Castles in the air

It was a happy few days in early August and a whistle-stop tour of Wales

our driver at the ready

And the main reason for this outing - a long and happy lunch with our McNeil cousins at the lovely Groes Inn at Rowen, underneath a real grapevine!

Our last get-together was in 2015, and if you need to renew your McNeil history I wrote about it a bit ago here.

We finally tore ourselves away, hoping to meet up again very soon, and we four ventured further into Wales, passing the lovely Conwy Castle high above us.

and finally to our destination for the night in Criccieth, home of the famous Cadwalader's Ice Cream

with the stunningly perched Criccieth Castle just along the prom and a Mediterranean blue sea

To the Caerwylan - full of happy memories of Sunday lunches with Aunty Mair - for our overnight stay

Mum loved every moment

Even though the next day dawned a stormy contrast.  Incredible change in the sea colours!!

But we soon snuggled down for a tasty lunch in the Big Rock Cafe, Portmadog

A final peruse of the shops in Conwy (after a cream tea)!

Then back to base on the Wirral and a final lap round the Marine Lake at West Kirby for Jane, Mike and me before driving home, and a last lingering look over the Dee estuary to the land of our grandfathers . . .

revisiting

We're off to the seaside!!  First stop St Asaph cathedral and the shiniest eagle ever

after a great lunch at Jacob's Ladder

 

and then it was onward to the bright lights of Llandudno

and the regal splendour of the St George on the prom.  No less than the red carpet for us!

and such a happy reunion with the rest of the McNeil clan

 even a peek from the balcony as the midnight hour fell over Llandudno
But despite partying into the early hours, we still managed breakfast at our B&B and an exploration of the streets of Llandudno.  Where we found the wonderful Oriel Mostyn

sensitively modernised and extended by architects Ellis Williams and reopened in 2010

but first it was lunch at the lovely gallery cafe - Caffi Celf

followed by a tour of the great exhibitions and the fabulous building

We loved reading the fascinating history of the Gwynedd Ladies' Art Society, for which the gallery was founded in 1902.  The first gallery in the world built specifically as a home for the presentation of artwork by female artists.  Groundbreaking.

and the exhibition of the history of Llandudno through it's many picture postcards.  This one of an original Codman's Punch and Judy - I well remember the same on the steps of St George's Hall when I was little!

and look at this amazing old card - one of many

Saturday night saw us celebrating with the birthday girl - and what a happy night it was.

all the McNeil girls together . . . . Imagine if Daniel and Jane could have seen us all now, their youngest granddaughter and 4 great granddaughters all together and all back in Wales.
This was the potted history I wrote some time ago - meet the (grand grand) parents

And finally, at midnight again, we said our Saturday night goodbyes and wended our way down the red carpet (in the rain) and onward to the final day of our North Wales holiday.

On Sunday it was a revisit to our childhood holidays in the lovely Corwen.  And you can see some old pictures of us there back in the 60s in this piece I wrote some time ago - The Sunken Church
This was the original railway sign which always heralded our arrival from Liverpool - until Beecham closed down the line that was!  Great to see part of it has reopened again.

and there's now a magnificent statue to Owain Glyndwr - we all remember climbing up to his 'seat' on the hill behind the town on many a happy occasion.

but if was onward to Cynwyd and our lovely friends from those far off blissful holidays

and a feast and a half

. . . friends for ever and always so much love and laughter when we meet up.

A happy happy weekend, full of memories