My husband K woke at 7:30, but our daughter J and I slept until the alarm at 8:30. The hotel did not have a free breakfast and the place we were going for breakfast didn't open until 10. So, we were not rushed packing up. Shortly before we went downstairs, I took photos of the sculpture we'd seen last night, as well as the nearby train tracks. We had not heard any trains in the night.
At 9:55, we checked out and left our bags in the storage room. We then set off through town in the direction of the castle.
The area had an eclectic mixture of architectural styles. We found the Welsh flag with its dragon. We saw all of the usual suspects: Subway; McDonald's; Taco Bell; etc.
The streets weren't really busy. We passed a couple of souvenir shops and made note of their locations for later.
At about 10:10, we reached the destination that J had chosen for breakfast- Fabulous Welshcakes in the Castle Arcade, which was across the street from the castle, in fact.
What are Welsh cakes? Wikipedia:
Welsh cakes (Welsh picau ar y maen, pice bach, cacennau cri or teisennau gradell), also bakestones or pics, are a traditional sweet bread in Wales. They have been popular since the late 19th century with the addition of fat, sugar and dried fruit to a longer standing recipe for flat-bread baked on a griddle.
The cakes are also known as griddle cakes or bakestones within Wales because they are traditionally cooked on a bakestone (Welsh: maen, lit. 'stone' or Welsh: planc, lit. 'board'), a cast-iron griddle about ½" (1.5 cm) or more thick which is placed on the fire or cooker; on rare occasions, people may refer to them as griddle scones.
Welsh cakes are made from flour, butter or lard, currants, eggs, milk, and spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. They are roughly circular, a few inches (7–8 cm) in diameter and about half an inch (1–1.5 cm) thick.
Welsh cakes are served hot or cold, sometimes dusted with caster sugar.
J got us cranberry with white chocolate, lemon, and traditional that were freshly made, so that we'd have a variety. We also bought a couple of boxes of other flavors from the shelf for later snacking.
We went farther down the arcade to Pettigrew's Bakeries so that K could get a coffee. We also got a blood orange lemonade for J and me to split. And K got what was called raisin bread but looked like a pastry to bolster the Welsh cakes. We found a table to sit and eat. The Welsh cakes tasted like a biscuit.
We were finished at 10:42 and headed out for the castle. From this side of the street, we had good views of the entrance, the clock tower and their pride crosswalk.
This location was used for a Roman fort that was probably built in 55 AD. They built various ones on this site until they abandoned it sometime in the 4th century. Next up were the Normans in the 11th century with either William the Conqueror or Robert Fitzhamon, lord of Gloucester building a castle. It was a motte-and-bailey castle, with the keep on raised ground called the motte and and a walled courtyard or bailey. Fitzhamon's son-in-law is probably the one who rebuilt the keep as a polygonal shell keep (shell keeps circle the top of their mottes). Various and assorted people owned it and added on over the next centuries. In 1794, the title of Marquess of Bute was conferred on John, Lord Mount Stuart and that family held it for the next century. In 1766, he had started renovations with the intention of it being a residence for his son. The grounds were radically altered by Capability Brown (seriously!), a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style, and his son-in-law Henry Holland. They pretty well got rid of any medieval hints and the lodgings grew in size. The castle was abandoned more or less for a number of years. The 3rd Marquess hired architect William Burges, among the greatest of Victorian architects. The house was reworked grandly in Gothic Revival style. Much of the remaining medieval and Roman remains in the central courtyard were destroyed. Skipping ahead, during WWII, air raid shelters were built in the tunnels in the walls. The 5th Marquess faced rather heavy death taxes upon his inheriting the castle and surrounding park in 1947 and decided to give it all to the city of behalf of the people of Cardiff. Clever man.
K and I got the senior rate of Ł12.50 each for the entrance fee. In the area of the old Roman wall, they have the ticket counter, restrooms, shop and a café. The entry area is classic castle.
A music festival was set up in the courtyard. It wasn't going on until evening, but it did interfere with photos, as with the porta-pot in the tree photo.
We decided to visit the ancient keep up on the motte first. In spite of the fact it was stupid high, I climbed the stairs, grabbing both handrails to make it easier. It was a touch slippery. On the way up, I got a look through a hole a defender would have shot through.
It was not until we saw an information inside, that we learned that the keep was a polygon not a circle. Then, looking more carefully, we could see it.
