A week in Wales

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

Wandering in Wales – a tour of Merlin and Arthurian sites in Wales – April 11-17, 2011

Since I went on a tour of Merlin filming sites over the course of 6 days, I thought it would be a good idea to tell you about options just in case you also want to visit. I'll try and include costs and mileage, etc. Keep in mind that I'm from the States so I'm always astonished at how close everything is!

 

Note 1: almost everything opened at 9:30AM and closed around 17:00.
Note 2:  CADW Wales Heritage Site has an Explorer 3 or 7 day pass to most of the sites we were interested in. 21.30 £ for 2 adults/3 days or 31.60 £ for 2 adults /7 days. There are other options, too but it paid for itself the first day! You can buy them at any of the sites they cover. I didn't find out right away about this so I paid more than I should have.
Note 3: prices/opening times could change at any time.
Note 4: a lot of places charge for parking. I've not included that here since it varies.

Day 1 – Flew into Heathrow, took the train to Carmarthen, Wales, our first stop.

Carmarthen, Wales
We were both tired so we didn't do much more than walk around the town. Carmarthen is known at Merlin's birthplace but there isn't much there, a small, mostly grassy Roman amphitheatre, bits of a ruined castle that you can't get to and a crook in the road where Merlin's oak used to be. A place to skip… however….

Day 2

Merlin's Hill - 2 miles northeast of Carmarthen off A40.
3 £ each. Opening time: 10AM
This is supposedly where Merlin still sleeps under his hill. It's a great Iron-age hillfort and when you finish huffing and puffing your way up the hillside, the views are spectacular. Well worth the trip. Lovely place.  We spent at least an hour there, probably longer.

National Botanical Garden of Wales – 8 miles east of Carmarthen on A48.  

8.50 £ each. Opening time: 10AM
Not a Merlin filming site but it was on the way to Neath and it is a Dr Who location. A gorgeous place with lots of flowers and views.  We were probably there 1 -1 ½ hours.

Neath Abbey – 32 miles from Carmarthen on A48 and M4 and then up A465. Easy to get to.
Free.
A Merlin filming site twice over in 02.02 and 03.13 plus a photoshoot spot, Neath Abbey was a Cistercian monastery. It's ruined now but a really worth visiting on its own right. We were there at least 3 hours but we also had permission to go into the undercroft which is not open to the public. Plan at least an hour.

Porth yr Ogof – 18 miles from Neath.  Up A465 and then onto B4242.
Free.
We got lost trying to find this but once we got to Ystradfellte, I knew we'd gone too far and backtracked a mile until we found it. It's right below the visitor's center, a bit of a scramble down the pathway. Bring a flashlight as it is dark(!) in the cave.  Used as Balinor's cave in 02.13, it's still a wonderful if potentially dangerous cave. Use caution and wear good shoes!  We were there an hour but could have spent more time; however it was getting dark by that point so we left.

We stayed overnight outside Aberdare about 8 miles from Porth yr Ogof but there are lots of hotels in the area, esp. in Merth Tydfil.

Day 3

Abergavenny – 38 miles from Porth yr Ogof and 30 miles from our Day 2 hotel. On A465, a 4 lane highway.
This location is well known among Merlin fans as the place where Bradley James rolled on the train station floor but it also has a very small castle (free) and the Priory Church of St. Mary (free). The church has spectacular effigies that date from the 13^th century that is well worth taking a look. We must have spent at least an hour there just looking at the stone and wood carvings.  Other than that, the castle is so small that 15 minutes was enough.  The train station has limited parking so for me, it was in and out, 10 minutes tops.

Raglan Castle – 9 miles from Abergavenny on A40. Took 15 minutes to drive.

3.50 £ each to get in without the Explorer's pass.  Opening time: 9:30 AM.
Raglan was built in the 1430s and it is a beautiful ruin in its own right. However, Merlin fans will know it for filming in 01.13, 02.12 and apparently it will be showing up again in season 4! I love this castle. It's got everything, a moat, beautiful carvings, lots of places to climb, a great ruin surrounded by rolling hills. There is even a small café nearby and it's easy to get to. Right off the highway.  We spent at least 2 hours there just poking around.

At this point, I'd planned on going to Goodrich Castle and then heading to our hotel in Monmouth but we found out there was filming at Raglan Castle the next day so it was off to Puzzlewood instead.

