Ahh out on the road again! We set off to explore Wales, a country within a country. You know,until we arrived in the UK, we seldom paused to ponder how the United Kingdom is one nation, yet is made up of 4 component countries which to a large extent still cling to nationalistic roots.
Aside from the obvious sporting rivalry, certain locals from Wales and Scotland love to "hate" the English, but when it comes down to it, they are really all the same! Everyone loves their football, their rugby and a good pint of British beer. Not to mention that people move around and everyone is mixed these days anyway! Everybody has a bit of Celt, a bit of Norman, a bit of Angle, a bit of Saxon and even a bit of Scandinavian in them. How could they possibly not? The British Isles have seen migration, conquest, intermarriage and mingling for thousands of years! When it comes down to it, even the English were originally Celtic! So I (Nat) say, stop the bickering and learn to concentrate on what you have in common - there's a heck of a lot of it!
We began our journey to the Westernmost point of Wales, the city of St David's. St David's is located in Southern Pembrookeshire, which is known as "Little England Beyond Wales" owing to the fact this area has been English in culture and language for centuries.
St Davids has the honour of being the smallest city in Britain. In reality its merely a town of less than 2000 people however the fact that it has a cathedral automatically makes it a city.
The view from Solva, on the way to St David's
Britains smallest city
St David's Cathedral, built in 1181 and still in active use over 800 years later!
The ruins of the Bishops Palace at St David's
The interior of the cathedral
Supposedly St David's (the patron saint of Wales) bones lie in this box
Many ancient tombs lie in the cathedral. This one is of a great Welsh knight who died in the 1200s
We had a very interesting night in the town of Fishguard. What began as a search for cheap pub food ended with us being shouted beers and having a good old yarn with some Welsh locals. Apparently Fishguard is one of the top places in the UK to be during New Year's (don't ask me why). The pubs even have photos of the festivities on the wall. We finally left the pub (to the disappointment of the locals who were quite enjoying meeting a couple of out-of-town Australians), making vague promises to return for New Year's 2009. Whether we make good our pledge remains to be seen.
The pub in Fishguard
After another restful night in our car just on the outskirts of Machynlleth in the county of Powys, we started our next day early. This is because we had agreed to do a little driving off the beaten track in order to "trace my Welsh roots".
My mum is Australian and her bloodline is primarily Scottish and Welsh. Her maiden name is Pugh, which is Welsh in origin. Years ago my grandfather had done some research on the family tree and traced the first Pugh migrant to Australia in the 1800s, Hugh Pugh (my great great great grandfather) to a little village called Llanfihangel-y-Pennant. Since he had visited the village in the 1980s, he was able to give me directions. Just as well because we could hardly see it on the map!
After driving for ages on small roads between breathtakingly beautiful hills out to the middle of nowhere, we finally found it!
Llanfihangel-y-Pennant means "Church of the Archangel by the Little River" in Welsh
Today the village consists of about 8 families. The ancient church of St Michael is still used today. Most of the graves in the churchyard are people with the surnames Pugh and Jones.
The grave of John Pugh, my great great great great grandfather. The tomb of his wife and another Pugh relative lie next to his. John Pugh was the father of Hugh Pugh, who migrated to Australia in the 1800s.
As I (Nat) stroll among the tombstones
We pose amid the beautiful Welsh mountains
Did my great (x3) grand daddy build this house? His uncle probably did. There were a few Hugh Pughs around then. Apparently it was a popular name.
The monument of Mary Jones in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant who walked barefoot 25 miles to buy a Welsh Bible in 1800 for which she had saved for 6 years.
Checking out the monument and ruins of her house
A Welsh stream
We were suprised to see that the sheep in Wales have tails!
Our journey back to civilisation
A Welsh lake
After my little family reunion, we drove back down to Aberystwyth, a famous Welsh university town and then due East across mid Wales back towards England. This particular day involved a lot of driving, and so Candice had to share the load even though technically she wasn't on the insurance for the car. Naughty, naughty.
