Capturing the Castle: A Journey Through Time
by Sarah Baylis and Sally Harrison

This audio walk from Llangollen Bridge to the summit of Castell Dinas Brân, is both a physical walk and an imaginary journey through time and space.

Walking in the company of many ‘ghosts’ who’ve made the same journey over the last 200 years, their words - extracts from letters, guide books, newspapers, poetry and song – are voiced here by local people. 

Layered over time, these voices capture the Castle - telling its story from different perspectives, and providing a changing commentary on the Picturesque landscape and the growth of tourism to the Dee Valley up to the present day.

Podcast Performance contributors:  

Lindsay Blessing				
Cheryl Kendrick
Fiona Collins					
John Palmer
Ade Garratt					
Chris Phillips
Dewi Griffiths					
Billie Ingram Sofokleous
Jonothan Hughes				
David Underwood
Lisa Heledd Jones

Other voice contributors: 

Alfie, the staff and horses at Llangollen Wharf, and Bo the Dog. Adam Gibbs. David, William and Thomas Field and Angus the Dog. Dewi Griffiths and Rex the Dog. Victoria and Marco from Preston. Jane Hoy and Helen Sandler, Queer Tales from Wales. Kate Thomson, Emma-Jayne Holmes, Sallyanne Hall, OPL and the Camera Obscura. And not forgetting the crows of Dinas Brân...

Music contributors:

Jennie Coates – singing Victorian Folk Ballad, ‘Jenny Jones’
Tom Parry – Harp Music, ‘Myfanwy’ (available on bandcamp.com)

Additional thanks to:

Michael Freeman				
Mrs Mellors Cellar Sound Design
Dr Gruffud Antur 				
Carol, Sally, and the staff at Llangollen Library
Peter Jones

Voices from the Past (list of historical sources):

1. Local Guide to Llangollen, 1890s
2. Llangollen Advertiser, A Local Report concerning Good Friday Tourists, 13 June, 1879.  
3. Llangollen Advertiser, August 28, 1894
4. Anon, A Pedestrian Tour in North Wales, made in 1796
5. Henry Wigstead, Remarks on a Tour to North and South Wales in the year 1797  
6. Hon. Sarah Ponsonby, Account of a Journey in Wales Performed in May 1778 By Two Fugitive Ladies and Dedicated to her most tenderly Beloved Companion By The Author
7. William Wordsworth, Composed in 1827 while visiting Plas Newydd
8. Ann Lister, Diary extract, A Tour of North Wales, 11-27 July, 1822
9. George Borrow, Wild Wales, 1854   
10/11. Susannah Linder, Tour of North Wales, 1859 (unpublished)
12. Llangollen Advertiser, June 17, 1873  
13/15/16. Llangollen Advertiser, April 2, 1869    
14. H. P. Billinghust, A Pedestrian Ramble through Oxford, Chester & North Wales, 1854            
17. Anna Seward, ‘Llangollen Vale’, 1795
18. Felix Mendelssohn, Letter written while visiting Llangollen, August, 1829
19. Lady Jane Crewe, Journal of a tour in Staffordshire, Derbyshire & Wales, 1826  (unpublished)
20. Hugh Jones, A Hand-Book to Llangollen & Neighbourhood, 1874
21. Interview with Llangollen resident, Michael Scott Archer (b. 1924)     
22. Llangollen Advertiser, 25 February, 1910    
23. Llangollen Advertiser, May, 1882 

Poetry extracts:

Roger Cyffin, Englyn on Dinas Bran (composed 16th c) 
Hywel ab Einion, Myfanwy Fychan (composed 14th c)
John Ceiriog Hughes, Myfanwy Fychan (composed 1858)

Capturing the Castle: A Journey Through Time

A National Lottery Heritage Fund partnership scheme that focuses on the Dee Valley and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, and the inspirational journeys that have been and continue to be taken in the area.

Ein Tirlun Darluniadwy | Our Picturesque Landscape

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