Climbing, Medieval Welsh Churches, Castle Ruins & the Welsh Language

Mike Burrows topping out on
Silly Lilly at Pothole Quarry

Not being one to just sit around, I've managed to connect with some of Michael's climbing chappies. Mike Burrows, pictured at left, drove us to the island of Anglesey.  We climbed Holyhead Mountain, a stunning quartzite crag overlooking the Irish Sea, while Michael Doyle waited for us in the parking lot of the South Stack Cafe.

The featured climb of the day was a trad route called Black and Tan, a VS 4c rated crag. It's quite steep and has some delicate fingery bits under a roof before you top out. Quite nice! The following day, we took a quick trip to Castle Inn, a sport crag featured in the A55 Sport Climbs guide where we knocked out 7 climbs before the drizzle set in and we retired to St. Pio's Cafe for cappuccinos and Welsh Rarebit. Friday morning, we headed to Pothole Quarry, a small limestone trad venue.  It was raining when we arrived at the car park so we ducked into Cafe Florence at Loggerheads for a quick coffee. The rain stopped by the time we finished the coffee so we headed out for climbing. Mike had a 2:30 appointment so I joined Tony Martin back at Castle Inn for the afternoon. I managed to tot up 13 climbs that day!

St. Dyfnog Church

St. Dyfnog's Well, known
for it's healing powers.

Churches are everywhere! They are relics of an ancient past where history has been recorded since Medieval times. St Dyfnog's, is a quaint Medieval Church, dating from the 15th Century, located in the village of Llanrhaeadr-yn-Mochnant in Powys, Wales. According to tradition, St. Dyfnog lived in the 6th century at the site of a well that was later named for him. It is said he did penance by standing under the torrent, which no longer exists, in a hair shirt, belted with an iron chain. As a result, the water became sanctified. No wonder there are so many obscure saints if this is what it takes for sainthood! Well, what ever!!

Jesse Window preserved from
1503

St. Dyfnog's Church is known for it's Jesse stained glass window. This window was originally part of Basingwerk Abby near Holywell where the ruins still stand today near Greenfield Valley Heritage Center.  The inspiration for the window came from  the prophecy of Isaiah "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of it's roots."

In 1642, the English Civil War between the Parliamentarians and Royalists started and as a result, they feared for the safety of the window. It was disassembled and removed in 1645, stored in a wooden box, and hidden in a safe place. In 1661, it was replaced in the church and if you look carefully, you can see where they didn't quite get it all back together exactly right. What a puzzle that must have been!

While we were exploring, a woman Vicar came and surprised me by performing a Welsh Eucharist. At the conclusion of the service, she stopped to talk. She explained that the Church of Wales is Protestant and separate from the Church of England. She said they only recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury as a point of unity but without formal authority in the Church of Wales and started ordaining women in 1992. How about that!

View of Castell Dinbych (including
the 50' well) from wall walk 

A short drive from Llanrhaeadr stands Denbigh Castle. The castle ruins are located on a rocky promontory above Denbigh, Debinshire. Many of the Welsh castles are simply ruins having been looted for building material and anything else of value over the years, and this one is no exception. You can, however, see the moat and draw bridge in your imagination as you enter through the triple-towered gate house. Water was provided from 50 foot deep well and legend has it that Henry de Lacy's eldest son, Edmund fell to his death in that well.

Welsh / English sign

Another interesting feature of the area is the frequent use of the Welsh Language. Traffic signs, official documents, such as hospital documents, and informational sign boards are all displayed in both Welsh and English. Welsh is an old language, distantly related to Gaelic languages still spoken in parts of Ireland and Scotland, and previously on the Isle of Man. Today, Welsh speaking people call themselves Cymru, (cumre) a word that links them to the Irish, Scots and Cornish, meaning 'people of this country.' It's a reference to a time before various immigrant tongues combined to make the English Language. The survival of this language is viewed as a linguistic phenomenon because Welsh, being one of the oldest languages exists side by side with English, one of the newest.

Plan B - Learning Curve, Historical Places, etc.

