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.