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At the end of March, I visited Wales and had a stop off at Dolgach Falls to see the waterfall and have a walk. I was not sure if I had ever visited the falls before, but when I saw them, it came back to my memory that I did visit before back at the end of September in 2004, although I did not walk up to the top (or I do not remember doing so). So, on this visit, I had a wander to the falls, which is via a well-paved and accessible pathway.

The valley with the falls make it a perfect place for ferns to grow with the moisture and the humidity. 

There are some decently-maintained steps up the steeper parts of the trails around the falls.

After checking out the falls, I walked up to get more views and saw more falls.

The views were beautiful, and this is a great time to visit them before the foilage is completely out.

A lot of the paths were very steep, but the views were amazing.

I walked to the top of the falls.

And then I walked back down the other side.

I recommend a visit to the falls. There is a small fee for all-day parking. I spent about an hour exploring the falls and enjoying the nature around me.

When I was in Wales at the end of March, I stopped off at the ruins of Aberystwyth castle. The castle dates from the Welsh war of the 13th century, and it was a location of the Royal Mint during Charles I and eventually had its downfall after Oliver Cromwell. This castle replaced another one that was located not too far away, and a town sprung up around the castle.

The castle is a short walk from parking and next to the seaside with views stretching out across the sea. There are some gardens around the walls of the castle.

I had a look around the ruins with views over the city.

The castle ruins and grounds seem to be a popular park and spot for walkers with their dogs or just to grab a bit of peace and quiet.

Upon leaving, I caught another view of the castle with multiple brightly-coloured terraced houses along the seafront.

I visited Dolaucothi Mines at the end of March, and this mine system dates back over 2,000 years and was in use by the Romans. It was mined until World War II, and it is a site managed by the National Trust today and no longer mined. I arrived for the tour of the mines, which are only on certain days throughout the year and which are worth going to in order to learn about the history of the mines and to go on a guided tour. I was able to learn far more about the site from the tour, although the mines are currently not accessible at all due to the bats that live inside the mines and safety concerns.

We were told about the rocks and how the Romans used the mines. There was a fort located not far away, which probably guided the mines. 

While I and a small group waited for the tour to begin, we looked at the small museum that held some Roman items and read some of the material. The entrance into the modern mines is via a shalf that is 146 metres deep, and the shaft was flooded, so pumps would have been in operation to pump out the water. The structure worked like a lift to bring up rock. The sheds on the other side were the inner workings, which was done via steam and then electricity.

It was only when the modern shaft was dug that the Roman artefacts were discovered, such as a water wheel fragment to remove the water and Roman tools that were left behind. Before that, no one realised that the mines were started by the Romans.

Inside the shed is an office dating from the time in the 1930s where the mines were used. The mining ceased by 1938.

The tour started with a walk up the hill. We were told that the gold mining here likely started in the Bronze Age, and the Romans mined inside the rock for the gold veins. Vast amounts of soil and rock had to be moved and piled up, and it is not sure if those who did the labour were slaves or local people. Much of the dug tunnels have not even been explored due to the large size of the activity and parts of the tunnels collapsing.

From the top of the hill are the views and the general location where the Roman fort would have been.

We came upon on tunnel, which is the lower Roman tunnels.

Further up the hill, we came to another tunnel (we did see the other side as well), where we peered through the gate inside. 

On the walk, we had some nice views and saw the boundary of the operations and mining carts.

We crossed one place where the barracks used to stand for the local workers in the 1930s. From here, we started to walk down the hill and came across more entrances to tunnels or caves.

At the bottom, we had a wander around the equipment in the sheds.

There is also a gold-panning location on site where visitors can try their luck. I found some, but it was Fool's Gold.

I enjoyed the visiting to Dolaucothi Roman Mines and learnd a lot. The tour guide was very good, and it would be interesting to visit the tunnels at some point.

On my end of March visit to Wales, I had a quick stop at the ruins of Cymer Abbey. It is a small set of ruins actually located next to a farm and a caravan park, but there's a few spots of parking down a narrow track, and the site to explore is not very large. There were many daffodils in bloom here, and they looked beautiful.

