Captain's Log 

Pennants

The first thing I noticed when I entered the Penrhyn Castle gounds was…well, the castle. You can’t miss it. It is huge. It has more towers, turrets, parapets, drawbridges, ramparts and baileys than it knows what to do with. It doesn’t have a moat, since it is positioned on a bit of a hill. I confess that I’ve never seen a castle so big, even Hollywood ones. It may come as a disappointment then, that it has never seen any battle. It is a fantasy castle built by the Pennant family, and financed by the proceeds of slavery in the Jamaican sugar plantations and the efforts of the local slate workers at the Penrhyn slate quarry. I have to confess that my conscience is somewhat troubled visiting such properties given their dubious past, but on the other hand I can’t see the point of ignoring the creativity of the architecture and its rich history. The castle was cobbled together between 1780 to 1837. Richard Pennant who commissioned the undertaking was a strong opponent to those attempting to abolish the slave trade. His second cousin, George Hay Dawkins inherited the country pile after Richard’s death and received significant compensation when the Slavery Abolition Act was made law in 1833. Sometimes the world seems upside down to me. The family’s slate business was doing well too, making Bangor the world’s biggest exporter of slate in 1855. They paid their workers so well that it culminated in the longest dispute in British industrial history. This was known as the ‘The Great Strike Of Penrhyn’ and lasted three years. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to have worked in those slate quarries and looked towards the coast to see the opulence of the owner of Penrhyn Castle. The most surprising thing to me is that there was never a revolution in Great Britain, unlike the enlightened people of France. 

I found my way up to one of the main gates into the castle and there was an advertising board set up near the entrance. I went across to read it. Somebody was going to give a demonstration of slate splitting later on. I decided I might just go along to see that. Given that the sun was out, I wanted to have a wander around the estate first though. And not to forget, I had that 11:00 appointment with those spitting reptiles too. 

Penrhyn Estate And Gardens

As might be expected, the grounds were exceedingly pretty. There was a gorgeous view out to sea, bookmarked by the headland of Great Orme on the right and Penmon and Puffin Island on the left. I came across a pleasant walled garden adorned with ponds and fountains. It even had a large wicker frog, as every garden should. This brought me on to another small trail around an area called the Dell. For most of this journey around the estate, I would get impressive views of the castle that seemed to beckon me to take a closer look. In the end I gave into it. I’d exhausted the estate’s trails and so I started to make my way over to the castle. 

Penrhyn Castle

I’d got my walking boots on that had just served me on four days of muddy trails along the Anglesey Coastal Path and I wondered whether the NT people would actually let me into the place. Thankfully, I wasn’t questioned at the door. These places tend to be so dark anyway, that you’d have needed night vision goggles to see the mud on my boots. I have to say that the castle was just as impressive inside as it was outside. They had built a room for everything. They even had a breakfast room that apparently provided a more casual eating experience than the massive dining room. The whole place reminded me of Citizen Kane’s Xanadu. I half expected to find Rosebud propped up in the Sledge Room. In the library an NT official gave me a magnifying mirror to closely inspect the plasterwork on the ceiling. This worked incredibly well until I suddenly caught the  terrifying image of my magnified, sunburnt face. The castle’s chapel was bigger than any that I’d seen on Anglesey. I don’t think even Cluedo has a chapel. In one of the bedrooms I came across a slate bed. That’s not a bed of slate. It was actually a bed made of slate. I wouldn’t have fancied stubbing my toe on one of its legs. I wandered from room to room wondering how anybody could have actually lived like this. It was approaching the Snake Spitting demo time and so I started to make my way to the courtyard. I got lost and had to ask an NT official for directions. I ended up in the café and decided that I’d take the opportunity to have a coffee. 

Trains, Engines And Cycles

I spent too long in the cafe and missed the Snake Spitting demonstration in the courtyard. I wasn’t too disappointed though since there were also some exhibits around here too. There was a wonderful Merryweather steam powered fire engine which probably would have taken much longer to generate steam than it would have taken for a fire to burn out. There was a whole area dedicated to the engineering supporting the slate mine, including the Charles steam engine. It was built in Hunslet (Leeds) and was designed to pull empty slate wagons up the steep 6 mile long railway from Port Penrhyn to the slate quarries, and then act as a brake on the way down. It was built in 1882 and was finally retired in 1956. My favourite item in this display area was a four wheeled push bike. The wheels were designed to run on the rail tracks. It was used by the Chief Engineer to travel between his home and office, and for inspecting the track. I can just imagine some of the comments from the slate workers seeing their gaffer pedal up on this contraption. 

Return

It was time to leave. I’d spent 3 hours walking around the gardens and the castle, but I could easily have dedicated more. The place had been built to impress and despite me having a slightly guilty conscience about its funding, it definitely did impress me. It was a shame I never got to see the snake spitting demonstration. At the entrance to the site, I was going to ask the NT greeter if there might be another one soon, but she was attending to some new visitors and so I didn’t disturb her.      

Penrhyn Castle is a must-see if you are in the vicinity of Bangor. It is well worth the entrance fee, even if you aren’t an NT member and get in for free.