The holes in the sides were for the posts that were part of the houses that used to be in there. There was a steep stairway up to the former "mansion" of the duke, when they lived in the castle, especially for safety. K was kind enough to climb up and take photos. While he was climbing, we noticed all the plant life that had taken hold in the walls.
There was a view out toward the north gate of the complex. We never made it to that part.
Before we went back to ground level, I took a moment at the top of the stairs to take a photo of the castle and Cardiff beyond.
It was now time to visit the Victorian Gothic Revival mansion on the west side of the grounds. The house was begun in the 1420's and 30's as a more comfortable alternative to the keep. The clock tower dates to the 1800's and is decorated with colorful statues and heraldry. There are 9-foot tall statues of Mercury, Luna, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Sol. There's a separate fee for touring that. We stuck to the house, which is referred to as the Castle Apartments on our tickets.
The couple of steps up into the building were not to my knees liking, but once inside, it was worth it. So many lovely details. Beautiful stained glass windows, often of kings and queens, and they fit perfectly into the gothic stonework details. The walls were painted in wonderful detail that rather mimicked wallpaper.
Our tour was at our leisure and there were helpful signs to explain some of what we saw, plus the audio tour accessed through our phones. We entered a hall, where there was a short line under a sign reading "Arab Room". The castle website has a great description:
This amazing interior was one of the last William Burges designed and dates from 1881, the year he died.
The ceiling is of a style known as a ‘muquarnas’, it is made of wood which has been covered in gold leaf and decorated.
The stained glass windows are inspired by Egyptian examples and in front of each is a crystal ball. These were placed so that sunlight would hit them and refract light into the ceiling.
The walls and floor are made of Italian marble and the chimneypiece is carved with the name of William Burges. Lord and Lady Bute were very fond of their architect and this chimneypiece acts as a memorial to him.
The wall cupboards are made of beautifully inlaid wood and were intended to contain Lady Bute’s collection of statues of Gods and Goddesses.
The window shutters are of ‘mishrabaya’ style that allows one to look out, but not be seen from outside.
This is all well and good, but it really fails to tell you how magnificent it is. These photos were taken from the small space they give into the room (holds maybe 3 people in a rectangle). The first is of the absolutely incredible ceiling.
Mind blown, we then went to the huge Banqueting Hall. The castle site had some good information, and even told you about hiring the hall.
The Banqueting Hall is the largest room in the castle and is in the oldest part of the building, dating from the fifteenth century.
However, all the surface decoration, ceiling and floors are in fact a Victorian re-imagining of a noble hall from the Middle Ages and took nearly 15 years to complete.
The theme of the hall’s decoration is medieval history and the impressive chimneypiece shows Robert Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of King Henry I and twelfth century Lord of Cardiff Castle riding out to battle. The impressive murals (painted in 1875) depict scenes from the civil conflict known as the ‘Anarchy’, when Robert’s half-sister, the Empress Matilda fought her cousin King Stephen for the throne.
The south end of the hall is dominated by a large, medieval style carved walnut screen, designed in 1887 and produced by craftsmen from Lord Bute’s own workshops. Above one section is a minstrels’ gallery, where musicians would play during Lord Bute’s dinner parties.
Here's a panoramic to start us off:
That, of course is just one side of the room. The opposite side is full of windowed alcoves.
The various ceilings in the room were incredible in their detail.
As noted in the description, there was an intricately carved walnut screen at one end. It reminded me of King Ludwig's bed at Neuschwanstein, which is topped with wooden carvings of the steeples of Bavaria.
The murals were so detailed!
The alcoves were a delight with each having different wallpaper depicting animals doing something. The ceilings were different as well. Here's a sample:
As one approached the far end of the room, there was an open doorway through which you could see that even the stairwells were elaborately decorated.
At the far end of the room below the mural there was a magnificent sideboard.
Our path took us downstairs and through the family's small dining room. It was rather dark, but the Victorian era was like this. The third picture is detail of the glass in the wooden wall. Some of the glass was also green.
We passed through a brighter room with portraits of family members, as well as photos. Although the room itself was unremarkable, I did like the fireplace.
The next room was the library. Information cards had this:
The Library is in the oldest part of the house and part of it once formed the fifteenth century Great Hall. It was divided into two rooms for some four hundred years until William Burges made it into one large library for the 3rd Marquess of Bute in the 1870s.
