Like the last post of the slate quarry, these b&w photos are very old - even older in fact, as they were taken during a visit circa 1970/71 when I was a student at Art College. We had a field study trip to Snowdonia in Wales, which included a visit to the Island of Anglesey and Beaumaris Castle. I'm not sure where some of it fits, as it was a long time ago, and I only had the negatives until 2010 when I bought myself a negative scanner. It was fun to see the photos at last though, which enabled me to include an article on my former website. And now one for the blog.
The entrance is reached by a wooden bridge across the moat, which I imagine would have been a drawbridge originally.
A World Heritage site, Beaumaris Castle is considered to be the most technically perfect castle in Wales. Built by King Edward I in 1295, it was also the last, and was never finished due to the lack of finances and resources.
Although it never reached its full height, it still included four successive lines of fortifications, fourteen major obstacles, hundreds of arrow slits and the use of murder holes as part of its defences.
The photo above is my favourite. A window seen through another window and through a breach in the wall.
Below, some lovely Gothic windows and vaulting. Having a look at images on Google, I've just discovered that these are both in the chapel.
As I recall, I spent some of my time recording echoes to combine architecture with sound as part of an art project I was working on, which meant a bit of clambering around and sitting in windows.That wouldn't be allowed today of course, but bearing in mind that at the time there were hardly any other visitors, apart from us students, and no touristy things or the kind of upkeep there is now.
A great opportunity to get some moody photos with the b&w film too. Interestingly, these were taken on a Kodak Instamatic camera.
And as I've got them, I've also included some other bits and pieces from the same film - the causeway, and also a climb to the top of Snowdon on a foggy day - complete with an Australian Mountie hat courtesy of my sister who lived down under. I wish I still had it!
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