Continued
|
Photo Journal of our 1990 Trip To Wales Day 4 By Rhuddlwm Gawr |
 |
|
All who donate will
receive a 23 page professional Horoscope!
To Donate by Credit Card click on the Button Below Thank You for Whatever you can do. |
Click Here for the Secret of the Nature of the Holy Grail.
Witchcraft Beliefs | Glossary & Dictionary | Sitemap | Astrology | Templars | History of Welsh Witchcraft | FAQs of Welsh Witchcraft | Druids
Sabbats and Esbats | Enemies of Religion | Reading List | Ritual | Frauds and Fakes | Creating Your Church/Coven Legal | Herbalism | Atlantis Bookstore | Becoming a Witch | Dynion Mwyn | Covens | Other Traditions and Contacts | Camelot of the Wood (COTW)
Camelot Press Group | Online Bookstore | How Do I Meet Witches or Find a Coven?
Thirteen Treasures Study Course | Welsh Resources | Asteroid Impact | Celtic Resources | Shaman Resources | Tantra Resources
Articles, Notes, & Writings | Water Pollution | Free Spiritual Counseling & Healing | Search Engines | Women and Religion | Irish Resources Welsh Resources | Etruscans | Delphi Oracle | Feng Shui | Survival | Picts
Mithra | Magick Crystals | UK Pagan Contacts | Wicca | Georgia Pagan Page | Universal Federation of Pagans (UFP)
Southeastern Pagan Alliance (SEPA) | Bangor Institutes | Association of Cymry Wiccae (ACW)
Sacred Earth Alliance (SEA) | Faerie Tears | Mt. Yonah
Fort Mountain and Prince Madoc of Wales | Georgia Guidestones
Georgia's Psychic and Spiritual Power Points
DAY 4.......THURSDAY JULY 26
We spent 1/2 day at Hay-on-Wye. After we visited the Bookstores, we had lunch at the Old Black Lion Inn and then drove via Pontypool & Caerleon to visit the Roman Amphitheater.
HAY-ON-WYE This is a little village known as "the town of books" and I couldn't have held up my head as an author had we not visited this fantastic place.
The town is accessible by a variety of routes. It nestles among some of the most beautiful countryside in Wales. It is the second hand book capital of the world.
The Black Mountains rise to the south and the Brecon Beacons spread out to the west; they offer some of the most spectacular scenery accessible by road, or for the more energetic, there are many walks ranging from the very challenging to those suitable for a gentle afternoon stroll.
To the north is the Radnor Forest, to the east the town of Hereford and the rich farmland of the Golden Valley, while gently weaving its way through all this is the salmon laden River Wye. The Old Black Lion Inn holds fishing rights on a famous part of the River Wye; together with Trout Lake fishing and they can also arrange golfing.| Hay is considered a "marcher town," being right on the border between Wales and England. The building of the first castle in the area - a motte and bailey castle - took place in about 1100 with the coming of the Normans. The building of the present castle in the center of the town took place between 1200 and 1211. The Jacobian manor house on the western side of the castle was built between 1600 and 1650. |  |
 |
The entire castle is a bookstore now, and all the stores in town - well, most of them - cater to various genres of books, from children's books to SF/Fantasy. You name it, they probably have it. We went shopping! I found some amazing Welsh books and ended up buying several old editions. There is even a map of the bookstores. It’s like one big Barnes & Noble has taken over the whole village. |
We visited Richard Booth Booksellers - you HAVE to visit their website at: http://www.richardbooth.demon.co.uk/
There is also http://www.hayonwyebooksellers.com/
 |
THE OLD BLACK LION INN
We stopped here for lunch. Great place. The Old Black Lion has the character of a comfortable 17th century coaching inn although it actually dates back to the 13th century. It is situated near what was Lion gate, one of the entrances to the old walled town. Oliver Cromwell is reputed to have stayed at the inn while the Roundheads besieged Hay Castle which was a loyalist stronghold. Excellent food and BEER!!! Below is a brochure from 1990, followed by a photo from 2004.
 |
Today, the Old Black Lion is privately owned and personally managed by the resident proprietor Vanessa King who very much looks forward to welcoming you as her guest.
This is a 2004 photo of the Old Black Lion
This is the restaurant and Pub.
