Betws-y-Coed, Church in the Wood, is a lovely little town and we all agreed that it was a perfect place to have a travel break for us all. Saturday morning after a breakfast of omelette, toast, fruit, and tea we joined Conwy for a walk about of this small town that is lively with outdoors loving people this holiday weekend. The sun is shining so brightly and the day is warming already by 9:30. Men are stripping off their shirts and the ladies are wearing summer tops and shorts, unless they are in their hiking wardrobes and backpacks. Everywhere there are dogs although I have not seen even one dachshund of any kind!
We learned the history of the area which is at the gateway to Snowdonia National Park. This is, truth be told, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. At the same time there is the starkness associated with mining and thin soils. The hotel where we are staying was a coach house all the way back in roman times! The natural stone buildings have, of course, been expanded but I am sure that knights in shining armor once slept under this same roof. Maybe King Arthur himself once quaffed an ale in the same pub!
At one time during the Great War it became a refuge for a chool. The children studied in the morning and in the afternoon went out and planted trees which led to the reforestation of this land which had been stripped bare of trees. The village now is very Alpine in look thanks to the beautiful natural surroundings and deeps woods.
We crossed through the back of the little shopping area where we had our pizza in yesterday. Behind the shops is the rail track that our guide-in-training, Sue, left on this morning. Over the tracks and along a wooded path we came to the church for which the town was named. We passed through the 'lych gate' which is where people would pause to make the dead 'clean' before entering the cemetary or the hole ground. Also, after giving birth, women would have to be cleansed to return to the church.
Funerals traditionally were held only on Saturdays no matter which day the person died. Imagine having a a wake (staying awake to be sure the devil didn't enter the deceased's body) in those day. The corpse would be laid out on the dining room table and visitors would come to pay condolences. If they died on Sunday you had this experience to last all week! Of course the same traditon was held in Ireland as both countries are Celtic. But the Irish made sure that a wake was memorable. Got to love and Irish Wake!
The Welsh were a bit more sedate. Clavinism and Baptist was the dominant religion as well as Catholic and Anglican. Not Southern Baptist but Baptist all the same. And when the government needed money they always found a way to tax or fine the hard working people. In this case, the woolen mills and sheep farmers needed support. A law was passed that to be buried in the churchyard the body had to be wrapped in wool. Add a woolen shroud to a body on your dining room table and should the summer be hot... But also, if it was not so wrapped and the minister or priest found out there was a stiff fine (no pun intended) to be paid. But here's the rub, if you knew that it was not, and you whispered to the minister that it was not, and he peeked and the body was not in a wool shroud the fine was collected and the priest and the tattler each got a cut of it! Now without being told of the suspicion the minister would never look under the outer wrapping. Remember that this body may have been a rotting corpse for up to a week! Phew!
The cemetary stones are, of course, all slate. The engravings are nearly unreadable from age but mostly because they are in not only Welsh, but ancient Welsh! Conwy read some to us and like cemeteries everywhere they are the social history of the place they are found. How many had several young children placed within and then years later the parents! And the adults were often in thier 40's!
We walked further to the small, very small Church in the Wood. It is not active but maintained and supported by The Friends of Abandoned Churches! Conwy used the features of this tiny treasure to explain the development of the Reformation and the way things like how the altar is placed can help you to identify the religion practiced there and the time frame of it. He is a font of information on so many topics related to the history we are learning. I feel as though we are enjoying a moveable feast through the times and space of Wales. And you can't do that without putting it into the persepctive of British and world history. I am definitely in my element!
After the walk and talk Elva and I headed across the river for some pictures and then made our way back to town taking a new route and seeing breathtaking vies of the river, the fields, the stone buildings and lots of dogs! We stopped in a little shop where I did somethiing quite unusual and bought myself a souvenir. Then in the grocery, which was much like a corner store of times gone by, I bought three Diet Cokes! Really will enjoy those over the next few days. Next to the hotel is an Outdoor Shop so we popped in but they really didn't have any women's clothing except for shoes so we left no money behind there. Lunch was at the hotel and was a fixed menu and quite good as has all the food been. The dessert was Eton Mess. A rich mix of whipped cream, fresh fruit and meringue pieces. Almost as though it had been dropped and scooped up - literally a mess!