The abbey was founded in 1189, and all that remains is the structure of the church. However, the abbot's house was reused as a farmhouse. The monastary was a small one, and there were only five monks living here in 1388; the site was in decline.

The church was small and a simple design.

The daffodils were really beautiful here and added to the beauty of the ruins.

The abbey is free to visit.

When I was in north Wales at the end of March, I visited Dylanwad Wines, a wine shop and cafe in Dolgellau. There are a large selection of wines and other spirits for sale here, and I found the staff to be knowledgable about the products. I first opted for the tasting of the champagne from Cordeuil winery before moving on to try a selection of white wines.

The three tasters from Cordeuil that I tried were the "Brut Tradition", the "Brut Rose", and the "Brut Vintage". I was told about the winery, the champagnes, and shown some photographs of it. 

I then opted for some wine tastings, and I had a board with cheese and nibbles. I did not realise just how filling the cheese board selection would be! I had a selection of different Welsh cheeses, which were all very nice, crackers, grapes, chutney, and wasabi peas.

I was then given a small taster of six different types of white wines, two of which were wines in a can. I do not like red wines, so they were able to substitute white wines in place of the red.

The staff were friendly and knowledgeable. I would recommend stopping in if you're in this part of north-west Wales.

When I was in north-west Wales at the end of March, I visited Holgates Ice Cream Shop, which is located near Tywyn and not too far from Aberdovey. The staple flavour of ice cream is "honey", but it tasted like vanilla but is made using honey. The honey ice cream can only be bought at the shop here, and it is famous and made fresh every day.

In addition to ice cream, there are sweets and other desserts on offer. People can also customise their ice cream, and I got chocolate curls on mine. The ice cream really was delicious.

This post covers my visit to Llanthony Priory at the end of March. The priory was Augustinian, and it has beautiful views over the Brecon Beacons mountains area in Wales. The ruins are free to visit, and the site has a hotel amongst the ruins that was formerly accommodation but converted to a house around 1800. The ruins themselves date from 1100 at the location of a ruined chapel, and the church was built dedicated to John the Baptist.

The most memorable here were the amazing views over the mountains.

The house is located amongst the ruins and functions as a hotel.

The ruins are free to visit, and there is a large parking area next to them.

I visited Portmeirion on a warm and sunny day at the end March when I visited Wales. This was not my first visit to Portmeirion. I first visited the village at the end of September in 2004. I enjoyed the 1960's series of "The Prisoner", which is how I first found out about the village's existance back in 2000, as it was primarily filmed in Portmeirion. To learn more about the origins of this picturesque village and to see more photographs, keep reading. It really is a unique place unlike any other in the United Kingdom!

Portmeirion was built between 1925 and 1975 by Clough Williams-Ellis in his vision to create a Mediterranian-style colourful village surrounded by gardens, each building being unique architecturally. Many of the buildings were also constructed from remains of other buildings and structures that were torn down or bombed. The village was built around centralised buildings which are the pubs and hotels.

On the way to the village, I travelled through some picturesque mountains in Snowdonia, Wales.

Visitors have to pay to enter Portmeirion, which is now a charitable trust. There are gift shops and a few cafes and restaurants located across the village, and each little corner has something unique to see or a fantastic view.

It is also located on the edge of the estuary with landscaped views and a nice selection of colourful plants.

It is definitely more beautiful in the sunlight. 

I climbed up to the green dome building to catch a glimpse of the surroundings below.

I also had ice cream from one of the cafes.

There are picturesque views everywhere I looked, so it really is a wonderful place to visit.

The building that was meant to be the home of the main character in "The Prisoner" is now a gift shop selling a lot of items related to the series. 

There are so many interesting points to view across the village. Most of the buildings are not practical and are just created for show, although many of them are also hotels.

For my previous visit to Portmeirion, see my post here: Rainy Wales.

Today, for one day only, Pinner Fair took place. The fair (funfair) at Pinner was established in 1336, so that makes Pinner Fair in its 688th year. The annual fair was granted a Royal Charter in 1336 by king Edward III. I went to check it out after work as I had never been before and was not able to go the past few years when I learned about it due to workloads. The fair is always held on a Wednesday in late May, and it coincides with the schools being off so that families can go and enjoy and spend the whole day here. The fair opens at 10am and closes at 11pm.

