The weather was looking favourable so Mr C decided today was the day to visit Harlech Castle which had been on his ‘To Do’ list for some time. Before set off he prepared some brisket and vegetables and put them in the slow cooker to bubble away whilst we were on our travels.

Along the way we stopped for lunch at the Bluebell Park Café where our choice of food was freshly prepared for us. We arrived in Harlech to glorious sunshine, perfect weather for exploring a castle.

Before heading home we had cake looking over the spectacular view of the Snowdonia peaks. We were accompanied by sparrows hopping on the table to pick up stray crumbs. One cheeky little Chappy thought he might do a duck and dive for my cake, even when I picked the plate off the table and held it closer to me. When I finally put the plate back on the table he returned, grabbed the largest crumb and flew off with it.

Photo taken by Mr C

Photo taken by Mr C

Photo taken by Mr C

On the way to Chester we realised that the museum that Mr C intended to visit is closed on Wednesdays. After being delayed by roadworks and diversions and very slow service at the Grosvenor garden centre just outside Chester we decided not to visit the city. Instead Mr C took us on Welsh mystery tour where we spotted the Inn with my name. Mr C parked the car and insisted I took a photo.

Eventually the mystery tour led us to Denbigh and signposts to the castle. We navigated the extremely narrow roads to the castle to find that it too was closed on Wednesdays.

Maybe we should rule out Wednesdays for future days out!

In 1785 Morgan David Morgan agreed to rent this cottage from the Plas Taliaris estate for about £9 a year.

The family were self-sufficient, keeping a pig and growing vegetables, so they could have food available all year – even if money was scarce.

The walls of their cottage were mad of ‘clom’ – a mixture of clay, stone and straw. Friends and family often helped with building work. The thick walls helped keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer.

The chimney is made from woven branches of hazel just like a basket, and its surface is covered with daub – a mixture of clay and dung.*

*information from a signboard next to the house and pigsty

Henry David Thoreau

This is a one-roomed rural school built in 1880. By this time, every child between five and twelve years old could expec an education.

In 1900, the Headmistress, Miss Rachel Ann Thomas, taught thirty six pupils aged between five and fourteen. The lessons were in English, although the children’s fist language was Welsh. The emphasisi was on the ‘three R’s’ – reding, writing and arithmetic.

The school used to close on harvest days, as the children had to help on the farms.

The brightest senior girl would help the Headmistress as pupil-teacher. Her high desk faced the rows of pupils.*

*from a signboard next to the school

Evan Jenkins built this small commercial bakehouse in the garden of Derwen House. Thespian Street, Aberystwyth. His daughters, Catherine and Mary, ran the business. They worked from 6am to 10pm.

Home ovens were too small to bake enough bread for large families. People prepared their dough in tins and took it to be baked in commercial ovens. Successful bakehouses expanded their operations, delivering their own bread to wide areas.

The oven takes 3-5 hours to heat up from cold, and will take about 220 loaves of bread.*

*from a signboard next to the bakehouse

The mill has three storeys. Grain is stored on the top floor, ground into flour on the middle floor and bagged on the lowest floor. Because of the wet climate, farmers would often harvest corn before it was thoroughly dry. The miller then had to dry the grain before grinding it. This was done on a drying-floor on the upper level, heated by a fireplace.*

*From the St Fagans National Museum of History guidebook

These roundhouses have been reconstructed based on archaeological remains excavated in Anglesey in the 1980s. The original dwellings would have been built aroundx 2,300 years ago.

During the Iron Age people lived in circular houses with thatched roofs. Most had walls of stone ore wattle and daub. We know from archaeological evidence that these examples were made from ‘clom’ which is a mixture of clay, stone and straw.*

*from a signboard next to the roundhouses

When the house was built in 1508, it was a luxurious house by Tudor standards. We know that by 1754, Robert and Ann Foulkes lived here. The last of the family to live at Hendre’r-ywyd, Mary Elizabeth Foulkes, died in 1912.

The family shared their home with the cattle which were kept in the two lower bays. The three upper bays formed the family home.

Originally, there was no chimney – the smoke from the fire would escape through the open windows and the rood.*

*from a signboard next to the farmhouse

Albert Einstein