Example of an actual two way
road! Yup, those are sheep!

As a result of the accident, I've had to learn to drive in Great Britain. I must say, it's a "right carry on" and "hard work" driving on the wrong side of the road. The "round abuts" are terrifying and shifting with the left hand is no piece of cake either! Some roads are, well, not really roads at all but lanes that have all sorts of uses including sheep herding.  My favorite road sign so far is: "Oncoming Vehicles in the Middle of the Road." REALLY, they need a sign for this? Seems to be the norm is you ask me! Also saw a sign with a picture of a military tank on it, no words, just a tank. I kept a keen eye out for one of those babies but fortunately, didn't encounter any! Navigating is also challenging. Road signs are obscured by plant growth and lane markings are often on the road surface. Traffic lights are more than a bit confusing as well. There could be as many as 3 traffic lights in an intersection and your challenge is to figure out which one applies to you! I must say though, it's getting better each time I get under the wheel and has given us mobility, so it's well worth the effort!

Downtown Holywell

Home base for this trip is Holywell, or Treffynnon in Welsh. It's the fifth largest town in Flintshire North Wales with a population of about 6,000. It lies to the west of the estuary of the River Dee and takes its name from St. Winifred's Well, a holy well, dating back to the roman period. St. Winifred, according to legend, was beheaded by the son of a local prince when she spurned his advances. A spring rose from the ground at the spot where her head fell. She was later brought back to life by her uncle, St. Beuno. The reputed healing waters of the well is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales and the town advertises itself as the Lourdes of Wales and has been a pilgrimage since the 7th century. In the 18th century, the town became an industrial center and grew around lead mining, cotton milling and copper production in an area knows as Greenfield Valley which is now a park and heritage center.

Cappuccino at St. Pio's Cafe

In addition to hospital visits and handicap access, a theme of the trip so far is small cafes where we get gorgeous cappuccino's and maybe a light snack. St. Pio's Cafe, the closest to Michael's house is run by Franciscan Friars at a Friary on the grounds of Eglwys Dewi Sant or in English, St. David's Church. They make a lovely cappuccino and a Welsh Rarebit to write home about! Poking around on the book shelf, I found a book of Catholic Trivia where I discovered the origin of bonfire. Just in case you ever need to know, bonfires, originally "bonefires"were fires lit on public streets with the bones of oxen, sheep, etc. hence the name bon-fires. A combination of wood and bones is called St. John's fire as these were burnt on the Feast of St. John, Dec 27.

Stately home at Bodnant Gardens

Armed with a wheel chair borrowed from the British Red Cross, one of our first trips out was Bodnant Gardens. The garden spans about 80 acres, is situated above the River Conwy on ground sloping towards the west and looking across the valley towards the Snowdonia Mountain Range. Controlling a wheel chair on this type of terrain proved to be quite challenging and provided yet another learning opportunity into the obstacles faced by the disabled! I finally parked Michael and the chair on the level ground in front of the property's stately home and explored grounds myself! After the garden tour, we were tired and hungry and couldn't resist stopping at the Bodnant Welsh Food center which showcases homemade breads, cakes, pies, meats and cheeses. We loaded up on savory pies, sausages and a variety of cheeses and headed for home.

Speke Hall, a stately Tudor Home near
Liverpool

To keep ourselves occupied, we are visiting local historical attractions. Basingwerk Abby in Holywell, is not to be missed. It's a ruin very near the Greenfield Heritage Center that belonged to the Order of Cistercians in the 12th century. It's assets were sold following the dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 by Henry VIII. Another visit was to Speke Hall, a stately Tudor home near Liverpool. This home features creative things such as a priest hole, a place to hide a priest from local authorities when Catholicism was illegal, and a whispering room, a small access above the parlor for eavesdropping on your guests. The history here is just fascinating and is absolutely everywhere!

Friday Teashop Toddlers:
Pam, Wendy, Marion & Sally (L-R)

Michael's friends have been very gracious, offering to include me in activities such as hiking and climbing. I've been on several hikes and walks taking in local history, scenery and cafe's in quaint villages. In addition, I've been trad climbing at Gogarth on Anglesey which has stunning views of the Irish Sea and sport climbing at Castle Inn, a crag in the "car park" of a now closed pub.

