Tag Archives: Beaumaris Wales

UK Trip Day 4: July 17/14 Part 3

2 Sep

After the gaol I walked over to the old Court House, also Victorian era. It was also supposed to have live performances but there weren’t any. It is small but there was lots to see and learn. 🙂

They also had the headset audio tour that you could listen to and me being me I listened to every part of it. This one was done in the more traditional style of a person explaining what each section or room was for, some examples were given of various cases that went through the court and things of historical significance were pointed out.

Mostly what you learn is how unfair the court system was back then, something I already knew lol My pictures of the inside didn’t turn out very well, kinda blurry, but I managed to get some good ones…

I was standing in the balcony overlooking the main area of the court house, to the far left you can see the “judge” (aka creepy mannequin lol). To the right you’ll see a metal fence, that was put up because the public would come in and the whole place would get overwhelmed with people, plus there were attempts to kill the judges, so the fence kept non necessary people out.

Main area of the court house

Main area of the court house

closer look at the creepy mannequins

closer look at the creepy mannequins

From the other side of the fence

From the other side of the fence

There were other rooms in the building but I didn’t take pictures of them, mostly because I knew I wouldn’t remember what the specific rooms were for and I’d be stuck with a bunch of pictures of random rooms lol One thing I did get a picture of though was a device used on women called a Scold’s Bridle…

I lifted it, it's really heavy!

I lifted it, it’s really heavy!

It was used on women who were considered to be “quarrelsome or nagging”, lovely huh? Mostly it was used on women who were considered to be witches, sigh. It was quite heavy and must have sucked to wear, understatement I know! If I was sent back in time I’m fairly certain one of those would be put on me quite quickly lol cause not only will I quarrel to prove my point (though I like to call it a spirited debate lol) I also have red hair and we all know what people thought of gingers back in the day, heck, some people still think those thought now, the twits. 😛

After the court house I stopped and got some ice cream from a place that was recommended to me from one of the people who worked in the Llanberis hostel, the ice cream shop is called Redboat Ice Cream Parlour and it was amazing! So many choices, really nice people working there, I had a little flirt with the cute guy behind the counter lol so all in all a place I’d recommend 😉

Redboat Ice Cream Parlour

Redboat Ice Cream Parlour

Hot summer day + ice cream = happiness

Hot summer day + ice cream = happiness

I got two scoops cause who just gets one scoop of ice cream when there are so many flavour choices? lol The coffee coloured flavour is peanut butter, the orange one was a local fruit that I can’t pronounce the name of let alone type lol The peanut butter one was ok but the fruit one was delish! Go to Beaumaris for ice cream, dooooo it! 😛

After having indulged in ice cream I wandered over to a sweet shop I had seen online when I was researching what I wanted to do in Wales. It is an old school sweet shop called The Penny Farthing, it looked so cute online I was really hoping to come across it, luckily everything is close together in Beaumaris and finding it wasn’t a problem. However, finding good service once inside was a huge problem. There was one lady working and she was busy chatting with her friend when I entered, not a big deal, everyone who works in retail has done that and I really don’t care if the person working is hanging with their friend as long as I get some semblance of service. I looked around, the shop is super small so that took all of 15 seconds lol The friend left and the lady turned to me asking me in an abrupt way if I wanted anything. I asked her if there was any candy that was a local traditional type of candy, she looked at me like I was a moron, said there was one but it was sold out and then turned away. Um, ok…I then asked if she had any suggestions for something that would be good…she said no without even looking at me. huh. I took the hint and left. It’s too bad really because not only did I not get any candy but they have a decent online presence and I wonder how many people wander in and get treated shabbily…

The Traditional Sweet Shop

The Penny Farthing Traditional Sweet Shop with the horrible service.

