A heads up, this is the last post of our trip and this one is VERY long.
Now, on to my father's side of the family for a bit. His parents, whom my siblings, cousins and I would call Nannie and Papa, owned several inns over the years.
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Nannie & Papa in the 60's |
One in particular I would hear stories of, The Fairy Glen, like the time Papa complained about Nannie's mashed potatoes and she threw a spoonful of them at him, missed and they stuck to the wall which they later painted over! Oh my. So Sunday morning, Paul and I drove to Penaenmawr to The Fairy Glen. I had an email from my Uncle Ian (my dad's younger brother), explaining some tid-bits of the Inn from his childhood. As we meandered through the hillside with houses on either side of the narrow streets, I saw The Fairy Glen in the distance. Paul pulled over so I could take a pic and collect myself as this was another "moment" LOL!
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Straight ahead in the distance is the Fairy Glen. |
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Excuse the raindrops and dirty windshield. |
It's about 9:30 am and the door was open. We walked inside and sitting by the fireplace was a gentleman having a cig and coffee. I approached him and said hello, introduced myself and said we're from America. His answer, "I can tell that". So, I explained that my grandparents owned The Fairy Glen in 1949 and could I have a few minutes of his time to chat? "Well, I'm just having my morning coffee then I have to get to work so you can have a few minutes" he said. Not the friendliest person by far! He said he was the current owner and has been for the last 20 years. I showed him some pictures of The Fairy Glen back when Nannie & Papa owned it and even told him a story of the mantel. I asked him a few questions and took some pictures...
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Fairy Glen then. I believe that's my father standing to the left of the door. Can't be sure though. |
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Fairy Glen now. |
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L-R, my Uncle Ray, his girlfriend, my mum and dad. |
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Same spot as above. My only regret, not having the owner take our picture here. The phone booth is still there, although an updated version. |
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The bar then. |
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The bar now. |
Now there's a story about the fireplace. My grandfather strongly felt that the beams above the fireplaces should be exposed and he did that in every Inn he owned.
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Papa, Nannie and his mum, Ellen. On the wall to the right is a picture of my dad in the British Navy using a sextant. |
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Not only did he expose the beam but I think he did some brickwork also. The owner told us that there used to be an inlaid picture that the previous owner had managed to chisel out and sell for a couple of quid. And here it is, how cool is that??
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Notice to the left above the beam the little pictures of the Fairy Glen. I mentioned those to the owner and he said he has to keep an eye on them, as people steal them. Wow! I would have loved to get my hands on one...maybe he could sense that LOL.
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Some pics of Nannie & Papa outside the Fairy Glen in 1949...
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Roy and Jean Phillips |
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My Uncle Ian would serve ice cream to the guests. |
In the email my uncle Ian sent me he spoke of the brook behind the inn and how he used to fish in it with his hands. Paul and I took a stroll round back.
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Heading back up from the stream. |
Some scenery on the way there...
And on the way back...
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We drove along the coast on the way back. |
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Those are some MASSIVE wind turbines in the distance. |
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I have to laugh at the Welsh and their "language". Good thing every sign has written below in English what they're saying. Good grief! |
Interesting fact, the mileage in Great Britain is yards and miles vs meters and kilometers. Hmmm.
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I don't think these peeps want visitors hehe. |
When we got back from The Fairy Glen, Philip, Leslie and family took us to the Chirk Castle.
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Castle keeper? Leslie, me, Philip, Marcus, (I think Harper is the little one's name) Holly and Paul. |
Books and doors, I'm a bit obsessed with. Could be a lot worse don't you think?
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Narrow stone stairway to the dungeon. Since it was 27 feet down to the bottom, we passed!
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In the courtyard...
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I'm smiling because I made it in but I wasn't sure I'd make it out! |
We toured the beautiful grounds and Holly's 3 other children joined us.
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They were delightful! I think this photo bomb was Holly's little girl Skye. |
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Paul, Philip and Marcus. |
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Skye, Harper, Holly, Bayley, Harley, Philip, Leslie and Marcus (I think I got the kids right). |
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Original gates to Chirk Castle. No longer in use. |
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Notice the red hand? |
There are many legends regarding the red hand. One is, the lord to the castle was to give one of his sons the castle depending on which son crossed a lake first. The son that was losing, had his hand cut off and thrown onto the shore so he could win. Another was a race inside the castle. Probably a few others floating around too.
The hotel that Howard recommended and knows the owner of, is The Hand and that's where we stayed. Very old. Loved the desk and fireplace.
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Check in desk on left. |
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Pretty quaint I'd say. |
After a wonderful day at the Fairy Glen, then Chirk Castle, Uncle Howard and Michael took us to dinner at the golf club. We all had a plate of delicious roast beef and yorkshire pudding.
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It was "melt in your mouth" goodness! I have never thought to make my yorkshire pudding in a muffin tin. That's the way I'm making them from now on! |
Some more randomness...
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Sheep, sheep and more sheep. |
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Michaels beautiful backyard. |
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Leslie's beautiful backyard. |
We noticed we have quite a few of the same flowers and trees, like the Buckeye tree in an earlier post.
Well, that's our wonderful trip. One I'll never forget and will cherish the memories forever. I can't wait to get started in my new scrapbook I picked up. You can see it here:
England Scrapbook.
As always...
Val, what an adventure!!!! I enjoyed learning about your family and see all the pictures. You are really Welsh! I didn't know both parents were from there. Awesomeness! It was so cool to see the original Inn pictures compared with the present day. The pictures were so clear and well taken I could really imagine being there too. Thanks for sharing this trip and I guess you have lots of scrapping to do.
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