Trip report: January 7 "Closed on Mondays"

[cowgrrl]

As you might guess, the title of this post contains a bit of foreshadowing...

Our original plan for that day was to take the train to Caerphilly Castle. However, the forecast was rain (surprise!) and we'd heard from Michael, another guest at the Inn, that this castle is mostly ruins and therefore mostly outdoors. Few chances to get out of the cold

Comments

[neptunia67]

Nice pictures! How do you pronounce "Merthyr Tydfil?"

When I went to Dublin with my then-husband, we took a train ride to a town called Dun Laoghaire - pronounced "Dun Leary" - I never did get the hang of pronouncing Irish words, and I am not sure if they are considered Celtic or Irish.

[cowgrrl]

For the correct pronounciation, see serennau's comment in my LJ. She answers your question much better than I can considering she used to live in Merthyr Tydfil! :-)

[secret_willow]

Sorry to see that you got rained out of the castle but you got to take in beautiful sights none this less.

[cowgrrl]

We'd just been to a castle the day before (see my previous post) so it was no big deal missing this one. We'd have only been able to see the outside of it anyway.

[maymorning]

Dag nabbit, that's where I moved from! Cyfarthfa castle is a museum and also houses the two lower forms of the high school. My daughter went to school there. It's pronounced mirth-er tid-vil, to the commenter above who was wondering, and means Tydfil the Martyr, after a Celtic lass who was killed by maurauding Irish Picts.

It's not really a castle as such, more a crennalated old mansion house, built by the iron master family, the Crawshays. I used to live in a village above the town, by the way, called Pantyscallog.

[cowgrrl]

Aha! I was right!!! I thought the name of that place sounded really familiar, from your LJ, and even mentioned to denicemarcell that I thought this might be the place you'd lived previously!

Next time, obviously, I need to go to Aber! :-)