We recently spent three weeks in North Wales, and TBH, we left a big part of our hearts in Cymru. From the mystical borderlands to the rugged coastline and the top of Snowdon, Wales is thick with friendly sheep, genial locals, alluringly dark folklore, and natural-born storytellers.
A few bits and bobs about Wales: It’s symbolized by a ferocious red dragon (and the yellow daffodil). Its lakes, rivers, and mountains are home to the fair folk (the Tylwyth Teg). And it’s known as the Land of Castles (more than 600 of them on hilltops, overlooking the sea and millions of sheep).
Wales is the place for you if you want to ramble around outside under moody skies; it’s also the place for you if you prefer to be cozy — perhaps whilst drinking tea or whisky and feeding your mind with literary pursuits.
In this episode, we highlight the literary hijinks that abound in Wales: libraries, bookshops, legendary authors, and ancient tales. We learn about a Christmas tradition that’s equal parts silly and spooky — and a madcap endurance race with unusual participants. Then we recommend great books that took us there on the page, including a literary story on a rugged Welsh island, a gripping mystery in Cardiff, a travelogue stuffed with delicious food stories, a rock-n-roll memoir, and a modern retelling of Dracula set in a Welsh village.
Read the full transcript of Wales: Castle Ruins, Moody Skies, and Stories by the Fire.
Perhaps you’d like to listen to some Celtic music while you dig into these links.
And some photos to set the scene…
Castles
Offa’s Dyke
History & Folklore
Literary Hijinks
Plas Tan-Yr-Allt; Plas Tan-Yr-Allt Historic Country House B&B; Plas Tan yr Allt: a house and its secrets; Queen Mab by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Explore Dylan Thomas’s West Wales; A Dylan Thomas trail around Swansea Bay
Gladstone’s Library; I Spent the Night at a Library in Wales, and You Can, Too; Read, Walk and Relax in a Welsh Literary Hideaway; Gladstone’s: The UK’s Only Residential Library; lots of yummy photos; A View From a Volunteer at Gladstone’s Library
In this audio essay novelist and nature writer Melissa Harrison talks about the joy of ‘sleeping with books’ at Gladstone’s Library
Statement 1: In one Welsh town, there’s a ‘Man vs. Dragon’ race where people run a course through the streets while a big mechanical dragon on wheels tries to follow the same route. Man versus Horse Marathon; Dewi Griffiths; Dewi Griffiths wins Man v Horse in Llanwrtyd Wells; Man v Horse
Statement 2: Deep under an ordinary rubbish pile in Wales, there’s a lost fortune so large it would make a pirate blush, and no one is allowed to dig it up. Bitcoin buried in Newport landfill; Woman ‘sick’ of hearing about ex’s £569m worth of Bitcoin she threw away; Man Who Lost $883M Bitcoin Finally Stops Searching Landfill; He Tossed a Hard Drive with $1 Billion Worth of Bitcoin Into the Dump
Statement 3: There’s a Christmas custom in Wales that mixes gothic creepiness with hip-hop energy. Mari Lwyd on Wikipedia and Wales.com
Twenty Thousand Saints by Fflur Dafydd
Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer
Welsh Food Stories by Carwyn Graves
My Family and Other Rock Stars by Tiffany Murray
The Madness by Dawn Kurtagich
Congratulations! You made it to the end. Here are your rewards:
Do you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you!
Our Substack is free and awesome. Every week, you get: Tuesday Tea, an invitation to chat about bookish topics with us and other (charming, intelligent, friendly) readers — and Friday Endnotes, a communique from Mel with behind-the-scenes and bonus goodies related to our new podcast episodes, plus her favorite book- and travel-related links of the week. Sign up here.
Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly.
Subscribe to our podcast so you never miss a must-read book or thrilling destination!
If we're not available on your favorite podcast-listening platform, send us an email!
Top image courtesy of Neil Mark Thomas/Unsplash.
Want to keep up with our book-related adventures? Sign up for our newsletter!
Can you help us? If you like this article, share it your friends!
Strong Sense of Place is a website and podcast dedicated to literary travel and books we love. Reading good books increases empathy. Empathy is good for all of us and the amazing world we inhabit.
Strong Sense of Place is a listener-supported podcast. If you like the work we do, you can help make it happen by joining our Patreon! That'll unlock bonus content for you, too — including Mel's secret book reviews and Dave's behind-the-scenes notes for the latest Two Truths and a Lie.
Join our Substack to get our FREE newsletter with podcast updates and behind-the-scenes info — and join in fun chats about books and travel with other lovely readers.
We'll share enough detail to help you decide if a book is for you, but we'll never ruin plot twists or give away the ending.
This 30-page Reading Atlas takes you around the world with dozens of excellent books and gorgeous travel photos. Get your free copy when you subscribe to our newsletter.