This is apparently the food portion of my post lol I eventually went to grab a bite to eat, I was hungry but not starved, didn’t want a proper sit down meal but really had no idea what I felt like eating. I ended up in a take-away that was attached to a pub, there were tables so I could eat there if I wanted, which I did. 🙂 I ordered a cheese and onion fry (I think that’s what it was called lol) it’s basically mashed potato, onion and cheese surrounded by a batter and deep fried. I asked if it was enough for a meal and the lady working said I should get chips to go with it. What I was envisioning was a cheese and onion pie or pastie so I was a bit disappointed when I received my food and saw this…

My lunch

My lunch

It was ok, not amazing, but not bad either. I had to wait a while for it to cool down enough to eat lol the chips were of course perfect. 🙂 I didn’t eat it all but figured that was ok cause my tummy was half filled with ice cream still lol

I wandered around a bit and wasn’t sure where to go next, all the things I had planned to do I had done but it was still early enough in the day I wanted to do something else before leaving for the next town. I walked to the pier area and saw a sign for a boat cruise and before I knew it I was signed up to go on a Puffin Boat Tour, yup, you read that right, Puffins, as in the bird…

On the way to the island

On the way to the island

those little dots are birds, lots and lots of birds

those little dots are birds, lots and lots of birds

closer shot of the birds

closer shot of the birds

abandoned building on the island

abandoned building on the island

because I think the water looks pretty lol

because I think the water looks pretty lol

The company that I took the boat tour with was amazing! Their website is http://www.starida.co.uk/ The people at the kiosk where you buy your ticket were friendly and knowledgeable, the prices are totally fair (it only cost me eight pounds for my ticket) and the tour itself was sooooo worth it. 🙂 It lasted an hour and a half (if I remember correctly), they do their absolute best to make sure you get some good pictures, my camera wasn’t great at close ups but if it had been I’d of had some amazing pics of birds…not that I’m really in to that but some people are, shrug. The gentleman who was the guide seemed to know everything about the area, before we even started moving he brought me a blanket because he could tell I’d need it lol It was a hot day but on the water, at the speeds we were moving it was chilly and since this was unplanned for me I didn’t have a sweater or jacket.

I learned a lot about the island, what I remember most was that the island got infested by rats when a boat went down near the island and the rats from the boat swam to the island for safety, ugh. The rats were winning the battle against the birds so people went over and set traps to get rid of the rats and save the birds, cute huh? There are 12 species of birds on that island and the guide spotted almost every one! We also saw seals, well, we saw their heads lol but I couldn’t get a good picture. I was so tired from the long day and the heat I actually nodded off on the way back to the pier lol luckily nobody noticed, or if they did they didn’t say anything! 😛

After that I decided a spot of dinner was in order, the town had practically shut down and I had two choices for where to eat, the fancy hotel’s restaurant or a smaller restaurant that was right beside it, I chose the smaller one. I got a yummy pasta dish and an amazing dessert called an Eton Berry Mess, oh man so so so good!

Mmm, dinner. :)

Mmm, dinner. 🙂

This dessert turned heads lol

This dessert turned heads lol

This dessert was so impressive people turned to stare at it, which made me feel slightly self conscious lol I didn’t expect it to be so large but oh well, who am I to complain? There is fresh fruit, crushed up meringue, whipped cream, umm…I think that’s it…I ate the entire thing! Even scraped the edges of the dish it was that good lol

After my lovely meal I headed off to my next stop Betws-y-coed which will be in the next post cause holy crap this is one loooong post! Congrats if you made it through the whole thing! 🙂

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UK Trip Day 4: July 17/14 Part 2

20 Aug

After exploring the castle I followed the oh so nicely placed maps that are all over the town to help out us silly tourists and popped in to the Gaol (prison). This was my first and main reason for going to Beaumaris, I studied prisons, prison systems, the judicial system etc in University and find it all amazingly interesting. Yes I know, I am a geek, whatev. 😛

The entrance.

The entrance.

I am ticked at myself because I have almost no pictures of the gaol, the reason for this is because I was so absorbed in what I was seeing and learning I completely forgot about my camera lol They provide you with a headset so you learn all about what you are seeing and it was recorded in an interesting way. Instead of a narrator saying something along the lines of “Room A was a blah blah blah” the entire thing was recorded from the point of view of one of the prisoners, there were only 2 prisoners executed there while the prison was in use and the recording was done from the point of view of one of those men, sorry but I can’t recall his name right now. At first it bugged me because of the style, I didn’t really want to be hearing some guy, who is pretending to be some other guy, talk about his memories of this room or that room but by the end it grew on me.

There is an outdoor part to the tour that was closed while I was there due to it being mating season for the birds. Yup, you read that right. Some birds decided to take over one of the outside ares of the gaol and because it is mating season the people in charge opted to close off that area to humans so the birds weren’t disturbed. I found that a little odd, but I like that they take care of the wild animals like that.

