Travel with Joyce James to Wales,
September 1^st - September 12^th, 2011 - Version II!

Wales 2011 – History, Heritage and Handicrafts

Just Completed! Read a Shirley Scott article about the May 2011 Wales trip (PDF format)

Wales Version II: Come join with us on a unique tour to Wales, land of music, myth and tradition. This proud principality considers itself to be a special part of Britain and justifiably so. The landscape varies from the south to the north, east to west, yet everywhere there are the green hills and welcoming people.

This trip is offered owing to overwhelming response to the May 2o11 Wales tour that sold out almost immediately.

In previous years, Wales was offered as part of a tour with Ireland one year and England another. However, due to many requests, in 2011 we have organized a special Wales-only itinerary. The Welsh language is showing a resurgence and you will hear this language spoken frequently on the streets.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Depart Canada and the United States for Britain.

Day 2: Arrival at London Heathrow, where we’ll be met by our coach to travel to Cardiff, capital of Wales. We will check in at the Cardiff Hilton, a comfortable, centrally-located hotel and our home for the next two nights. Before evening dinner, there will be a reception to meet your fellow travellers and learn about our special activities planned for the next two weeks.

Day 3: Your morning is free to explore and if you’d like, visit Cardiff Castle or the National Museum of Cardiff, with its outstanding collection of Impressionist paintings.

After lunch, our coach will take us to the Museum of Welsh Life, known as St. Fagans, set in a100-acre parkland. This open-air site features a collection of buildings, brought from all over Wales, and furnished with antiques of the respective periods. We’ll be privileged to meet with one of the curators, to gain a special appreciation of the history and importance of Welsh textiles.

Depending on what is scheduled at the theatres, you may wish to attend a concert or play in the evening.

Day 4: We leave our hotel after breakfast and travel west towards Swansea and Carmarthen, with a stop at Aberglasney Garden. We’ll visit the Jen Jones Quilt Centre in the Lampeter Town Hall—just opened in 2010. Jen has the largest collection of Welsh quilts in existence and has worked to make people aware of their historical importance and to encourage their care and preservation. (It has been written that Welsh quilts were the inspiration of the Amish quilts as their designs are similar.)

On past tours, our group has been privileged to meet with Jen and we’ll hope that her schedule will allow us to speak with her on this tour.

We’ll check into our hotel, The Falcondale, an impressive historic hotel on the outskirts of Lampeter, where we’ll stay for the next three nights.

Day 5: A full-Day’s tour of north Pembrokshire. We’ll visit the Melin Tregwynt Woollen Mill, the Last Invasion Tapestry at Fishguard and St. David’s Cathedral, in tiny St. David’s, the smallest city in the U.K.

Day 6: Today we’ll tour the outstanding Woollen Museum at Drefach, Felindre, one of the museums of the National Museum of Wales.

We’ll also visit the farms and meet with the owners of:

• Blueberry Angoras, home of angora goats. They have a wide selection of yarn, weaving, handknits, and spinning and weaving equipment for sale;
• Garthenor Organic Pure Wool. They sell over eighty “Eco-Friendly” knitting yarns, from traditional and rare British breeds of sheep..

Day 7: After breakfast, we’ll leave Lampeter for Aberaeron and travel northwards along the Cardigan Bay coast to Snowdonia National Park.

We’ll visit Dolgellau, former location of the mines where Welsh gold was extracted. (The mines are now closed, but for centuries, they supplied the gold wedding jewellery worn by British monarchs.) It is also the site of the Quaker Museum and you’ll learn the connection of this area with William Penn and the Quakers in Pennsylvania.

In the afternoon, we’ll stop at the unique village of Portmeirion and to one of North Wales’ oldest working woollen mills at Brynkir. Our hotel for the next three nights is The Castle, located on the North Wales coast and set within the medieval town of Conwy, which has been nominated as a World Heritage Site.

Day 8: This is your free day and a suggestion is to explore Conwy. During the 19th century, the town was the centre for a large number of artists and is the home of the Royal Cambrian Academy. The town has plenty of shops and pubs, with interesting sites for walking.

Day 9: Today we’ll visit some of the great Edwardian castles of North Wales and the famous Bodnant Garden. We’ll also take a trip on the Ffestiniog Narrow Gauge Railway. In the evening, we’ll be privileged to attend the rehearsal of a Welsh Male Choir—not to be missed!

Day 10: After breakfast we leave the North Wales Coast for Llangollen and the historic house of Plas Newydd, home of the famous Ladies of Llangollen. Early afternoon brings us to the store and workshop of Colinette Yarns at Llanfair Caereinion. This is always a high point of previous tours with an opportunity for bargain purchases of this beautiful yarns.

For our final two nights, we'll stay at the Royal Oak Hotel, in Welshpool. The hotel was formerly the manor house of the Earls of Powis and has been owned by the same family for 60 years. A short walk from the hotel is 'Ashman's Vintage' shops, an Aladdin's Cave of vintage clothing, accessories, textiles and antiques.

Day 11: A leisurely last day in Wales with a visit to nearby Powis Castle and Gardens, one of the National Trust's outstanding attractions in Britain. At dinner this evening, we'll be privileged to hear local historian Idris Evans. Idris is an informative, amusing speaker and will tell us about the Welsh drovers and the Welsh knitters of Bala.

Day 12: We'll leave Welshpool after breakfast and travel to London Heathrow Airport. For those who plan to extend their stay in London, the coach will continue to central London.

Note: An option, why not extend your stay for a three night London stopover.
Contact knitting@joycejamestours.com for details

Note:The above itinerary may be subject to minor adjustment as to activities, dates and times depending on availability in September.

Price: $5195.00 CAD/USD.

Click here for details of what is included in the price.

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