The word "fair" comes from the Latin word "feria", which means "a holiday". Historically, these would fall on special occassions or religious events, and the fair was a time for people to enjoy different attractions, shows, and features. The fair was a traveling show, similar to a circus or a carnival. As technology developed with steam and then electricity, the rides became more popular. Today's fairs contain a lot of different types of rides and games where people can shoot an arrow or pellet gun to win a prize or hook a prize on a fishing line. There are also a lot of different vendors to buy food from. Cotton candy (known as 'candy floss' in England), popcorn, candy apples, sweets, pork sausages/hot dogs, burgers, and fried food tends to be sold. 

I had a wander down Pinner High Street, and the fair was very busy in the late afternoon and early evening with many people enjoying their time.

I had a slushie.

People who played some of the games had a chance to win a big prize in the shape of a Highland cow, puppy, or bear.

Cotton candy was a popular treat that a lot of children were enjoying. I find it too sweet myself.

But I did have some salted popcorn.

For just a one day event, there were a lot of rides. Everyone was having fun.

The High Street contained rides and vendors lining down the street, which then went on both directions on Marsh Road up to the end with the roundabout and up to the first section of the parade of shops in the other direction. I was actually impressed with how large the event was with a huge number of different rides, haunted houses, games, and more.

Doughnuts are a very British fair tradition, and I had some fresh doughnuts made.

For people who are not vegetarian and can eat beef and pork, there were a lot of options for food. There were a few other options that I noticed, such as Greek food and also Indian food and snacks (pani puri and paneer chili).

I actually had the chili paneer with rice, which was served in a plastic takeaway container. It was very good, but there was not any place to sit down and eat it (which is why I guess the hot dog/sausages and hamburgers in buns are so popular at these events for people who eat them), so I went to the park and had it there before the walk back home.

Overall, the Pinner Fair is a good community event and brings out a lot of people to enjoy their day. It is a tradition that is still very much strong in this village and has evolved over nearly 700 years into the modern age. 

Other events in Pinner that I have covered on this blog:

• George's Day Festivities in Pinner

Llanchaeron is an estate managed by the National Trust in Ceredigion, Wales. The estate is noted for its house, which was architected by John Nash. Nash built many famous Georgian streets in London, such as Regents Street and a lot of buildings around Regent's Park as well as Buckingham Palace. Visitors can also visit the servants' areas, farm, walled garden, and see the collections of farm equipment and steam engine at the farm and curiosities in the house.

I visited Llanchaeron at the end of March on a dry but cloudy early spring day. The daffodils and tulips were in bloom.

The estate was in the same family for hundreds of years. It was purchased in the early 1600s by an owner who had traced his heritage back to the Welsh princes. 

After the death of one owner who did not have any heir, the estate was passed to his sister and her daughter, which was rare at that time. The last owner passed away in 1917. The house was managed by his widow, and she ensured that staff and tenants were looked after. The house remained un-changed as she did not have the power to implement modernization of the house as it was owned by her sister-in-law.

I first went to check out the house. There are many rooms open to visitors, and there are collections in some of the other rooms. 

One of the rooms had a collection of fabrics and silk. The below was created in Spitalfields, the area of London noted for its silk-weaving industry.

After visiting the ground and first floors, I headed to the lower floors and servants' quarters. In the kitchen, many items were on display that were used in the times when the house was a home. There were kitchens, a laundry room, scullery, pantry, and many more rooms needed to make the house self-sufficient.

The laundry room is below.

I even got to meet the resident cat, Tom. He was hanging around the servants' area. 

The exterior of the house at Llanchaeron is below; it is Grade I listed.

After visiting the house, I had a wander around the walled garden.

I went to explore the farm and rickyard. A rickyard is a place to store grain to dry.

Baby lambs were enjoying their first days in the straw. The sheep here are a rare local breed of sheep.

I had a look at some of the farm equipment.

There were a few geese or ducks and chickens hanging around the farm buildings. I have not seen geese or ducks like this before.

There is a lot to see and do at Llanchaeron, and I recommend a visit.