Penrhyn Castle

Hi Everyone,
Well - the summer holidays are in full swing and most of us are knocking our heads against walls about how to keep the kids happy.

Today I took my little boy to Penrhyn Castle. I hadn't been there since a child myself and remember my own father taking us on a 'rainy' weekend in the 1960's or perhaps 70's. Ok, Ok, I know I'm showing my age but there you go.
I didn't really remember all that about it. I remember this posh wall paper hung on the walls which were protected by perspex and that's about it.

So imagine my disappointment when upon arrival toady I was faced with a bill of £12 just to get in!!!
Nevertheless pay up we did and expecting to get ripped off by a boring day out.
How wrong could I be? The castle itself is beautifully preserved by the National Trust and a credit to everyone involved. And of course you had to pay extra for the guide books etc so we opted not to spend too much, the boy is only 8 yrs old and a lot of the history would no doubt go over his head.
Helpful Guides
What he wanted to know was answered by the guides who were in every room.
Fantastic furniture, fine crystals, preserved cornice's and coving's and exquisite cornices on the ceilings, and of course the wall paper as I remembered it - in all it's glory. Not to mention an original Rembrandt hanging in one of the last rooms we visited!!!
Doll and Rail Museum
A museum of dolls and a railway museum to boot was all we could possibly ask for in a great day out. To cap it all we watched some brave visitors abseiling down one of the towers.
We didn't do the walks outside (even though it was a beautiful day) but we had a little look round the grounds which were cut trimmed and were in an excellent condition.

If you are stuck for somewhere to take the kids this summer, then you don't need to look much further than Penrhyn Castle. (and I can assure you they have not paid for this piece).
Haunted?
As you can imagine, my little boy wanted to know if it was haunted (it certainly looked as if it was) and even though the guides were under instructions not to scare us with tales. we were told that often visitors had felt a sad presence in one of the corridors. We pushed some more for the story, but I'll let you find out yourself what the story was.

See you Sooon!

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