Though the trip hasn't gone exactly as originally planned, things are busy and going well. I've had time to kick back, relax and learn about the people and my surroundings.

The First Three Days in the UK - Five Hospitals in Two Countries!

Prestatyn Coastal Path

May 8 - 11, 2016

The arrival at Manchester was smooth and going through immigration quickly and with no problem. I was greeted with a big hug and we took off to Holywell. 

Michael had a dragging brake shoe on his car so the following day found us at the mechanic with five or six hours to kill while the parts were acquired and the work completed. We had a lovely day in Prestatyn walking the beach, eating fish and chips, exploring ancient Roman Baths and sampling a crepe in a local creperie. After picking up the car, we headed to the Clwyd Mountaineering Club (CMC) climbing meet at Dyserth Castle Slab.

Four other climbers were already set up and climbing by the time we arrived. I led five very nice bolted climbs. The most difficult of the bunch was Tegengle, a French Sport rated 6a (Yosemite grade 5.7 or .8) sport climb. After I led it, we pulled the rope and Michael was giving it a go. He was at the top, ready to clip the anchor bolts when a hold came off in his hand resulting in a 15'-20' leader fall to the next clipped bolt. On the way down, he grazed his ankle on a small ledge fracturing the left  tibia. There was about a mile walk out but fortunately, a friend was able to bring some crutches making the walk out possible for him. We might have had to call rescue services without crutches!

Michael clearly unhappy
learning he had a "red dot"
on his images

We tried to have the injury seen at the Glan Clwyd Hospital emergency department in Rhyl but there were 50 people waiting and the estimated wait time was 5 hours. Since it was around 9:30-10:00 pm, and he was in no pain, we decided to just go home and go to the local clinic in the morning. An x-ray confirmed the problem is a simple fracture of the tibia. The diagnosis from the orthopedic specialist confirmed the trip to Sicily is off, at least for now. He was put in a full leg split given medication and specific instructions for treatment for the next few days and weeks. 

Between working at a hospital, my injury of two years ago and now this, it would appear that a recurring theme in this relationship is hospitals. We have a grand total of five hospitals we can look fondly upon:

1. BCH - Boulder Community Hospital, my former employer, where Michael spent many hours waiting over the years
2. Ysbty Gwenedd in Bangor North Wales - where I was airlifted to and admitted two years ago
3. Wrightington Hospital in Wigan, England - orthopedic specialist for me two years ago
4. Holywell Community Clinic in Holywell North Wales - where Michael got the x-ray and tibia fracture diagnosis
5. Glan Clwyd Hospital in Rhyl North Wales - orthopedic specialist for Michael

With the Sicily trip off, we are regrouping and rescheduling our travel plans to accommodate the six week delay and hoping for no more new reasons to visit the hospital in the future!

First Two Weeks: April 24- May 6

Crissy and Ethan

Road Trip!

The road trip with Tonya, my daughter, was delightful! After a nice breakfast with Ethan and Crissy, my son and his girlfriend who live in Denver, we spent the first night in Steamboat Springs at an off season luxury ski hotel. The drive there was a combination of clear weather, high winds, and snow, but even so, it wasn't too bad driving. After wandering the town of Steamboat a bit we found a fun trendy place called the Laundry (obviously a renovated laundry) and had nice happy hour dinner then lounged in hot springs. It was a great way to start the trip.

Monday found us at Dinosaur National Monument where we examined dinosaur bones and ancient pictographs. We started on a hike to get off the beaten path. We were treated to anticlines, desert dunes and a variety of colorful sedimentary layers. About 45 minutes into the hike the thunder started to roll. In as much as we were hiking in a stream bed, we decided to turn back so as to not get caught in a flash flood. Our timing was perfect as we made it back to the car just as it started raining. 

