Maeshafn and Northern Wales

Our route between Llanychaer and Maeshafn took us along the coast and through the Cambrian Mountains at the southern end of Snowdonia National Park. There was some magic scenery along the way, particularly as we passed the coastal region around Aberystwyth before heading inland to the mountains. As we climbed up toward Coed y Brenin, it was the first mountains we’d really seen since being on the European continent: the Cotswolds, Cornwall and southern Wales were generally devoid of anything more than rolling hills (albeit quite picturesque ones…). It was raining reasonably heavily as we drove through the mountains, so no pics and unfortunately no stop at Coed y Brenin Mountain Bike Park either, which was a little unfortunate as I’d heard about the trails from a few friends who’d lived in the UK over the years. Something for next time… Our digs during our time in northern Wales was in the quaint village of Maeshafn near the town of Mold, where we were hosted by a family friend whom we first met on a Christmas ski trip to France with Lisa’s parents back in 2007 pre-kids (such a lifetime ago!). Rowena was such a welcoming and gracious host, even having a traditional turkey dinner and homemade pumpkin pie prepped for us on our day of arrival on Thanksgiving!

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If we all had to pick a single favorite experience in northern Wales – and there were many candidates from which to choose – I’m pretty sure it would unanimously be our trip to Theatr Clwyd to see the theatre’s annual pantomime. I had some knowledge of pantomimes before our performance, but Lisa and the kids had no idea what they were in for and I had never actually been to one. Developed since the sixteenth century, modern British pantomimes are typically performed over the Christmas season and incorporate everything from song to dance, slapstick, cross-dressing, political jokes and extensive audience participation. It was like a Broadway musical mixed with Beach Blanket Babylon. All five of us had an absolute blast, I can’t remember the last time I’d laughed so hard for so long! The 10-strong cast of this year’s rendition of Beauty and the Beast all acted, sang and formed the rock band that played everything from eighties anthems to Lady Gaga covers. They were such exceptional performers, and so talented juggling everything from guitars to trumpets and saxophones between them. At times the entire audience was singing and dancing along with the cast, lots of classics to which we all knew the words. The kids knew the Beauty and the Beast story quite well, and the Theatr Clwyd performance didn’t deviate from the classic storyline at all, but fortunately all of the political references and un-PC jokes were generally above their heads! The entire cast did a fantastic job, but this year’s cross-dressing dame – the hilarious Nanna Nerys – really stood out with her (?) off-the-cuff humor and ad lib audience involvement. When she (?) initially graced the stage, about halfway through her (?) first song Lilia leaned over to me and exclaimed with surprise, “Dad, I think that’s a man in that dress!” If you’re ever in the UK during the Christmas season absolutely get to a pantomime, so much fun! A fabulous idea for a family outing from our host Rowena. (I need to credit Theatr Clwyd for the photos below, but I wanted to include a few from the performance so we don’t forget all the action.)

We’d been trying to catch a football game during our entire time in Europe, but for some reason we always tended to miss games by a day or two wherever we were visiting… When we were in Munich we missed FC Bayern Munich by a day. Throughout Croatia most of the local teams were on hold due to World Cup qualifiers. We missed Real Sociedad by a day in San Sebastián and then Sevilla FC by a day in Seville. FC Porto would have worked, but Lisa had a wine tasting appointment that day an hour before the games started. The only one we could have caught was a UEFA Champions League game in Madrid between Liverpool FC and Atlético de Madrid, but tickets to that for the four of us would have cost more than our flights from Portugal to England (a few times over!). UK football and its 10 tiers of more than 700 football teams to the rescue! Stoke-on-Trent was about an hour’s drive from Maeshafn, and Stoke City FC’s position near the top of the UK Championship League made for a very lively crowd. Formed in 1863, Stoke City FC is the world’s oldest professional football team. We were dealt a bit of a cold snap for the game – it was 2°C/34°F in the grandstand and we walked through the previous night’s snow on the ground to get from the car to the stadium – but the energy of the fans (and the five layers of clothing we wore) kept all but our toes nice and toasty. The other 21,735 attendees at the ground created so much energy, especially the Blackburn Rovers’ fans, who were separated from the Stoke crowd by two empty grandstands and close to 40 uniformed police officers. I’d heard about English soccer fans’ passion, but had never experienced it first hand: the energy was pretty incredible, the Blackburn fans didn’t take their seats the entire game, and the pure hatred of the opposing team was palpable even in the family stand where we sat. A great experience for all of us, even with the frigid temps, just too bad the home team couldn’t get one in the goal.

Wales is home to some of the United Kingdom’s most well-preserved medieval castles. Centuries of conflict between the Welsh and English are embodied in the ruins of all the relics across Wales and northern England. We’d visited Carew Castle in southern Wales and ventured west of Maeshafn for another castle in Conwy during our time in northern Wales. Conway Castle was built by Edward I during his conquest of Wales more than 700 years ago and – according to UNESCO – is one of the finest examples of late thirteenth century and early fourteenth century military architecture in Europe. Present day Conwy was almost entirely encompassed by the original castle walls, making for quite a unique town with its mix of pubs, souvenir stores and restaurants sitting below the castle. Unfortunately the kids trail through the relic – something Lilia and Max enjoyed further south at Carew Castle – had been put on hold due to COVID, but it was a worthwhile visit all the same.

Secluded Maeshafn and the surrounding towns and villages had a lot to offer during our time at Rowena’s. We all enjoyed the myriad of public hiking trails on offer right from Rowena’s doorstep, the kids were especially enamored with the horses and goats in the paddocks to the east of the village. It was also fun to take a stroll through nearby Mold, and we all enjoyed a morning completing the Detective Mystery Trail in Ruthin. It was a great way to learn about the history of the town and surrounding area. We fielded lots of questions from the kids about one of the final clues in Ruthin, which was the Maen Huail stone block on which King Arthur beheaded the brother of Gildas the historian! It was nice for the kids to be able to decorate a Christmas tree whilst at Rowena’s, and Lisa and I both enjoyed adding another quaint pub – The Miners Arms across the street from Rowena’s – to our list of English drinking establishments. (We’ve both been surprised at the number of pubs across the UK serving only drinks and/or operating on a reduced schedule due to staffing shortages. I’m pretty sure the the Brexit vote would have gone differently if the populous was told they’d have to do with reduced pub hours as a result!)

Thanks so much to Rowena for being such a gracious host and opening up her home in Maeshafn to us! I hope we can repay the favor someday when we’re eventually settled Down Under…