Candice gets some Welsh-English driving experience
For more photos of Wales, visit
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48366&l=f6ad0&id=681501850
Aside from the obvious sporting rivalry, certain locals from Wales and Scotland love to "hate" the English, but when it comes down to it, they are really all the same! Everyone loves their football, their rugby and a good pint of British beer. Not to mention that people move around and everyone is mixed these days anyway! Everybody has a bit of Celt, a bit of Norman, a bit of Angle, a bit of Saxon and even a bit of Scandinavian in them. How could they possibly not? The British Isles have seen migration, conquest, intermarriage and mingling for thousands of years! When it comes down to it, even the English were originally Celtic! So I (Nat) say, stop the bickering and learn to concentrate on what you have in common - there's a heck of a lot of it!
We began our journey to the Westernmost point of Wales, the city of St David's. St David's is located in Southern Pembrookeshire, which is known as "Little England Beyond Wales" owing to the fact this area has been English in culture and language for centuries.
St Davids has the honour of being the smallest city in Britain. In reality its merely a town of less than 2000 people however the fact that it has a cathedral automatically makes it a city.
The view from Solva, on the way to St David's
Britains smallest city
St David's Cathedral, built in 1181 and still in active use over 800 years later!
The ruins of the Bishops Palace at St David's
The interior of the cathedral
Supposedly St David's (the patron saint of Wales) bones lie in this box
Many ancient tombs lie in the cathedral. This one is of a great Welsh knight who died in the 1200s
We had a very interesting night in the town of Fishguard. What began as a search for cheap pub food ended with us being shouted beers and having a good old yarn with some Welsh locals. Apparently Fishguard is one of the top places in the UK to be during New Year's (don't ask me why). The pubs even have photos of the festivities on the wall. We finally left the pub (to the disappointment of the locals who were quite enjoying meeting a couple of out-of-town Australians), making vague promises to return for New Year's 2009. Whether we make good our pledge remains to be seen.
The pub in Fishguard
After another restful night in our car just on the outskirts of Machynlleth in the county of Powys, we started our next day early. This is because we had agreed to do a little driving off the beaten track in order to "trace my Welsh roots".
My mum is Australian and her bloodline is primarily Scottish and Welsh. Her maiden name is Pugh, which is Welsh in origin. Years ago my grandfather had done some research on the family tree and traced the first Pugh migrant to Australia in the 1800s, Hugh Pugh (my great great great grandfather) to a little village called Llanfihangel-y-Pennant. Since he had visited the village in the 1980s, he was able to give me directions. Just as well because we could hardly see it on the map!
After driving for ages on small roads between breathtakingly beautiful hills out to the middle of nowhere, we finally found it!
Llanfihangel-y-Pennant means "Church of the Archangel by the Little River" in Welsh
Today the village consists of about 8 families. The ancient church of St Michael is still used today. Most of the graves in the churchyard are people with the surnames Pugh and Jones.
The grave of John Pugh, my great great great great grandfather. The tomb of his wife and another Pugh relative lie next to his. John Pugh was the father of Hugh Pugh, who migrated to Australia in the 1800s.
As I (Nat) stroll among the tombstones
We pose amid the beautiful Welsh mountains
Did my great (x3) grand daddy build this house? His uncle probably did. There were a few Hugh Pughs around then. Apparently it was a popular name.
The monument of Mary Jones in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant who walked barefoot 25 miles to buy a Welsh Bible in 1800 for which she had saved for 6 years.
Checking out the monument and ruins of her house
A Welsh stream
We were suprised to see that the sheep in Wales have tails!
Our journey back to civilisation
A Welsh lake
After my little family reunion, we drove back down to Aberystwyth, a famous Welsh university town and then due East across mid Wales back towards England. This particular day involved a lot of driving, and so Candice had to share the load even though technically she wasn't on the insurance for the car. Naughty, naughty.
Candice gets some Welsh-English driving experience
For more photos of Wales, visit
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48366&l=f6ad0&id=681501850
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