We set off in the nice Tesla again (Thank you, Stuart) this morning, and our first stop was "the oldest thing" we would see in Wales. As you can see from the sky, it was rainy and we got a bit wet.
Pentre Ifan
Pentre Ifan takes us back to Neolithic (New Stone Age) times, when our ancestors buried their dead in tombs such as this. What we see before us today are the bare bones of a burial chamber that would originally have been covered with an earthen mound. The giant 16½ft/5m ‘capstone’ appears to be precariously balanced on three ‘uprights’, though it has remained in place for over 5,000 years.
Pentre Ifan’s sense of mystery is heightened by its surroundings and backdrop. Its outline neatly frames the Preseli Hills towering above, source of the famous Pembrokeshire ‘bluestones’ that went into the making of Stonehenge as well as Pentre Ifan itself.
Next stop was Aberaeron, which is where the River Teifu (Lampeter is on the River Teifu) meets the sea. First up, lunch and then we visited book shops, new and old, and yes, you guessed, I bought a couple more books. Now if you're wondering where I am going to put them when I pack up, I'm already considering what clothes I can leave behind! finally a history treat.
Cardigan Castle (at Aberteifu, or Cardigan in English)
Cardigan Castle was the first stone castle built by a Welshman - The Lord Rhys ap Gruffyd. To mark its completion in 1176, he held the First Eisteddfod, which means something very different from the Australian "eisteddfod". It was and still is, in Wales, a celebration of music and poetry.
There is not much to see of this castle, but the Mediaeval walls and tower remain.The castle was built and rebuilt through Georgian and Victorian times and finally in the 1990's, the site was restored. (Information from brochure)
The present building is a museum and of course, the most interesting items for me were the Eisteddfod relics. There was only one Eisteddfod chair awarded at an eisteddfod, to the winner of a poem, that must have the correct structure. On Googling I found that the structure of Welsh poetry is very complicated and particular.
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| The First Eisteddfod Chair 1176 |
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| The chair surrounded by the remains of the first Welsh castle |
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