Some random things I learned during the tour:

– they believed in work as punishment so depending which time period it was, and what your crime was, and what your level of punishment was you could find yourself (a) taking apart pieces of rope in a room with other people that you were not allowed to speak with (b) having a piece of machinery in your cell that you have to rotate a certain amount of times per day (c) walk on a machine that is like an old school stairmaster – this last one was outside (in an area where birds were not mating so I got to see it) this punishment was reserved for men only and they worked in teams, there would be a couple teams and they would rotate 15 minutes stepping at a time. There were other punishments, these are just the ones that stuck in my head the most lol

This is the machine in the cell, the person would turn that handle over and over and over every day.

This is the machine in the cell, the person would turn that handle over and over and over every day – and it did nothing!

Their stairmaster

Their stairmaster

– if a woman had a baby they were still expected to work so the babies were put in cribs in a room above the women’s workroom and there was a slit in the floor/ceiling so the women could poke a stick through the slit to rock the cradles.

The crib

The crib, if you look close you can see the slit in the floor underneath it.

– if a prisoner died while in the prison the prison had to pay for the burial so if someone was very sick and likely to die they would get released so they didn’t die while on the prison books

– the drunkard’s cell was placed as far away from the guy running the prison as possible so he wouldn’t be disturbed. The bed in that room had a bit of a higher edge to it so the person wouldn’t fall out lol

The drunkard's cell

The drunkard’s cell

– work was divided based on gender, some women would work in the laundry room (pictured below), others worked with the food (cooking, serving, cleaning up) or taking apart cotton or ropes etc. Men did more of the manual labour, like the stairmaster, the turning of the handle on the machine, building new sections of the prison etc. Gotta say, generally I don’t like things being divided based on gender but I totally prefer the sound of the women’s jobs lol

Laundry room - female prisoners worked here.

Laundry room – female prisoners worked here.

– the prison kept very detailed records of inmates weight and physical condition, because most people who were in there were poor, despite the labour they had to do on a daily basis most ended up maintaining or gaining weight because of the better diet they had while in prison

One of the hallways.

One of the hallways.

Another hall.

Another hall.

Upstairs hall.

Upstairs hall.

One of the stairwells, most weren't so fancy looking.

One of the stairwells, most weren’t so fancy looking.

A quick fyi if you are going there, the gift shop is practically non-existent and nothing in there is a memento type item of the gaol, not even a postcard with a picture of the gaol on it! The people working at the front were very friendly and helpful. 🙂 If you are going to go to both the gaol and the court house you can buy a combo ticket at either location that gets you a discount, yay discounts! But even without that the entrance fees are not that much, in my humble and cash strapped opinion.

To get additional information about the gaol check out

http://www.attractionsnorthwales.co.uk/attractions/beaumaris-gaol-and-courtroom

It isn’t a great website, someone really needs to make a website dedicated to the gaol cause you can find barely anything about it online, or at least I couldn’t. They are not open Fridays, oh! and the above website says there are live performances July-September based on the history of the gaol, I was there in that time frame and there were no live performances, a bit disappointing since I was looking forward to that but it is still a fascinating place with or without a show. 🙂

Eesh, looks like my day at Beaumaris is going to take up more than two posts! Crazeeeee! See ya in part 3! 🙂

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UK Trip Day 4: July 17/14

19 Aug

At the end of my UK Trip post for day 3 I said how I used my walk/hike that evening to de-stress from the run around from British Airways…to read that click here.

While yes, this post is about day 4 it really starts on day 3, kinda…

Earlier in the day on Day 3 I called the delivery company that would be bringing my suitcase to see if I could get them to rush it since British Airways was being incredibly unhelpful. The guy there said British Airways told them that due to the place of delivery (Wales) the suitcase couldn’t be delivered any earlier than 2-3 days so the delivery company automatically put it in to a unit destined to deliver using that timeline and they couldn’t expedite it without British Airways say-so. OMG say what?? I explained that I was leaving the delivery address they had on file from British Airways and that the longer they took to deliver to me the farther away I would be from them. They took the address I would be staying at the night of Day 4 and said they would deliver it there. I told them I wouldn’t be there until an unknown time in the evening and requested they leave it at the front desk. I then called that hostel to explain what was going on and asked if they wouldn’t mind taking custody of the suitcase until I checked in, the lady was very nice and said that wouldn’t be a problem.

