Woodland Wonderland

The extended Easter weekend was spent this year in South Wales ( as usual) but unusually we decided to walk UP to Castell Coch and into the woodlands above and behind it - Fforest Fawr

A familiar sight. The Red Castle itself. A Victorian 19th-century Gothic Revival folly built on a much older and originally Norman ruin.

However we bypassed the castle this time and went into the beech woods behind it. These are home to rare plants and lichens and are a SSSI.


As always seems to be the case it was a steep pull up before the path leveled out and we met a bear...

Well two bears to be exact.

These bears even had their own caves. Actually entrances to some old iron workings.  These may actually look familiar as they've featured in many TV productions including Merlin, Torchwood, Sherlock and Dr Who.

 They've also starred as the dragon's cave in  the BBC show Voyage of the Dawn Treader thanks to the Iron Pyrites in one of the inner caverns.


 

Not so much further on we came across someone else hiding in the trees. Intrigued now we changed direction and followed the path past him. 



 











I think someone dropped their watch?

That looks awfully like a cauldron - getting a bit worried now!

Is that a dragon I see? Well to be expected up in a Welsh forest I suppose. He looks asleep. Maybe we can creep past him...

And where there are dragons there is usually treasure and here was no exception! More treasure than usual I think as we passed a father laying a trail of shiny foil wrapped Easter Eggs for his children to find.

I hope they got to them first before the dragon woke up!