Conwy

Hello, friends. My whistle-stop internet tour of major tourist destinations in North Wales continues. Today, we’re in Conwy!

Here’s a view from the quay that includes the medieval town walls.

The harbour again, this time with Conwy Castle (Castell Conwy, in Welsh) at the right.

We began our day at the Smallest House in Britain. Here it is, with me standing by the door for scale. I’m about 5′ 2″.

As you can see in the photo above, it’s the end unit in a row of terraced houses. According to the owner/host, there was originally a row of terraced houses to its left, as well, and this smallest house was built to fill the gap between the two rows.

Here’s the main floor.

It’s very cleverly designed: the bench on the left (red cushion on top) has a lid that raises for storage (most recently, it held coal for the fire). A ladder on the right (not pictured) takes you up to the bedroom, which is just wide enough for a narrow single bed and a small table. There are two fireplaces, one in each room, so the home was probably warmer than many a cavernous country house.

The bearded man in the portrait is the home’s last occupant, a 6′ 3″ fisherman. He lived in the house for some 15 years, until 1900, when the Council declared the house unfit for human habitation. On being evicted he travelled around Britain measuring other tiny homes, in order to verify that his was the smallest.

The town has a delightful ice cream parlour, Parisella’s, where we lapped up Welsh honey and honeycomb ice cream. Outside, a twelve-person recorder ensemble played Beatles covers to raise money for charity. (This sounds like I made it up. I promise I didn’t!) Conwy also has a beautifully curated indie bookstore called Hinton’s, with an adorable baby working the register.

We spent quite a long time exploring the thirteenth-century town walls.

View from the town walls!

Sadly, we ran out of time to visit Castell Conwy, or Conwy Castle. (My 7yo took the photo below, hence the inclusion of car and bike.) But having been there since the thirteenth century, I’m hoping the castell will hold up just a little bit longer, until we can come back.

Next week, I’ll report on my first-ever Punch & Judy show by the seaside!