I had never gone and properly visited Penrhyn castle. I had been there; there is a Parkrun there, and I have run that a few times. And once we went to have a coffee afterwards in the café. But that's it! And I felt I should go and see it. In a way, it is a hated building; it was built with the profits from slave labour on a Jamaican sugar plantation, and owned by the family who were hideous to the local quarrymen. It was also the owners of the estate who inspired the Great Strike, the longest industrial dispute in British history. I have heard several people say they think it should be razed to the ground. But I don't think so; you can't blame the castle for this. You might as well turn it to your advantage now it's here anyway!
I had intended to go and see it with Tim. And we were going to do that after a run. Then that was the run during which he broke his ankle. So we never went! And I was a bit superstitious after that; would Nick break his ankle if we would try to get to the castle? But that is of course an irrational thought.
He came to visit me the day before my birthday. On the actual birthday, he had a Christmas celebration with the dojo his son goes to, so in order to be there a bit during my birthday weekend, he came the Friday evening. And he was a true romantic flowers and chocolate. Unfortunately, he was rather under the weather. So I figured an indoor activity for the Saturday would be a good idea, and the castle was open, so we went! After a birthday breakfast with a present. A book with walks in Shropshire! We'll make good use of that.
When we got to the castle we first saw a few Parkrunners leave just when we entered. I found that a bit sad. I want to be a runner! But my time will come.
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| The castle |
We walked up to the castle and went in. We had a look at the larder, and then came into the kitchen. And there are a lady approached us. It was Janet! From the climbing club! It turned out she was a volunteer there, and guided tourists. And she didn't have a group, so she took us on. That was fab!
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| The kitchen |
We got a tour of some of the parts of the castle that were meant for entertaining, and some of them that were private quarters. It was not as if the latter were not opulent! But there was a difference in the levels thereof.
Janet told us a lot about the history of the castle, and the provenance of the materials used, and the life of one particular lady who had lived there: Alice Douglas Pennant. She showed us two places where she had scratched her name into the glass with a diamond ring! Quite an act of rebellion, but now a lovely historical artefact.
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| Dining room |
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| Staircase |
When Janet was done, we did the traditional loop fairly swiftly and then went to have a coffee in the café. And a nosy in the miniature secondhand bookshop. And then we are good to go back again. After all, Nick would have to leave fairly soon.
I was glad I had finally seen the castle! And Nick loved it so much he said he actually wanted to go back some other time to see more. And we were so lucky to bump into Janet! A lovely birthday surprise. Couldn't have gone better!
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