Woody & Brenda

We did a bit more exploring then made our way to Vernal, UT, for the night. By this time, it was raining in earnest. The weather was still unstable in the morning so decided to just head onto Salt Lake City. On the way to Brenda and Woody's house in Sandy, UT, We dropped in on the Alf Engen Ski Museum in Park City then on to the Great Salt Lake. Brenda had chili going in the crock pot and Woody made his world famous Margarita's. It was a short visit but great fun catching up with them!

Tonya popping out of a lava tube

Due to continued unstable weather and time constraints, we opted to start on the journey to Craters of the Moon National Monument first thing the following morning. It was a long but interesting drive. We passed on the opportunity to visit the Museum of Clean (http://www.museumofclean.com/) in Pocotello, ID, where for a mere $6 they advertise the worlds largest collection of vacuum cleaners. What a shame we didn't have time to stop! We also gave the Potato Museum a pass. Who knows what we missed with that decision. As we continued on to Craters of the Moon, we passed the Idaho National Laboratories (INL) and again had to pass on visiting the Atomic Museum. INL's claim to fame was apparently nuclear reactor testing. A stop at a very remote rest stop treated us to a series of interpretive sign boards explaining the role INL played in WWII and post WWII testing. They, of course, now advertise themselves as a National Environmental Research Park and Ecosystem Reserve. A bit of unexpected American cold war history! Arriving at Craters of the Moon about 3pm, we flew through the park, hiking a lava tube and examining ancient volcanic cones and craters. The monument and preserve encompass three major lava fields and about 400 miles and is one of the best preserved flood basalt areas in the continental US. We again raced the weather to do a quick two mile round trip hike to see tree molds, where the molten lava flowed through a grove of living trees causing them to release steam as they burned, leaving the impression of the charred wood on the surface. An interesting place that definitely deserves a trip back with more time allotted!

Painted Hills - John Day Fossil Beds

Thursday we made our way to John Day Fossil beds in OR. Much of this part of OR carries the name of John Day including a town, a river and of course the 13,944 acres of the park. John Day went to Oregon in 1812 as part of an overland expedition to the new Pacific Fur Company. Legend has it that John day and his partner Ramsay Crooks were robbed of all their belongings, including clothing, along the then Mah-hah River. Fortunately, they were rescued by a party of trappers. When others would pass the spot of the incident, they would point it out and thus the Mah-hah River became known as the John Day River. This part complemented our geology and fossil theme as this area features fossils of mammals and plants that lived between 45 and 5 million years ago. The monument consists of three widely geographic separated areas. We started at the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center to get an overview of the massive area. We made it to all three areas, Sheep Rock a brilliant display of exposed outcrops, the brilliant sedimentary layers of The Painted Hills and finishing with a fossil hike at the towering cliffs of the Clarno Unit. The area is so remote that we drove all the way across the state before we found a town large enough to host a hotel and restaurant and thus ended the day in The Dalles, OR, situated along the Columbia River.

Multnoma Falls 

Thursday was spent sightseeing the Columbia National River Gorge National Scenic Area, If you haven't been to this area, it's well worth the time. It is a dramatic drive along the Columbia River that takes in some magnificent water falls. We snapped photos of Horse Tail Falls, but the crown jewel of the area is Multnoma Falls which is 631'!  We even managed to squeeze in a hike to the top of the falls. The trail boasts 11 switchbacks with each being labeled to mark progress. Again, this was a quick drive that deserves more time. There are many trails we would have liked to explore.

Carter holding a chicken at the local park.

Tonya was anxious to rescue Dave from the sewer back up issues he'd been dealing with during her absence, so we headed back to Seattle Friday afternoon arriving in time to enjoy a lovely backyard barbecue of salmon complimented by local Washington wine.

Before leaving for Bellingham, WA (90 miles north of Seattle) to see my parents, I set up the fish tank with Carter and we bought some fish.

David, Chris and Wanda at Chuckanut Mannor

I've spent most of this past week with my folks, helping them with household chores and just visiting. This is a luxury my work schedule in CO has not permitted in quite a few years. Saturday, I take off for the UK to begin the international part of the adventure! Greatly looking forward to that!
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