Our Blog - Sennybridge to Glynhir

Carreg Cennen Castle means castle (on the) rock (above the) Cennen River. It is really old .. it has been in a ruinous state since 1462. As you can see, it sits on the top of a hill giving it a good defensive position. It has a square court and 6 tours, all of different shapes. range of apartments on the east side of the inner court, or ward, includes a hall, kitchens, chapel, and the so-called 'King's Chamber'. This chamber has a well-carved stone fireplace, and traceried windows, one facing into the courtyard, the other outwards commanding impressive views to the south. These date from the late 13th or early 14th century. There isn't a lot that I can say about individual pictures, since it is basically ruins, but I wanted to give a good idea of what is left standing after all these years. The last picture shows a corridor which goes downhill to an underground passage.

The next castle (or what is left of a castle) is Dinefwr castle, which sits up on a ridge on the northern bank of the River Tywi, with a steep drop of one hundred feet to the river. We saw lots of castles that are built up on cliffs or hills or rivers, as it was easier to defend as you can see the enemy coming. As with many castles, it changed hands many times over the years and was burned or destroyed and rebuilt many times. One story involving the castle says that in 1255, the castle owner gave it to Rhys Fychan, but then later gave it to Maredudd ap Rhys before later returning it to Rhys Fychan. I guess Maredydd wasn't too happy about this and he allied himself to King Edward I of England, and helped Edward capture Dinefwr in 1277. Maredudd had apparently been promised Dinefwr in return for his help, but Edward did not keep his promise and had Maredudd executed in 1291. I grabbed a picture of what it supposedly used to look like before falling into ruin so that you can compare this to what is still there.

The castle sits within a 800 acre park called the Dinefwr Park National Nature Reserve, which has lots of various walking trails, the castle, and a mansion called Newton House, which dates from 1660. In the second picture you can just make out the pointed turrets at the top.

And another round of golf, this time at Glynhir Golf Club. It was, like some of the previous courses, very dry from the lack of rain (50 days without any rain) and high temps (yes, it was hot there). But we had great views and got to play the back 9 with a very nice gentleman and his grandson, who attempted to help us with where to aim the ball ... not that we could actually always hit it where we aimed!

Continue to Day 7: Glynhir to Cardigan or go back to the main Wales vacation blog page