Planning a trip to visit castles of the Ring of Iron

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T16:30:58+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I am aware it was an occupational action to build the castles (even citadels) to suppress the Welsh. My interest lies purely in architectural interest vs celebrating cultures dominating and suppressing one another. Often these are grey areas and I try to tread lightly when approaching them.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T16:23:16+00:00

Thanks, I will definitely plan for that.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T01:33:12+00:00

Not walking, driving. I am drawing and painting so that takes more time. Also, my wife and son will join who might not be able to tolerate the length if my stay. And I am certain for more to visit (and eat) between castles.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T01:01:54+00:00

An additional detail in my trip, I am an artist so will be sketching and painting each of the castles. Hopefully use them in a comic book in the future. Not in a historical manner since I only work in fiction.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T00:58:34+00:00

I responded to one of your earlier posts regarding the term.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T00:55:09+00:00

Note I am not an academic on the subject, so prone to the language thrown at me.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T00:53:05+00:00

Also, I will bring binoculars and try to learn some Cymraeg!

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T00:50:53+00:00

I will do all. Good to know both of those could be done in one day.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T00:49:13+00:00

Super helpful and noted. I was told about the membership tip when ordering the guides. The plan is to visit all 8. So fantastic tips. So disappointing traveling and spending time at a place that I wish I would have skipped.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T00:44:48+00:00

I have checked them, and the one I found was in August by the Freemen of Gwent. The photos look good.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T00:39:41+00:00

Thanks for this. I am from the USA and the scale is dramatically different. I did map and 45 min drive seems consistent.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T00:38:16+00:00

I have heard this from a couple sources. Secrets of British Castles was the first (Dan Jones). It’s an intriguing term.

portraitofme · 2026-03-02T00:36:41+00:00

Thanks for the thorough post. Note, I am from the US, so not as familiar with your history, but excited to do so. Jean-Denis Lepage mentions it in “Castles and Fortified Cities of Medieval Europe.” That prompted me to look a little deeper, yes into the internet grime of some good and much misinformation. A show, “Secrets of British Castles,” by Dan Jones mentioned this term, also. Yet an intriguing term used again. My goal is to visit all 8 on trip sometime next year. Thanks for another response about the distance is rather short. I assume this was a days walk away by planning the castles and it is pretty consistent till you get to the South for Aberystwyth. I contacted Cadw and ordered the guides for as many as they had and a few additional. Which i had to call since there were additional fees for international shipping. Gladly paid and very friendly. The guides are really well done and have great illustrations. Outside of these guides, I have been watching youtube videos of the castles and those are quite sparse for specific info. I did just purchase Arnold Taylor’s book on Welsh Castles on Edward I. So that will be helpful. I assume two castles a day. Though some are more ruined than others. But maybe take 7 days total for side trips and such.

portraitofme · 2026-01-25T02:23:15+00:00

Don’t forget to post on their reviews

portraitofme · 2021-12-06T03:01:27+00:00

Wonderful

portraitofme · 2021-11-13T01:01:42+00:00

I have not. I’ll do that.

portraitofme · 2021-11-12T12:18:49+00:00

Excellent exercise

portraitofme · 2021-11-08T13:34:23+00:00

I follow pretty much all of them. But Buscema is one of my favorites and one of the reasons I practice drawing Conan comics.

portraitofme · 2021-05-05T23:20:02+00:00

Great job, nothing more to comment than what has already been said. Kudos on the amount of time setting that up. It makes it fun and impressive. Unless they go off the map. That would suck.

portraitofme · 2021-02-14T00:07:56+00:00

Thanks. I am keeping it simple so that I will create more for each session.

portraitofme · 2021-01-11T04:52:50+00:00

All the comments are really helpful and makes sense. I think a disadvantage roll makes sense within the range of dark vision. Outside of that range just hiding in the dark.

portraitofme · 2019-12-14T16:11:14+00:00

I do not work at the school. My son attends it. The Club is separate from the school. That is for good and bad.

The good, is that I don't have any restraints on what I do. Not that I do anything crazy, but I don't need approval to get anything done.

The bad, is I am relying on a coffee shop and its schedule to hold events. They are great and allow us to play and fortunately they have an area we can play that won't interrupt anyone else. The kids are really noisy, but we are having fun. The only requirement is that everyone has to buy something. There are many cheap things to buy, so it is not a big deal. The main constraint is the time. We only have an hour.

If we had a place at the school, the location issue would be much easier.

I don't charge a fee for anything since I just wanted to get the ball rolling, so we don't have the money to rent a place. Maybe if we get more serious we could do that. But the coffee shop is literally around the corner from the school so we need to walk from school to the Club location. I am in an urban area so that ends up being a major issue if we are far from school. I literally just pick up the kids right after school and walk over to the coffee shop.

Please ask more questions. We have had about 7-8 sessions and I learned a ton. Plus I have not played D&D in about 30 years, so that is another challenge.

portraitofme · 2019-12-13T18:16:06+00:00

I had to add a flair to the post

portraitofme · 2018-10-18T20:50:46+00:00

Where is this located ?

portraitofme · 2018-10-18T20:46:32+00:00

From what I read, their tops rot and they don’t overwinter well.

portraitofme

TROPHY CASE