Monday, November 20, 2006

Caerphilly Castle, Wales (13 October 2006)

If you all still remember, we went to Cardiff just a few days before we went to Paris. As promised, here I present you all with the photos taken at Caerphilly Castle.

Caerphilly Castle is only about 20 minutes from Cardiff city centre. We had no problem finding the place as it was very well signed. We walked from the designated visitor's parking to the Castle. The view was breathtaking and the atmosphere was really calm. The local people we met along the way were all very friendly and flashed us with very warm smile. How welcome we felt by the little town of Caerphilly.

We chose to enter the Castle and paid some small amount of entrance fees. They have very interesting items on sale in the gift shop. As usual, we bought our compulsory fridge magnets.

If you enlarge the photo above, you will see Sarah is actually taking a photo of me!


Unlike Warwick Castle and Kenilworth Castle, this castle is a little less exciting in terms of its history. However, one cannot deny the beauty of the architecture and I am amazed that this building is still standing since it was first built in 1268.

Although a little less interesting, it is in fact one of the largest Castles in Britain. It was a purpose built castle by a powerful Baron in the area as a defence system. He wanted to secure his region from falling into the hands of the Welsh leader.

Over the years, the castle has fall into ruins. Probably the most noticeable feature of the Castle is the "leaning" tower that split vertically and slightly slanting to one side.




Caerphilly Castle can still boast its beautiful moat that has once dried up but re-flooding work was undertaken in the 1950s during the restoration work of the Castle from further ruin.

When we visited the Castle, we could see there were still some restoration works in progress. It is common in the UK that they preserve historic buildings. Although it didn't surprise me, but I was very much in awed especially some of these 'very old' buildings are still liveable and being used by royalties.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Masa Naja pergi castle tu and masuk dalam, berdoa2 banyak janganla castle tu runtuh!

dith said...

Nisak,

Once you reach Malaya, please add a final castle to your visit, The Kellie's Castle! :p

pycnogenol said...

With all those fridge magnets, do you still get to see the fridge?

Ajzie said...

Great pics. Saya suka tgk..Fridge magnet lagi....hihi

Kellie Castle yg di Perak tuh ker?

dith said...

Pycno,

No she wont. As she wont be able to identify the door, she has to you use a large magnet to pull it open!, hehe

Jamil said...

Mama sarah

Travellers who depend on compasses dare not go near that fridge of yours.

Other than that, castles have always fascinated me. They possess a sense of being majestic and mysterious at the same time.

dyanna said...

Once again, nice photos! You've captured Caerphilly Castle well. I personally think Caerphilly is a beautiful place. Aman dan damai.. I rasa town dia comel.

Anonymous said...

mama sarah, i think kellie's castle tak berapa sesuai sebab you kan penakutttt sikit :)

Cik Tat said...

beraninya ammar bg makan itik..kalo kakak dia hulur sekejap, pastu baling jauh2..

simah said...

penat dah tengok gambaq castle hehehe lawak ja...

as usual..wonderful snaps.. :0)

eh u pun buat trick sama ka? budak mandi u blog? wink hahahah

Anonymous said...

wow...caerphilly castle was built since 1268.
Terfikir pulak cam ne M'sia at that time ye (^~^)/

I still cannot sign in your beta.blogger's comment as usual kena guna anonymous jgk!
-mamafaris-

Idham said...

:) never been to cardiff...so, very appreciative to you for sharing great photos...

psst, pls click on my name to get to my bakpo.blogspot

hehehe

idham

Kaklong Syikin said...

salam,

mamasarah boleh jadi guru sejarah yang baiklah..siap ngan gambor lagi. kalau present dlm kelas, sure 100% anak2 murid tak tidur sbb menarik n cantik2 gambarnya. maklumlah, subjek sejarah ni kan biasanya memengantukkan orang hehe.

eh, nampak besorlah itik2 tu..jinak pun ya..

meh la tunjuk kat kami ni koleksi fridge magnets tu..:D.buat entri khas tau..ni PERMINTAAN ni hehe

Farah Y said...

