Wales – Geoff's travel blog.

Aberffraw – Home of the ancient kings of Wales

January 29, 2026Posted in Uncategorized, WalesTagged historyLeave a comment

Aberffraw contains one of the oldest Mesolithic sites from prehistoric Wales, dating back around 9,000 years. At Aberffraw Bay is the Trwyn Du (Welsh: Black nose) site. The burial was discovered in 1977 while excavating a Bronze Age bowl barrow from 2000 BC. This dig revealed that the cairn was built on top of a deposit of 7,000 flint tools and two axes from 7000 BC, a few millennia after the last Ice Age. An intact monument near Aberffraw is Din Dryfol, a Neolithic chambered tomb from 3000 BC, and around the banks of the nearby River Gwna are the remains of a stone hut circle and roundhouses, which were lived in during the Welsh Iron Age, around 500 BC.

Aberffraw was settled by Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion who built a palace in the 5th century. Rhodri the Great, the King of Gwynedd rebuilt the residence in the year 873 and firmly established the capital of the Kingdom of Gwynedd

Rhodri’s palace became a royal court, and his son Anarawd ap Rhodri started a new branch called the Royal House of Aberffraw. Anarawd’s descendants ruled Gwynedd for many years and were later known as the Prince of Wales. In 1201, Llywelyn ab Iorwerth restored the palace as a home and set up a team to work like the original royal staff from 914. Prince Llywelyn the Great continued to hold the Royal court at Aberffraw, matching the standards of the nearby English Kingdom. His partner was Joan, daughter of King John of England, who also participated in royal events at Aberffraw for both Welsh and English nobles. Llywelyn updated the rules for the royal staff based on the original laws from 914 for the Aberffraw Royal Palace. This palace served as the main residence for the Prince of Gwynedd since Rhodri the Great’s time.

The household included twelve gentlemen who made up the royal guard and rode horses supplied by the king.

There were 35 court positions:

The Master of the Palace
The Domestic Chaplain / The Queen’s Chaplain
The Steward of the Household / The Steward to the Queen
The Master of the Hawks
The Judge of the Palace
The Master of the Horse / Master of the Horse to the Queen
The Chamberlain / Queen’s Chamberlain
The Domestic Bard
The Officer to Command Silence
The Master of the Hounds
The Metheglin (Mead brewer)
The Physician of the Palace
The Cup Bearer
The Door Keeper
The Cook / The Queen’s Cook
The Sconce bearer / The Queen’s Sconce bearer
The Woman of the Queen’s Chamber
The Door-Keeper to the Queen
The Groom of the Rein
The Officer to Support the Prince’s Feet at Banquets
The Bailiff of the Royal Demesne
The Apparitor
The Gate-Keeper
The Watchmen of the Palace
The Woodman
The Baker Woman
The Palace Smith
The Laundress
The Chief of Song

These were the members of the royal household. They had their land through their roles. They received clothing material from the prince and linen from the queen. They were called together by the palace horn.

Remote home on the banks of the river Ffraw.

More Images From Wales Coastal Path

September 22, 2019January 15, 2020Posted in WalesLeave a comment

Added a few new images from an early morning walk around the old industrial, quarrying town of Trefor. A granite quarry was established here in 1850 and a narrow gauge railway used to bring the rocks to the coast for shipment. Not much remains of industry today.

For more of these coastal path images head here –

https://worldly.wales/2018/07/27/the-wales-coastal-path/

The Wales Coastal Path

July 27, 2018January 15, 2020Posted in Wales3 Comments

Established in 2012, the coastal path around Wales stretches for close to 900 miles, essentially encompassing the whole country. The only country in the world with a path that extends over the whole coastline.

Some recent images from various parts of some of the northern sections of the path –

Wales in Winter

December 24, 2017January 15, 2020Posted in WalesTagged Gallery2 Comments

Stopped off in Wales to see family before Xmas. There were a few snow showers plus storm Christine which provided strong winds and hail, all in all a lot of fun.

20171207-GLW02697-2 — Storm Christine on the Llyn peninsula

Aly Text box — Porthmadog golf links 12th green with Snowdonia mountains in the background.

GLW03638-Edit — Shaft of light through the clouds.

GLW03403 — First snowfall of the winter.

20171207-GLW02930 — Lleyn peninsula stormy ocean.

Whistling Sands – Porthor, N Wales

June 25, 2017January 15, 2020Posted in WalesLeave a comment

Whistling Sands is a beach spot in a place known as Porthor, in N Wales. (Note – video might take time to load).

The phenomenon of whistling sands occurs at a few locations around the world and is not fully understood. Basically what happens is that movement of the sand grains against one another causes a noise. The movement may be induced by wind, or by gentle kicking. The noise seems to require spherical sand particles with a consistent size, and at Porthor is easily generated by either mechanism. The sound here is rather more of a squeak than a whistling, or at least it was when I visited. Aside from the noisy sand this is a quiet undeveloped place with wonderful natural scenery and wildlife – the gannets were furiously diving for the plentiful fish.

The reddish tone of the rocks is an indication of the local jasper mining for which the area was once famous.

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Wales – Porthmadog Golf Club

December 7, 2014January 23, 2020Posted in WalesTagged Golf

I have played this course a few times but have never been in the right place with the right light, so I was glad to be able to get there on this occasion. It is a lovely links course, or at least mostly a links course, but there are a few parkland holes. Didn’t get chance to play but enjoyed taking photos instead.