Penrhyn Castle, and the slates of North Wales

Although my day off, I decided to take a trip out with a visiting school and help out, as they're essentially being tourists for the day, and they're such a well behaved bunch it's no stress at all helping out.

First stop today was Cwm Idwal, to learn a bit about Victorian attitudes to nature (not very good ones) and a bit about Charles Darwin, who once looked at a rock here. I wasn't too fussed about this part, having done it many times before, but I was looking forward to the next stop - Penrhyn Castle.

This castle is a fake castle - built to show off by the owner of the slate mines that we visited yesterday. It is the worst sort of Victorian opulence, a garish, tasteless waste of money, money that was unfairly taken from the workers who were dying in pursuit of enough money to eat and have a roof over their head.

We talked to some interesting people, who told us of the strikes, the unrest in the slate mines, and the unrelenting man who built the castle. Incredible that money can make you so short sighted. There was an ancient old Welsh woman who told us that even to this day, the locals hate the castle and all that it stands for.

Nice grounds, and nice sun too. Had a strange encounter with the café staff who brought me my coffee before I'd even ordered it. Mind reading!