A warm welcome awaits all visitors on entering the hotel into the tranquil atmosphere of the oak timbered bar with scrubbed pine tables and comfortable arm chairs where you can enjoy a relaxing "pint" or two before dinner. The hotel has long been renowned for the quality of its food and has received recognition and accolade over a number of years from many organisations. The menus which are frequently changed use only the best British produce wherever possible including locally reared meat (some organic), fresh seafood from Cornwall, seasonal vegetables and herbs from their own gardens.
An extensive wine list and range of local ales including their own namesake "The Old Black Lion" brew are available to compliment the dining experience whether it be within the bar or dining room.
CAERLEON ROMAN FORTRESS. When we got to Caerleon, Lady Cerridwen was not feeling very well because of the walking through Hay-on-Wye, and I did the exploring. I found out that Caerleon was the site of the Roman Military Fortress of Isca and was the permanent home of the Legio II Augusta, named after the emperor Augustus who had raised the second legion. The site was first occupied in 75AD by Sextus Julius Frontinus who had been instructed by Emperor Vespasian to pacify the Welsh. The site he chose provided an easily defensable area with access to the Usk estuary for essential supplies by sea. The fortress is surrounded by sheltering hills and a wide sweep of navigable river, known by the Celts as Yr Wysg. The surviving areas of the site are: the Baths, the Amphitheatre, the Barracks and defenses. They give a good overall picture of how the may have looked during it’s years of occupation.
A visit to Caerleon is fascinating and rewarding, and fairly easy to get to. The town lies on the River Usk about three miles from Newport and only a little way from Junction 25 of the M4 motorway. There are excellent road and rail links from Newport and frequent bus service (Numbers 2 or 7) from Newport Bus Station takes the visitor to Caerleon Post Office.
A walk around the town will bring surprises and disappointments. The town has suffered the ravages of time and has been sacked by Danes, Vikings, Saxons and Welsh. Following the Roman withdrawal, Caerleon maintained its importance as a seat of the Welsh Princes, and as a trading and industrial centre to the end of the Nineteenth Century. It still has a great deal of personality and charm, and contains a great deal that is worthy of preservation.
Caerleon, the 'Fortress of the Legion', was one of the most important military sites in Britain under the Roman Empire. As home of the 2nd. Augustan Legion, it housed 6,000 soldiers and horsemen, an amphitheatre, baths, shops and temples. Today these are brought to life at the imaginatively-displayed Fortress Baths, once a giant 'leisure centre' with heated changing rooms, swimming pool, huge gymnasium and bath halls.
The Roman Legionary Museum graphically portrays the daily life of the garrison with life-sized models and an exciting 'hands-on' section for children. The amphitheatre, designed to hold 6,000 spectators, was the scene of bloodthirsty entertainment as well as training. This and the barracks, (See Below) currently the only Roman barrack blocks visible in Europe, are open free to the public all year. With the departure of the Romans, legend has it that the fortification then became the court of King Arthur, with the Round Table.The site covers some 50 acres, is rectangular in shape with four entrances, one in each side. The perimeter was protected by a deep ditch, the contents of which were used to build an internal earthen bank, and would have been topped with a timber palisade and rampart. The timber defence was later replaced in stone and a large section of this wall can still be seen, to a height of some 12’ (3.6m) in places, in the south-eastern corner of the modern town. In the centre of the modern town can be found the remains of the bath buildings. The baths would have been originally much bigger than the remains currently on show and would have comprised of the main bath complex with its main bathing halls, the frigidaruim, tepidarium and caldarium. Adjoining this would have been a huge exercise hall known as the basilica, and a colonnade would have formed an outer courtyard area which contained an outdoor pool called a natatio, fed from an elaborate fountain house. The only surviving elements now preserved under a modern cover building are the natatio, the first of the bathing halls, the frigidaruim and the apodyteruim which was a heated changing room, the underfloor hypercaust of which can still be seen.
 Caerleon Roman Fortress Amphitheatre |
To the south of the site, outside of the main fortress defences can be found the most famous monument in Caerleon, the Amphitheatre. (see above) This was Oval in shape and was comprised of a lower story built of well-buttressed stone and an upper seating level of timber construction. There were eight entrances to the arena, two main entrances used for opening processions, and six lesser entrances for spectators. In it’s heyday it would have seated in the region of 6,000 people and would have been the scene of many gladitorial games against men and beasts. Dr. Mortimer Wheeler extensively excavated the remains of the Amphitheatre in 1926 and they remain some of the best preserved in Britain.
|
Caerleon Roman Fortress Barracks |
|
