Conwy, North Wales
Saturday 21st February 2004

REPORT & PHOTO'S by PHIL.B

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Looking West from the Chapel Tower Turret

Our starting point was Conwy Castle itself. A very impressive, well assembled piece of 13thC architecture which is almost tardis-like in that it is bigger than it first appears.
Built in just 4 building seasons between 1283 and 1287 by Edward I as one of a series stretching along the North Wales coastline. Established to secure the newly conquered principality, Conwy is, in the main, one of the best and was indeed intended as the centre of the planned new counties. Unfortunately for Conwy this distinction was instead given to Caernarfon.
The basic structure consists of two adjoining wards with eight towers atop the curtain wall. A further four turrets have been added to the towers surrounding the inner ward which contained the Royal apartments.

	A plan of the castle

	Looking up at the outside of the North West Tower....		....and looking up at the inside!

	From the West Barbican Gate towards the Kitchen and Stockhouse Towers		The Kitchen Tower

	The Great Hall and The Prison Tower		From the North West Tower towards the Inner Ward

	The Outer Ward		The Inner Ward

	From the Chapel Tower looking towards The Great Hall and Outer Ward		From the Chapel Tower looking down on the East Barbican

	From the King's Tower looking towards the North West Tower		From the King's Tower looking towards the Bakehouse Tower

	Atop the Chapel Tower Turret		The Four Turrets of the Inner Ward Towers

	The last remaining roof support over The Great Hall		Bakehouse and King's Towers from The Outer Ward

	Three Bridges

	Telford's Bridge		The Railway Bridge entrance

After the obligatory gift shop visit at the castle we started out on a circuit of the town walls. At approximately 0.81miles / 1.3km in length they encircle a large part of the town. The view afforded any defender from tower 13 is also quite outstanding!

	Towers 21, 20, 19 looking towards The Mill Gate		Same as left from The Bakehouse Tower

	The Mill Gate		Onwards and upwards to Tower 13

	The Castle from Tower 13		Conwy from Tower 13

	...and again!		From Tower 13 down to the water's edge

	The Castle from Tower 8		A view from the Postern

	...and finally.

	From the Postern		What a lovely shade of red!

After the formalities of a fish and chips lunch were over with it was time to proceed to the next destination of the day - Great Orme Mines, a few miles distant. Using his newly acquired OS map of the area Phil B. skilfully guided a couple of vehicles to the Car Park at Great Orme Country Park, assuring his fellow friends that there was no parking at the mines. After a gentle downhill stroll to the mines you can probably imagine Phil B's gut-wrenching feeling upon seeing a car park where others had already parked. After, ahem, mild complaints by a couple of members of the party, the Group reformed to begin the tour of the mines.
After carefully selecting and altering the fit of a hard hat and a brief pause (pose??) for photo's, we trooped down the path towards the cave entrance. This was it.
The first thing you noticed was the electric lighting and the thought that Bronze Age man was extremely clever hadn't quite got a foothold before you were informed of the use of candles. A lot of camera flashes were observed as we wound our way around the complex although they just weren't powerful enough to illuminate some of the passageways and caverns that extended out in various directions. The occasional bump and scrape from hardhats in front informed you of impending collisions and pretty soon we all emerged at the other end of the Mines complex. A little too soon in some people's opinion.
It must be said that the Great Orme website definitely gives you the impression that there is more to the underground tour than it actually consists of. On the other hand it was noted that more areas are to be opened up in future years which promptly encouraged somebody to suggest a possible NWFF return trip in about 2014!

	Tilthammer in the Guard House		Sniffy's Mum and Sniffy

	Sue Hurd on the South West Tower

	David and the Smallest House		fish commiting cannibalism

	From L to R: Sue Hurd, Sniffy's Mum, Sniffy, fish, Mrs Tilthammer, David, Dougal and Ann