A castle, a college and a steep climb The small but beautifully formed community of Harlech is the location of many ancient legends and has been the inspiration for music and art throughout the centuries
DID YOU KNOW? The military march “Men Of Harlech” was first published in 1794 The beautiful, sandy Harlech Beach
H
arlech in Gwynedd is small and easily overlooked by passersby, but those who do stop at the seaside resort are delighted with what they find. The town sits deep in the Snowdonia National Park, nestled in Tremadog Bay with a stunning beach backed by sand dunes and the Royal St David’s Golf Club, and the Rhinogydd mountain range rising to the east. The town itself sits half a mile from the sea and its population of around 2,000 people is split between the low and high towns, which are linked by a steep hill. The name Harlech is thought to derive from the combination of two Welsh words: hardd (fair or fine) and llech (slate or rock).
Bloody battlegrounds
Harlech’s most famous son is Owain Glyndwr, leader of the Welsh Rebellion and the last Welshman to claim the title Prince of Wales, who was born here in 1359. Its most famous site is Harlech Castle, built by Edward I in the 1280s during his invasion of Wales, and the scene of many
a tussle over the centuries. It captured by Glyndwr at one point, later becoming a Tudor stronghold in the 1480s, and still stands proud today. Indeed, it’s one of Cadw’s most popular attractions and a designated World Heritage Site. The castle was completed from ground to battlements in just seven years under the guidance of gifted architect Master James of St George. It has a classic walls-within-walls design and makes the most of its natural defences. Even when completely cut off during the rebellion of Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294, the castle held out thanks to the “Way from the Sea”. This path of 108 steps up the rock face allowed the besieged defenders to be fed and watered by ship. Harlech Castle is easier to conquer today – a floating footbridge allows you to enter the castle as Master James intended.
Seat of learning
The town has a primary and a secondary school, and until recently was home to Wales’s only long-term adult residential college, Coleg Harlech, also known as the “college of second chances”. This is now part of Adult Learning Wales and the site also incorporates Theatr Ardudwy, which stages a varied selection of plays, music and films throughout the year. Other attractions nearby include the wreck of a US aircraft that is sometimes
visible among the sands. The aircraft came down in September 1942 and is known as the Maid of Harlech. It spends most of its time below the seabed just off the coast, but when the conditions are just right it can be spotted – the last sighting was in 2014. Another popular part of town with tourists is Ffordd Pen Llech, once named in Guinness World Records as the steepest street in the world. It has since lost its title to a street in New Zealand, based on a different way of measuring the gradient, but the calf-aching climb is still worth a visit to admire.
The ghostly wreck, the Maid of Harlech THINGS TO SEE AND DO Theatr Ardudwy St David’s Hill, Harlech LL46 2PU Harlech Castle Harlech LL46 2YH cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/ harlech-castle Ffordd Pen Llech Harlech LL46 2YL
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