So after moving to Cardiff and settling in, I decided to start exploring the place. What better place to begin with, than from a castle to take you into the history of the welsh country.
I looked up different castles in and around Cardiff on google and picked this one to start with. This was my first choice because it was an hour away from the city. That gave me a chance to get away from the city and see the beautiful countryside en route.
On reaching the bus stop and boarding the bus, I came to know that buses here do not provide the change when buying the ticket. You have to provide either exact change for the price of the ticket or pay by card. What was more disappointing was that they only accepted contactless cards and no swipe/insert cards. As my contactless card was not active, I couldn’t board the first bus. I then went into a petrol station and bought a water bottle to get some change which covered my to and fro bus fare.
After securing change and getting onto the right bus, I started with my hour long bus journey which took me through the suburbs of Cardiff city. The small streets and the adjoining houses were looking very beautiful. Since it was weekend, there wasn’t much traffic on the road which made the ride a joy. Occasionally the bus would pass a beautiful park and I could see people walking there dogs inside.
Soon the bus left the city and passed through the lush green countryside providing mesmerizing views of the wilderness. When my stop came, I dint even realize that I had been on the bus for an hour. I got down at the stop which was right opposite to the Caerphilly town center.
At first glance, the small town of Caerphilly appeared to be a small film shooting set. The town center was very small and roads were very narrow. But it had a very calm surreal appeal. I decided to see the city center after I was done with the castle, as I dint know how much time the castle would take, and I wanted to see the castle in the daylight.
I crossed the road and walked up a small plateau to reach the castle entrance. The area around the castle was very beautiful. There was a canal/pond going around the castle, which was dug up in early times to protect the castle from attack. There were ducks and ducklings in the water. The well trimmed grass had a proper walking path through them with benches to sit and enjoy the ambience.
The surrounding was so pretty that I decided to walk around the castle before going in. Since the castle was made on a slightly higher ground, the town of Caerphilly was visible from outside the castle and it looked very beautiful.
After completing my round in about 45 mins, I decided to go inside the castle. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to take my student ID card with me and had to buy a regular ticket.
The once majestic castle of Caerphilly was built in the 13th century as a part of expansion of the Anglo-Norman territory by Gilbert de Clare. But it suffered the brunt of several successive turf disputes. The parliamentary army tried to demolish the castle in the 17th century and was successful to a large extent. One of the tower of castle is still leaning from the demolition attempts. But the castle still stands due to the restoration efforts by the Marquesses of Bute in the 20th century.
The construction of castle was done in a concentric manner to provide several line of defense against the enemy attack. Inside the outer wall of the castle and outside the inner keep, different weapons like catapult and long range bow and arrow are on display. The chambers of guard in the outer wall and the grain room connected to the water mill are also for display. A walk through the chambers of the castle shows the tough living conditions of the people through different era.
After spending about an hour inside the castle, I decided to head out and see the city center. Since it was a weekend, all the shops were closed. So I took a quick tour of the closed shops and headed towards the railway station/bus stop to board the next bus back to Cardiff. It was a 20 min walk thorough the city. While walking through the town I felt a subtle quietness in the town. The town seemed at peace.
I reached the bus stop, boarded the bus and returned to my flat calling it a day.
commscholarukdairy.data.blog 