Thanks, Joe. I’m a National Trust member, for a start, and they’re usually good for affordable days out… unfortunately a lot of their properties are closed during the winter, including a few I would have wanted to visit in the general area.
I’ve visited Cardiff once but only had about a day there and didn’t see much. I went to Cardiff Castle, but felt too much of it was a Victorian fantasy recreation instead of a real castle, so to speak. (Not that I’ve anything against the Arts & Crafts period — I like it too — but I was hoping for something a bit more ancient.)
Any museums or heritage centres in Cardiff or other towns in the area might be interesting, especially ones where I could at least try some Welsh. I definitely like Hishiv’s suggestion of St Fagans!
I’ve just discovered Cadw, which I assume is something like the Welsh equivalent of English Heritage — could also be helpful.
Well there’s a big NT place just outside Newport called Tredegar House, possibly worth a visit.
Cadw have some good castles - a big one in Caerphilly, another in Chepstow/Casgwent. Neither much like Cardiff Castle!
Both are not too far from Newport, but in different directions.
Also Cadw has some Roman Remains near Newport at a place called Caerleon. If you are interested in Roman things, it’s worth going as there is also the National Roman Museum with various other artifacts and things to see.
Yes, I saw Tredegar House on the NT website, but unfortunately the house and gardens are closed all this month and only the surrounding parkland is open. That’s pretty usual for NT properties over the winter — they do take a lot of maintenance.
I saw Caerphilly and Chepstow Castles on the Cadw website and will definitely see if I can get to at least one of them. Castell Coch is another one I’ve heard recommended, but it’s another Victorian fantasy — could still be worth seeing, but it’s closed until 1 Feb, so that’s out. I also made note of the Caerleon Roman Baths — I’ve certainly enjoyed visiting the ones at Bath. I don’t have a specific interest in Roman history, though.
Oh — Gwent (and forgive my geographical ignorance, please… I didn’t know there were two). I’m actually staying 12.5 miles away, though, in the village of Llanvair Discoed (which, I’ve just confirmed, is better spelled Llanfair Is Coed).
Raglan Castle is not too far from where you’ll be and will be open (and it’s not a Victorian one! )
Also White Castle isn’t much further, will be open, and that’s usually much quieter than the others and very atmospheric (one of my favourites!) https://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/whitecastle/?lang=en
Also relatively close by is my home town, Monmouth (Trefynwy) - lots of beautiful countryside, lots of history (Monnow Gate, Charles Rolls, Nelson Museum, Henry V castle remains), unfortunately not so much Welsh language (it is on the rise, but you’d be very unlikely to hear it being used )
and just for clarity, In Welsh the Newports are Casnewydd (Newport Gwent) and Trefdraeth (Newport Pembs)
If you like castles - Raglan is one of my favourites - historically it used to have a library supposedly holding the largest collection of old Welsh manuscripts, although unfortunately that’s long gone now - destroyed by Cromwell’s armies and not much else to do around there since likely to be deserted this time of year, but close enough to Abergavenny for a few nice eateries for lunch (I think there are quite a few Welsh Speakers in Abergavenny, but you’d have to dig them out in advance) - leading down from Raglan to Chepstow through the lovely wye valley, there’s the remains of Tintern abbey, which again will be hauntingly quiet this time of year. Caldicot castle is also surprisingly nice, but without wanting to offend anyone from Caldicot, it isn’t somewhere I would necessarily think of as a tourist destination.
Maybe look up “Menter Iaith Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen a Mynwy” on facebook as well - they seem to have plenty going on?
Thanks, Siaron and Toffidil. I’ll look those up too. I’ll probably only get to three or four of these locations in the couple of full days I have, but I’ll make the most of the ones I do visit and I’ll save the others for a longer holiday some time. Diolch yn fawr
and @jamesmahoney or @cuckoo may be able to give you more information. There was a Welsh conversation group that met up in a pub in Caerleon that I went to once with James, but I can’t remember which day it was.
Bore da,
Hanbury Arms every Tuesday morning,11:30 on. Lots going on in Newport also ssiw get
together in Chepstow, Lime Tree pub last (?) saturday in the month. Myself or James
glad to help.
Hwyl.
Dioch, Dee! Again, some of this may have to be for another time, but it IS possible I’ll be moving closer to South Wales in the future and then I’ll have a lot more opportunities to explore.
Myttin da (as we say in Cernyweg… we only use “bora” to mean “dawn”, so we like to joke that the Welsh get up earlier than the Cornish )!
I would be happy to come to the conversation group in Caerleon on Tues 29th, diolch yn fawr! That’s not far from where I’ll be staying in Llanfair Is Coed. As I mentioned, I don’t know very much Welsh (yet) but I’d love to learn a bit more. Between 50-75% of words are the same or similar between Kernewek (Cernyweg) and Kembrek (Cymraeg), so it’s always fun to see how much I recognise when people are speaking Welsh.
Caerleon is well worth a visit as long as the museum and baths are open. I think they will be, but check on their website. The amphitheatre is, I think, the most complete on in the UK, and there are the remains of the barracks too. The museum is very interesting and shows how the local population mixed with the Roman and all the other nationalities their rule brought to Britain.
I’ll second Sain Ffagans. it’s an amazingly interesting place - I was there about 5 hours and still didnt see all that I wanted. Plus I got a chance to chat to one of the volunteers in welsh which was awesome!
Ah, that’s interesting — do you mean the Roman fortress and baths? I’ve just been looking on their website and under opening times they say absolutely nothing about it being closed for repairs, which they really should if that’s the case. Thanks for the tip, James.
Ah, thanks. I hadn’t yet looked that one up. I don’t have any special interest in Roman history, but the baths sound very interesting, so I can at least see those. I think my main interest historically is the Britons themselves, the ones who eventually diverged into the Welsh and Cornish (and the Bretons). I don’t have any known Welsh ancestry myself, just Cornish (and that’s 4 generations back), but we’ve all got to be related if you go back far enough.
The baths are great. The remains of the amphitheatre are well worth a look too (across the road and down a short lane).
The museum in Newport central library has some bits and pieces about the early inhabitants of Newport. Also worth a look, especially if it’s Wednesday morning - there’s a Welsh reading group that meets there at 0930, and then hangs around for a chat afterwards
Dydd da again — I’m intending to be there tomorrow morning at the Welsh speaking group in Caerleon, so I’m looking forward to meeting people and giving it a go! I must admit I still haven’t got beyond Level 1, Challenge 1 of SSiW (I’ve got a lot of other things on my plate and I am wanting to keep the focus on my Cornish while I’m working towards exams in it), but I’d love to learn a little more of the basics and have any recommendations for books and other learning materials for absolute beginners in Welsh. I do want to learn the language properly when I can — just having to take it slowly at the moment!
I’m a National Trust member, for a start, and they’re usually good for affordable days out… unfortunately a lot of their properties are closed during the winter, including a few I would have wanted to visit in the general area.
I’m actually staying 12.5 miles away, though, in the village of Llanvair Discoed (which, I’ve just confirmed, is better spelled Llanfair Is Coed).
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