with angels) that I visited on last years Norfolk adventure. I could have ordered it online but sometimes I just have to hold a book in my hands before I purchase it.

We rejoined our route along the Welsh border, stopping at castle number two, Raglan. This castle with its moated tower is far more substantial than Monmouth. Raglan was built 150 years later than the turbulent era that saw castles built along the English/Welsh border. Raglan was intended to impress more than intimidate. The castle looked stunning in the sunshine that emerged as we arrived.

We thought we might find a bakery in Raglan town where we could purchase some made-to-order sandwiches for lunch. This was not to be so we continued along our Welsh border route to Abergavenny where we noticed a promising bakery. After parking the car, we found the bakery somewhat lacking in sandwich (and drink) opportunities but we were both able to find a tasty morsel to satisfy our lunch time appetite.

We ate our lunch sitting on a bench outside the delightful Priory Church of St Mary. The church houses a collection of memorial effigies and a 15^th century wooden carving; The Jesse which was once part of a larger carving forming Jesse Tree depicting the lineage of Jesus Christ as detailed in the Bible. A modern stained-glass window of the Jesse Tree has been installed which now substitutes for the missing part of the carving.

On our way home we picked up lasagne allowing us to enjoy ‘Fine Dining’ on our patio as the sun went down.