Oh wow! look at the landscape!! Bet your camera's memory card habis full :D

The largest in Britain? Whoa. I wonder how it originally looks like back then. Must be humongous!

Kiah Kardashian said...

banyak giler dah miss entry mama sarah nihhhhhhh....

Sorila tak dapat nak jenguk blog. Tapi suka cerita gi Paris tu. Mengenangkan kembali saat saat indah ku berbulan madu...uweeek...hek hek hek.

Anonymous said...

earth's magnetic pole has shifting several degrees to the west especially in the past few months thanks to puan mama sarah's fridge magnets.

if you have a pacemaker, beware entering our house!

dyanna said...

Mynn, LOL! Patutla cuaca macam lain sket, dah shifted rupanya magnetic field ni.

Mama Sarah said...

1. Naja Rasa macam ok je structure dia. Tapi bila sampai kat titi-titi, baru rasa seriau sebab rasanya budak-budak boleh telus.

2. DITH I was hoping for someone to give me some sort of hints about Kellie's Castle. I googled and found another Kellie's Castle in Scotland. I would have thought you have recommended us to go to Scotland again before we go back! Luckily Azie mentioned the one in Malaysia :)

3. Pycno Yes, Sir. I still manage to see the fridge. Our collections are not that many yet.

4. Azie If you didn't mention PErak, I would have thought the one in Scotland!

5. Dith Just Great! Another excuse to buy another fridge magnet eh?

6. Hiyoshi Majestic and Mysterious at the same time. I thought the same! I've always fascinated how some of these Castles, even those dated older than Caerphilly Castle are still in use by Royalties. For example Windsor Castle. I bet in Malaysia, Raja-raja would have preferred to stay in a BRAND NEW castle.

7. Dyanna I'm sure it would have been better if the weather was brighter with blue sky. Memang aman damai rasanya and they were extremely friendly! They stopped by us to have a little chat, like we were their neighbours!

8. Anne Hahaha! Penakut-penakut I, ada orang tu lagi penakut tau! I've also read from the web about Kellie's castle being haunted. TAk pe, ayat kursi lagi power.

And guess what, when I did my research about Caerphilly Castle (after our trip) I found out that, there were sightings of "The Green Lady" hovering around the Castle... spooky.

9. Mama Singa Amar belum tahu consequences kot. Cuma lega sikit Amar dgn Sarah tak sibuk nak kejar anjing.

10. Simah I pun letih dah tulis cerita2 basi ni. hehehe...

Trick suruh pi mandi tu - utk kanak2 besar je. Anak2 saya belum dibiarkan mandi sendiri lagi.

11. Mama Faris Tu zaman-zaman Srivijaya lagi agaknya. Parameswara baru nak datang tahun 1400an. Baru nak mula zaman kesultanan Melayu. Fuh, balik malaysia nanti kena pergi survey negeri Melaka pulak lah.

12. Idham Thanks for your 'new' link. Cardiff and Wales is very pleasant and interesting. There are lots of historic and modern buildings around.

13. Syikin Nanti masuk bab sejarah amerika latin - sure saya tak ada idea!

PErmintaan anda dalam proses! Saya sangat ketinggalan dgn sejarah kami sendiri ni! Banyak lagi entri yang belum disiarkan.

14. Farah You would love to go there Farah! There are always interesting view from different angles.

15. Zakiah Haha... anak nak masuk 2 dah. Baguslah dikenang-kenangkan balik zaman pi honeymoon dulu. As for us, that was our 'honeymoon' bersama-sama 2 orang kanak-kanak.

16. Mynn Are you sure it's because of our fridge magnets and not Auntie Wa and Auntie De's super banyak collections? Ours is considered as beginner tau!

p/s: Oittss, mentang-mentanglah baru buat pacemaker!!!

17. Dyanna Don't blame me alone lah Di!!!