After my walk/hike I called British Airways to try to get an update, the first call the lady disconnected cause she said it was too windy where I was and she couldn’t hear me, the second call I was told they absolutely would deliver my suitcase that night, but they didn’t say by what time. This meant I was once again trapped in the dining room since it is the only room in the hostel with a view of the driveway, sigh. After dinner, which was a lovely goat cheese and tomato quiche, I sat with my cards, my book, and a diet coke and waited…and waited…and waited…I couldn’t decide what time would be the cut off time for a delivery person when it came to luggage, part of me thought no later than 10pm but then I extended that to 11pm juuuuuust in case. Regardless, it never showed so off to bed I went with a renewed sense of anger towards British Airways because not only did it not show but I stayed up later than I wanted waiting for the suitcase cause they promised it would be delivered that night. Arg!

The morning of Day 4 I got up nice ‘n early cause I had to be on the road hopefully by 9am. I wasn’t lol. This didn’t surprise me but I wasn’t running too late so that’s good. I had my full Welsh breakfast, left my contact info with the hostel so if my suitcase did show up they could let me know and headed off to Beaumaris.

Oh, before heading off I spoke with British Airways to give them a piece of my mind in regards to the lack of delivery even though it was promised. It didn’t get me any results, or even an apology but the venting kinda felt nice lol

So off I went to Beaumaris, which is pronounced how it is spelled in case you were wondering.

Beaumaris is the first place I found on this trip without getting confused or lost, yay! The super kind people at YHA Llanberis Hostel printed me out some google map directions and the road signage was a better than the signage on my way to Llanberis so no wrong turns for me! 🙂

There is a lot more to do in Beaumaris than I realized. My original plan was to go to the Gaol (that’s a prison) and the Court House, they are both Victorian era and have been turned in to museums, I looooove stuff like that! There was also a castle there to explore, a pier to walk along, boat tours, fun little shops and more. I planned to wander Beaumaris on this particular day because I wanted an easy day after climbing Mt Snowdon, as we all know by this point an easy day wasn’t needed since I didn’t get to climb the mountain but that just means I had more energy for exploring. 🙂

I went to Beaumaris Castle, it was built, well, ordered to be built since I doubt he did any of the work lol,  by King Edward 1. To build the castle the English forced an entire town of people to move so they could have unlimited space, rude! 😛 This was the last castle built by King Edward 1 in Wales and it never got finished due to the Welsh being able to get the English out of their country, and lack of money. The style of castle is called concentric and that means there is no central keep, really, there is no centre at all. The castle has a high inner ring of defenses surrounded by a lower outer circuit of walls.

It was absolutely beautiful! The day was sunny and warm, entrance was cheap, and you were left to your own devices so I was able to take as much time as I wanted to explore the nooks and crannies of this castle. 🙂

The entrance, you can see the moat that surrounds the castle.

The entrance, you can see the moat that surrounds the castle.

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You can climb up to the top walkways and walk around the perimeter, you get great views!

You can climb up to the top walkways and walk around the perimeter, you get great views!

One of the stairways to the top, not the widest of things lol

One of the stairways to the top, not the widest of things lol

View through one of the peep holes/archers spots.

View through one of the peep holes/archers spots.

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My only regret about the visit to the castle is that when I was in the gift shop I saw a necklace I reeeeeally wanted, it wasn’t out of my price range but I opted to not buy it because I thought I’d find something I would like even better later on in the trip and I didn’t want to buy my memento item so early without seeing what else was out there. Bad move! Bad bad bad move! I never found anything else I liked nearly as much and I really regret not purchasing it, sigh. I can’t remember the name of the company that made the jewellery so I can’t even look for their website and buy the necklace online. *rolls eyes at self*

Other than that my time at Beaumaris Castle was so enjoyable! 🙂 I highly recommend it to anybody who will be in the area. For information on where it is and hours of operation you can check out this website…

http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/beaumaris-castle/?lang=en

I’ll put the next part of my Beaumaris Day in a new post since this one got long awfully quickly lol

 

 

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