Puzzlewood – 15 miles from Raglan Castle, mostly on A40 and then on a number of smaller roads. Puzzlewood is on B4228 outside Coleford. Took maybe a ½ hour to drive as the roads were narrow and winding.
5.50 £ each. Opening time: 10AM
I love Puzzlewood. It was used in Dr Who and Merlin so many times and other films, too. It's very small but large enough to get lost in (as I did two years ago). An open iron mining location, it's now overgrown with mosses and trees and the rock formation are wonderful. There are also other things to do there, mostly geared for kids but fun, too. There's a small café for snacks as well.

Clearwell Caves – 1 mile south of Puzzlewood. On B4228 right down the street. Took 5 minutes to drive.  
6 £ each. Opening time: 10 AM
Used in Dr Who as well as Merlin, it's also been a mining location for 4000 years! I'm a bit claustrophobic so it was hard for me but there were few others around and we pretty much had the caves to ourselves. It was pretty dark but we did find some of the Merlin and Dr Who locations and we also found some fake cobwebs on the walls (maybe left over from Merlin filming?). The shop was nice and you can actually buy ochre that they are still mining in the cave. We probably spent an hour there.

Speech House Lake – We didn't go there but it's only 3 miles from Puzzlewood so if people are going, they might consider making a side trip. Free.

Monmouth – 8 miles from Clearwell Caves.
Our hotel was here. It's a market town but it does have a very small castle as well as a 13^th century stone gated bridge. The buildings were nice to look at, very tudor-style but I chose this place mainly as a base for going to the castles and other Merlin locations in the area. Geoffrey of Monmouth would be pleased.

Day 4

Goodrich Castle – 7 miles east of Monmouth on A40. Easy to get to.
5.80 £ each. As it's an English Heritage site, the CADW passes were not usable. Opening time: 10AM.
It was begun in the 11^th century and really built up in the 13^th century. The Civil War helped to destroy it and it's a ruin now. People know it for Merlin 02.08, Sins of the Father episode with Morgause. But it's a great castle to wander around and the surrounding countryside is lovely.  Worth at least an hour's time and possibly 2.

aMazing Hedge Puzzle – 3 miles west of Goodrich Castle on A40. Easy to drive.
3.75 £ each. Opening time: 11AM.
The location was hard to find, though. Just look for the butterfly zoo and it's right there. I did like how it was organized once we found the place. Very small but it was used in Merlin 01.11 so worth seeing. It took us about an hour to go through it.

The rest of the day was spent watching filming at Raglan Castle. If we hadn't stumbled across it, I would likely have gone to Speech House Lake and maybe Cannop Ponds to try and see the filming locations there.  So ordinarily this would have been a restful day for us.

Day 5

 Tintern Abbey – 11 miles south of Monmouth on A466. Took us about 30 minutes to drive.
3.80 £ each to get in without the Explorer's pass. Opening time: 9:30 AM.
Not a Merlin filming location but one of the finest examples of Cistercian abbeys in Wales. Wonderfully preserved, the carvings are still mostly intact and the grounds are extensive. Just gorgeous. A don't miss. We spent about 1-2 hours here. There is also a walking trail that I would have liked to have taken but since there was filming going on still at Raglan, we pushed on.

Chepstow Castle – 6 miles south of Tintern Abbey and 17 miles south of Monmouth on A466. From Tintern, it took us about 15 minutes to drive.
4 £ each to get in without the Explorer's pass. Opening time: 9:30 AM.
It was harder to find a parking space in Chepstow than driving to it but we finally found one next to the castle.
This place is huge. Used for Jarl's slave pit in Merlin 03.07. It covers a lot of a hillside – be prepared to huff and puff a bit as it's really steep and it clings to the cliffs next to the river there. Started in 1067, it was modified up through 1690 which makes it intriguing to look at as the styles changed over time. We ate at the restaurant across the street. Pretty good food, too.

Then since we were done with what I'd planned other than going to Caerleon to our hotel there, we drove on back to Raglan for more filming. :D

Chepstow to Raglan – 27 miles along A48 to M48 to M4 to A449. Raglan to Caerleon – 17 miles along A 449, M4 and then a small road.

Caerleon - 16 miles from Chepstow to Caerleon along M48, M4 and small road.
Caerleon is a known Roman site with a large amphitheatre, Roman barracks and a small (free) National Roman Legion museum. Apparently there is also a Roman Baths museum (free) but we got there too late to see it. The town itself is lovely with stone buildings and the remnants of a castle wall. It's not known for Merlin but was featured in 'The Real Merlin and Arthur" road trip with Bradley and Colin. However, it's also known for being a Dr Who/Torchwood site (St. Cadocs Hospital, Lodge Rd). They filmed 'Sleeper ' and 'Children of Earth' episodes in front of the hospital.