At 1:16 Serge in his bright white, well pressed shirt and company tie arrived with the bus and we boarded for a field trip of the Isle of Anglesy. It took us about an hour and we passed by Mount Snowdon and our lecture series resumed. The bus is quite comfortable and even has USB ports so our phones/cameras can stay charged. I carry a thermos of tea with me and found myself quite happy as when I was the last to board there was no one in the front seat! Perfect view as we drove past the mountaians, and the fields of sheep, and an incredible number of cars parked for people to climb the mountains and walk the trails! Actually mile after mile of vehicles, broken up only by the places too narrow to park, and then they would begin again! Hiking or trekking must be the National Sport!
We drove along the Straits of Menai to Penmon. This ancient site held for us another lesson in how religion and politics mix or not. St. Seiriol's Abbey has a unique history which includes being built too close to when all English, and therefore Welsh religious history changed the world forever. Inside the church is the oldest Celtic cross 'in situ' anywhere in the world. Outside above the door to the churchyard is also the oldest existing, and first, use of teh sybolic dragon carved in the stone lintel. The design is the same as see on the Welsh flag today. St. Seiriol led the monestary when the 'monastes' was simply the field out side his cell where he had raised a cross and taught. There is a well which is said to have remarkable healing power. It is one of the nine holy sites that must have been visited when making a pilgrimage gave one and indulgence to buy their way into heaven. Of course this also raised money when needed for 'the church." It became big business as the more pilgrimages you made the more secure your place in the hearafter and then for your children the same priviledge. And, of course, if you were too imortant or busy to do it yourself you could pay someone to do it for you!
As we drove back along the sparkling waterfront I could not help but admire the many families out for a holiday in the country. Children were running and playing and adults were enjoying a work respite while watching the many sailboats racing in the regatta. Acrosos the water was The Great Orme which from this angle clearly looks like the mythical serpents head that gives it the name!
In the town of Penmon we walked along the tourist high street and up Church street to the prison. The door placed high up in the wall was for the execution by hanging. We could see the braces that once held the scaffold that the prisoners were 'encouraged' to step off. The prison held both men and women at the time. Men were often made to walk a 'hamster wheel' treadmill. This pumped water all through the prison pipes when needed. The women did the washing or churning. A long rope was tied to the equipment and went up through the ceiling. Here it was tied to the cradles that held their babies so as the worked they also reocked the cradles!
We went into the church, another churchyard of interest, and to see the sarcophagus of Joan wife of someone but who was daughter of Prince John, who was brother of King Richard the Lion Hearted. This stone tomb had been emptied by time, and the cover removed. For many years it was used as a horse trough. We also saw a shelter that looked to be for the nightwatchman and heard funny stories of how the young men would turn it over and trap the poor old man inside. It was also used to protect the Vicar and his Bible if there was a rainy funeral. It would be carried out and placed by the grave to shelter him and the Holy Book
Inside more history of the church as it developed in Great Britain and socical history in general. There was a brass plaque on the wall that named donors of alms to the poor that were to be sustained over time and distributed by the church officials. One of these was of unique interest. He was Tabora the Black who gave 5 shillings to be given every year from a certain fund. He must have been a slave who somehow returned from America to become wealthy enough to not only have a bequest but to have been accepted by the congregation!
The churches we are visiting are not the cathedrals of overwhelmng gold and gleaming silver that we usually see when in Europe. These are native stone edifices that are often only simply stacked from the nearby fields. In this still active community there are needlework kneelers made by the ladies of the parish. One was as recent as 2000. I laughed. Most of the cushions reflected the sea, the Menai Straits, anchors and all things nautical. This one had a speedboat with a family of four!
Our 'leisure' break ended with the drive back to the hotel past the same lawn grooming sheep and high mountains. Elva and I walked back across to the little shops because I had seen a store that was the Ultimate Canine Shop. I thought I would get something for Wonton, but it was closed. We came back to the Anna Davies shop next to the hotel just as it was closing. We tried but could leave no community support behind!
Dinner was again delicious. This time I had a Cannon of Beef and Panna Cotta with fresh fruit. I enjoyed a quiet evening with a hot shower and a good book and so am now behind in writing to you! Stick around though as when I describe today it is even better than this!
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