Just Humans Being...

Portmeirion  is an amazing Italian-style village on the North West coast of Wales.  It was built from 1925 to 1975 by the very eccentric Sir Clough Williams-Ellis & it's fascinating. It's also where Patrick McGoohan's 1960s series The Prisoner  was filmed... On arrival there is a fee to pay. The village is privately owned with a rather up-market hotel & holiday cottages dotted around... It was good fun to see again the landmarks from The Prisoner. If my memory serves me, the character Number 6 stops by the statue of Hercules in the opening episode "Arrival" It has it's own beach. A nice coastal walk... And a lovely woodland to walk through too... This building was the residence of "Number 6" in the Prisoner TV show. It's actually quite small internally and is now a gift shop devoted to the Prisoner. The interior shots in the series were filmed on a set in Hertfordshire. The shop isn't half as good as it was

Off the north coast of Wales is the island of Anglesey... We travelled over the Menai Suspension Bridge, built by Thomas Telford . And stopped off at the lovely town of Beaumaris with it's wonderful castle... Beaumaris Castle  Definitely our favourite castle of the holiday. It took nearly 50 years to build & was still unfinished, but what a sinister history it has...  Edward I (AKA: Longshanks - Patrick McGoohan played him in Braveheart) was the man behind it all back in the 13th century...  He built all the castles in Wales as fortresses to enable him to conquer the Welsh. We also read that he had some similar castles built in France too, so he certainly got around a bit - when he wasn't busy chasing after Mel Gibson! We love the fact that the moat is still there... And we picked a quiet day! For an unfinished castle - it was pretty impressive... We liked how some of the towers had become overgrown... An arrow slit overlooking the moat...  There are lots of indoor