Showing posts with label coronation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coronation. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Caernarfon Castle and the Prince of Wales

Wales is excellent for castle-finding. Caernarfon Castle was built in 1283 and was the site for the coronation of the current Prince Charles. There is a splendid overview of the castles in Wales at www.castlewales.com/caernarf, and at www.3dphoto.net/world/topics/castles/wales.

There is an old photo and a fine write-up at www.data-wales.co.uk/castle1.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Harlech Castle

Harlech is one of the castles in the chain built by Edward I in the 13th Century, in order to help subdue the Welsh. It is in northwest Wales. See www.harlech.com. There is a splendid inland route through the mountains to the northern coast areas from Cardiff. There is a full list of castles at this website. You could start anywhere and see a castle sign. Good resource: www.castlewales.com/harlech.

"Men of Harlech" is a poem, a hymn of sorts, commemorating the valor of a small regiment fighting for the Crown in South Africa. See www.data-wales.co.uk/harlech.

To get here, go through the town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllantysiliogogogoch, northwest Wales. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllantysiliogogogoch.

That is the longest town name I can find. As a fourth grade teacher years ago, I used a train ticket from here dating from 1961, for spelling contests. Should have stayed teaching? Not with the regimentation required now. Another topic entirely - how to foster creativity in a time of universal smother-testing. I would rather have kids figure out how to handle a task, even learning Llanfair.... than just have them memorize for a test that says there is only one right answer.