This is something of a tardy post, as we got back from skiing in Austria about 3 weeks ago, but LJ seems very quiet so I haven't got it together to post . . . until prompted by a request for photos. So, here's Zell am See, where we were staying, as seen from the Schmittenhohe, the mountain behind it.

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Onto the 20th century, but keeping with steampunk for the 1900s Great Orme tramway, which is fun and saves some steep walking :-)

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This next lot of photos are strictly for the steampunks and lovers of industrial history, with the 19th C highlights. Firstly, the Llangollen railway

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If Edward I is the first builder to make their mark on the landscape of North Wales, the second is Thomas Telford. His most ambitious - and dramatic - creation is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct near Llangollen, the largest in the UK.

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The 17th century seems to be mostly a period of slighting castles (thanks Cromwell!) but the 18th is all building, innovation, transportation, nowhere more so that Ironbridge.

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Another gap, to the 15th C, and only two places we found to visit from that period. The first is Nantclwyd y Dre, the oldest town house still standing in Wales. For a town house, it's extremely nice, with a lovely walled garden, and even a little turret room on the walls.

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The first of the two builders who've really made an impact on the landscape of North Wales has got to be Edward I, with the castles he built after his wars to subdue the Welsh.
Oh, and his walled towns, that only the English were allowed to live within.

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Big jump forward in time, in this post, from Roman Britain to post Norman conquest.

Not much left of the oldest castle, at Bridgenorth.

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ridley_walker and I have just got back from a week's holiday in Llangollen, and, no, we didn't get wet every day, despite what people say about holidays in Wales. We even got some nice evenings :-)

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We keep going back to the Ligurian coast whenever we're in Italy, it's all so pretty. This time we started off by going to Menton (just over the border in France) so we could walk back from the station, across into Italy, to go to the Balzzi Rossi caves.

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