Wales

We lived in London for two years, not much more than a couple hours from the border of Wales, yet we never went. Not once. We were too busy getting stamps in our passports to allow any time for more local attractions. What's even more pathetic is that Scott's Ashton relatives hail from Wales and there's a decent amount of archaeological sights to visit in connection to these ancestors. Shame on us! We mended our wayward ways by making Wales our first travel priority this time around. So for August bank holiday weekend, uh-hem just 22 days after our arrival back in London, we headed for a long weekend in Wales.




The Severn Bridge linking England with Wales over the River Severn, a cloroxed version of San Francisco's Golden Gate


Our first Welsh stop was Tintern Abbey. As we pulled up off the A road, it truly took my breath away.


Wordsworth said it so well when he penned the poem "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798"

"These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur. -- Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky."

The scenery here is stunning. The perfect backdrop to a most glorious structure.




















Tintern Abbey is magnificent. It was a mouth-gaping experience exploring her. And partway through our visit, I felt kind of ridiculous that we spent two years in London never paying her a visit. Tintern Abbey really is a 5-star sight.

And with a blue sky a photographer's dream!












Villages of the Welsh countryside are picture-perfect.




I'm often asked how we manage so much travel with kids. One day I'm going to get around to posting solely on the topic of family travel. One way we often make it work is by renting private accommodations. By doing so we get three to four times the space for less than half the cost of standard hotel accommodations. It's a bit of a gamble choosing private lodging, but we've had mostly good luck with it. And almost always the experience enhances the ability to travel authentically. Our flat in Cardiff made us feel like temporary locals.


Cardiff doesn't get huge accolades in the travel press. I think it's unfairly skipped over. Sure it's no London or Paris, but it's a very pleasant city with plenty on offer. And with great surrounding sights to add to the fun, it makes a great weekend.


Cardiff has a really nice shopping pedestrian zone in the centre of town. It is a great place to wander and an easy spot to find a good place to eat!


We love Wagamama!






Cardiff Opera House


Cardiff also has a really nice harborfront with more shops, restaurants, market stalls, street entertainment and who doesn't like a carousel ride?


It was pretty much the highlight of the trip for Trevon!






Outdoor art, hmmm . . . guessing this is called Key to Love or something


We spent the next day driving through Brecon Beacons National Park, which is gorgeous! The destination was Ashton heritage sights in northern Wales, and it was a stroke of luck that our route took us straight through this gorgeous park.




Trevon was dying, DYING to stop and snap a photo of the sheep with his DS!


Trefeglwys, first town of Ashton ancestry fame. This is where most of the Ashton ancestors lived. Trefeglwys, try saying that five times fast. Or trying saying it once. Still trying? Yeah, me too.


Inside the parish church of Trefeglwys there is a plaque commemorating the Ashtons. Sadly the church wasn't open during our visit. Kind of glad something like Trefeglwys didn't end up being my last name. No idea how "Ashton" came out of this country, but whew!


The cemetery at the parish church of Llanwnog contains Ashton tombstones of ancestors 7 generations back!


We scoured the entire graveyard in a tombstone scavenger hunt.


In Memory of
EDWARD ASHTON
Late of Red Lion in this Parish
who Departed this Life
December 7th, 1871
Aged 78 Years

This grave marker is a bit of a question mark, only because the dates would correspond to dates after the Ashton ancestor who left for America, also named Edward. It's more likely this Edward was an uncle to Edward gone to America.


SACRED
to the Memory of
JANE ASHTON
Late of Oerffrwd in this Parish
who departed this life,
November 15th, 1845.
Also to the Memory of
ANNE,
Daughter of Edward & Jane Ashton
who departed this life Jan'y 10th
1854. Aged 54 Years.

This Jane Ashton is likely Scott's 5th great grandmother.


In Memory of
ATHELUSTAN SAVAGE
Tymawr, Caersws, Shinner
who died 29th June 1814
Aged 71 Years
Also of ESTHER Relict of the above
died 10th Feb'ry 1827 Aged 77 Years
Also of DAVID ASHTON Son of
David & Jane Humphreys Dolgelley
and Great Grandson of the above
who died 8th July 1879
Aged 18 Years
"Be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye
think not the Son of man cometh"

Athelustan is Scott's 5th great grandfather!

The rest of the day post-Ashton sight hunting was filled with more quaint Welsh villages and beautiful green countryside on our drive from northern Wales back down to Cardiff . . .






















Making a lego airplane fly out the car window

On our final day before heading back to London we hit a couple castles. Caerphilly Castle was definitely the highlight! Or maybe it was the conference call Scott took on a hillside on the side of the road while I blasted the radio with the kids in the car. Tough call.




Race up the castle hillside








Leaning Tower of Caerphilly. I was seriously a little wigged out being too close to this thing. No reinforcement structures and all this moist Welsh earth made me a little uneasy, but who am I to question a tower that's been leaning for hundreds of years?!




Iron Man!