• The room is one of the most important in the castle as it still contains the original Burges bookcases and tables that were designed and made for this interior.
• The theme of the Library is literature and language and the chimneypiece shows the five 'ancient' languages of Greek, Hebrew, Assyrian, Hieroglyphics and Runic. The figures holding them were carved by the sculptor Thomas Nicholls.
• The walls are covered with a red and gold canvas, decorated with figures of putti. Each holds the name of one of Lord Bute's favourite authors.
• The furniture is covered with carved and inlaid decoration which was produced by Lord Bute's own workshops - a group of highly talented craftsmen who worked solely on the Marquess's building projects.
• Although Lord Bute was fascinated by the medieval world, he was also keen on modern inventions and the castle had central heating installed during the 1870s. The bases of the two library tables contain the radiators of the central heating system.
And what a gorgeous library! We really enjoyed roaming it. Once again, books were organized by size, for the most part.
Once again, the ceiling was well-decorated.
A beautiful fireplace and philosophers and playwrights on the ends of bookcases were nice touches.
Having thoroughly enjoyed the visit, we decided that it was time for lunch, especially since it was already1:05. We went to the café, which had a counter from which you could order warm foods and pay for everything. Happily, they had Welsh Rarebit. We also got a chicken pasty to remind J of her days of studying abroad in London and a jacket potato with chili (aka, baked potato with chili) for K. He also wanted a black Americano, of course. My Coke Zero was Ł2.20, while J's regular Coke was Ł2.50. A scone with clotted cream and jam, as well as a lemon drizzle, would do for dessert. The whole thing came to Ł36.10. We enjoyed every single bite. I discovered that I really liked clotted cream, enough so to finish off the container, when the scone is gone.
When we finished at 1:45, we walked across the room to the adjoining shop. It took us only ten minutes to pick out a few things before heading outside to the earth bank to the east of the Castle Green. It was cloudy, 65°, and the breeze made it chilly. Sadly, what would have been a great view of the grounds was marred by the music festival set up.
After making a stop at the restrooms, we left the castle at 2:18. Across the street was a souvenir shop that I hoped would have a good selection of Welsh love spoons. K and I celebrate our 41st anniversary on August 6 and I thought that one might make a nice gift to ourselves. While waiting for the light, I was intrigued by the giant Welsh word on the sign of the shop.
We also had a nice view of the castle clock tower from here.
In the window of the shop, there was an interesting display about the making of the spoons and important people who have received one from here. Inside, there was one purporting to be the largest in the world. There was nowhere to stand to get a photo of the whole thing. K and I did find one with meaningful symbols for us.
By 2:46, we were headed for other shops. One place we stopped resulted in no purchases, but just fascinated browsing. It was the Cardiff Market, with its stalls of food, clothing, meat, fruit, and more-even wool. It reminded me of Lexington Market in Baltimore, when I was growing up.
At about 3, it started to rain and we headed for a bookstore. As we went inside, an obviously mentally ill homeless person asked me for money. When I gave him none, he cursed at me quite unnervingly.
When we left, the rain had stopped and at 3:55, we were at the hotel to claim our luggage. We also took advantage of their restrooms before we left at 4:09 for the nearby train station.
At the station, we stopped at M & S Food to buy dinner for the train trip. Then, at 4:30, we were on the platform waiting for the 16:49 to Manchester, England.
We boarded at 4:40 and the train left on time. I tried to take photos as we sped through Wales, but it was difficult to get good shots. Rain did not help.
We saw sheep and solar panels at 6:23, but we were already back in England near Ludlow.
At 6:27, we put out on the table between the two sets of seats all the food we'd bought at the station. We didn't drink the alcohol, which I'd bought for evening at the hotel, because it was a good deal and I was curious about how they'd taste. I knew K wouldn't object. (J doesn't drink.) It was a good meal.
Sometimes, there were pretty flowers along the tracks. And, in spite of the gloomy skies, I enjoyed the views and thought them charming.
At 8:02, we got off the train in Stockport, England. By 8:10, we were checking into the Holiday Inn Express nearby. We were assigned rooms 221 and 222 and were not surprised to hear that J's bag had not arrived. She headed off to her room to call British Airways, again. We explored our rather modern accommodations.
My phone claims 7, 417 steps for 2.4 miles, but incomprehensibly, no floors climbed!
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