Margam Castle

Bank holiday Monday in May - tradition dictates that the weather be beyond foul and tradition did not let us down. So what did we do? Stay inside, tucked up nice and warm, watching movies and eating choccies? Of course not. We did a character building romp round Margam Castle in gale force winds.

They closed the park due to falling trees, which meant that a visit to the Iron Age fort and farm was right out, which was a shame as there are darling pigs there - iron age breed hogs (bristles, tusks and at least a quarter of a ton of pork ambling around their enclosure, peacefully eating acorns and anything else unfortunate enough to come their way). So we went round the castle and found not only a craft fair going on but also a clown festival. The kids loved it. I stayed in the background 'cos nothing freaks me out quicker than a clown. I don't mind spiders, I quite like snakes, I swear long and loud at cockroaches, but clowns make me very quiet and shuddery indeed. Not something to admit to the children, so I lurked behind V whenever one got too close and just waited them out really.

Architecture took my mind off clowns. I love this place. The land has been farmed since the Iron Age initially by the Silures who fought the Roman legions fiercely for two generations until they were finally beaten in AD 70. There was an abbey here until Henry VIII got them all and finally the castle we have today, built in the late 1700's by one of the wealthiest families in Wales and chock full of architectural quirks and oddities. No gargoyles alas but a few dragons can be found if one looks carefully. This place puts me in mind of Hogwarts, I can just imagine a basilisk in the basement, dragons in the surrounding hills and centaurs in these woods.

While I was taking these photos, yes, I was lying down on the main staircase, a chap came up to us and asked us if we would like a tour. The upper floors were destroyed by fire in the late 1970's and it is not usually accesible by the public but apparently he was the secretary of the Friends of Margam Castle and off we went. It was a treat.

Just to finish off he took us to the haunted room, up in the nursery wing. They have filmed Britain's Most Haunted up there. I found it very peaceful.

It is only the start of whitsun holidays of course, but I wouldn't mind a nursery wing sometimes.

For now we are watching The Golden Compass and eating sweet popcorn. Not a great film, the book, though I disliked its premise intensely, was never the less a brilliant piece of literature. The costume design however is a pleasure to stare at*, has anyone else noticed the knitwear in this movie? Or am I being strange?

* As is a certain Lord Asriel...ahem...