We stayed at the Priory which was nice and old and great character. Lovely grounds and a parking lot. The price for dinner was too high so we walked around and found a Wetherspoons in a 16^th century inn (Hansbury Arms). I stayed last time in Caerleon at Pendragon House which I recommend although there is no place to park (you have to use the public parking near the amphitheater).

Day 6

Caerphilly – 26 miles west of Caerleon. We took the M4 mostly and then A4054. It took about an hour but since we weren't pressed for time, we didn’t care.  
4 £ each to get in without the Explorer's pass. Opening time: 9:30 AM.
Built in the 1200s, this castle is huge, the biggest in Wales and also has one of the biggest moats I'd ever seen. It was used in Merlin in episodes 02.04, 03.04, and 03.08. Note, they are constantly upgrading the castle so things that might have been seen in the episodes have been changed a bit with paint and room changes. Also, they do have weddings there in the Great Hall so sometimes it's closed.

But this is another don't miss castle. Amazing place.

Castell Coch – 4 miles southwest of Caerphilly on A4054. Not far at all.
3.80 £ each to get in without the Explorer's pass. Opening time: 9:30 AM.
Although there was a castle here at one time, it was rebuilt in the 1870s. Beautifully painted on the inside, it's more a romantic version of a castle than anything else. It was used in a couple of Merlin episodes, most notably 03.10. The grounds are lovely, too and they were used as well.

River Ely, Miskin – 9 miles from Castell Coch on M4. Free
I wanted to see where Arthur and Merlin had that lovely talk in 02.04 by the river. We did drive here but it's on private property so although we found the spot, we didn't stop or take pictures.

We stayed in Bridgend overnight (20 miles from Caerphilly). Finding a place to stay over the weekend proved to be a problem. I wanted to stay in Cowbridge but couldn't find any place available. We ate at a pub near there, yet another Wetherspoon's! They do seem to be everywhere. It was too late in the day to go exploring but Bridgend does have Coity Castle nearby.

Day 7

Dunraven Bay – 5 miles from Bridgend along small roads. Free.
I love Dunraven Bay. I've been there in stormy weather but I really loved the sunny day and the fact that the tide was out this time. Used in Merlin 01.11, the place where Anhora stood is under cliff-rock now but the rest of it is still clear. Also used in Dr Who. I could have stayed for hours but time was pressing.

Cosmeston Medieval Village – 24 miles from Bridgend. We took A4226 and A4231 although we could have used the M4 but the roads were pretty free of traffic and it was a nice drive. 
5 £ each to get in but that includes a guided tour with a real guide which I recommend. Opens at 11 AM. The tour (on the hour although you have to get there at least 10 minutes before it starts)  lasted about 40 minutes.
Used first in Merlin 01.10, it's been seen once as a backdrop. They filmed here again earlier this spring.
Cosmeston is part of a county park but once you go through the gates, it's meant to be a 600 year old village. A few houses made of stone with thatched roofs, it really does give the feeling of the times back then. The guide was very, very helpful in understanding the period and how hard it was for the average villager. I really enjoy the place. It's kind of out of the way but well worth the visit.

Then it was over.

Sadly. Back to Cardiff airport to drop the car off.  10 miles. And we were done with Wales.

Comments

[chaosmaka.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN FOR SHARING!! This will help us so much in June ♥

[altocello.livejournal.com]

This is a fantastic summary, thanks so much for sharing! Someday, when I get to go to Wales, I will use this to help me see it all efficiently. It looks like you had a really fantastic time, and the weather seems to have been beautiful for you!

Regarding distances, I never did get over how close everything is, even where we were on the continent, so I'm with you on the "really??? that's all the time it takes?" front! :D

Aweek in Wales

[avelyonesse.livejournal.com]

I just printed out your summary.Great photos and descriptions. You are so very helpful. I'm from the States also and feel I can visit now and not make a bumbling mess of it armed with your article. Really appreciate the specifics. Good job! Thanks for posting.I love this site.Its really helpful to travelers and fans.Ciao!

[merlocmod.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your wonderful report! It sounds like you had a marvellous time, and you certainly managed to fit a great deal into a few days. I really appreciate you providing all this detail for our fellow Locations Geeks. ♥