It being the last day we decided to end with a bang and that meant two castles and an aqueduct! Again the train was our friend and we rode off into the distance towards Merthyr Tydfil. We made the trek to Cyfarthfa Castle which is also a museum and art gallery. This castle is not a real castle in the sense that is was built in the 19th century by a rich man, William Crawshay, who made his money from the iron industry. Half of the building was set up as the museum while the other half is the art gallery. We only went through the museum part, but it was very interesting! I think I liked this museum more because it wasn't mostly art and it told more of the story of the area through time starting with the Romans who had a fort there. The town really began to boom during the Industrial Revolution and the mining of iron. It was stated in the museum that at one point Merthyr Tydfil was called the iron capital of the world! It then talked about the coal industry and the strikes of the early 20th Century. For information on this castle and the town go here: http://www.visitmerthyr.co.uk/attractions/cyfarthfa-park-museum/cyfarthfa-castle-museum.aspx.
We learned that there was an aqueduct which is now part of the Taff Trail and can be walked on or leaned over as I'm doing! It was one of those cases where we could see it from where we were, but we couldn't just walk to it. We wanted to end up in front of it, but after wandering around we some how ended up on top instead. We couldn't find a way to get down in front, so the top had to do! It was an amazing view out towards the city! I don't know how old it is or exactly who built it. If anyone knows please tell me! I would love to learn!
We thought about going to Morlais Castle after because the fact that only the cellar/crypt remained was very different from what we had seen before. However, the walk was long and we were lazy so as we headed back to Cardiff we got off the train at Taffs Well and walked to Castell Coch.
We had been a little apprehensive about going to Castell Coch because many people had described it as a fairytale castle. Me, not being a Disney princess kind of girl, didn't think that sounded like the kind of place I would want to go, but was I wrong! It was lovely and historical! William Burges was hired by the 3rd Marquess of Bute to take the old 13th Century ruins of Castell Coch and to rebuild them using the ruins foundation and layout. It is said that the outside of the building is a pretty good representation of a 13th Century castle. At the time there was some dispute over whether the top of the castle would have been capped off like that or not. The inside of the castle is not authentic at all! It is definitely Victorian decor! Everything is colourful and painted. There are birds painted on ceilings and geometric shapes everywhere! It was very impressive. The Butes family only lived in it a couple of days at a time which I found a little depressing since so much work and money had gone into redoing the building. To learn more go here http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/castell-coch/?lang=en or here http://www.castlewales.com/coch.html.
P.S. This castle was also at the top of a giant hill and it dashed all my hopes that I was getting more fit because as soon as I was half way up the hill I'm pretty sure I was almost wheezing my lungs out!
Just imagine it as one continuos photo!
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