Ike visits Pembroke Castle and Carew Castle

Castles of Pembrokeshire. 

Today Ike went to visit two of the most important and impressive castles in Pembrokeshire: Pembroke Castle and Carew Castle. Pembroke Castle is famous for being the birth place of King Henry VII.  Henry retained a huge support in Wales even during his exile.  Henry landed in Mill Bay near Dale in Pembrokeshire and used Welsh support to increase the numbers of his army before the Battle of Bosworth on 22^nd August 1485.

Les châteaux du Pembrokeshire. Aujourd’hui Ike a visité deux des châteaux les plus importants et impressionnants dans le Pembrokeshire: le château de Pembroke et le château de Carew. Le château de Pembroke est célèbre comme lieu de naissance du roi Henry VII. Henry avait un soutien énorme au Pays de Galles même pendant son exil. Henry a débarqué à Mill Bay près de Dale dans le Pembrokeshire et a utilisé le soutien gallois pour augmenter les effectifs de son armée avant la bataille de Bosworth le 22 août 1485.

Schlösser von Pembrokeshire. Heute besuchte Ike zwei der wichtigsten und beeindruckendsten Burgen in Pembrokeshire: das Schloss in Pembroke und das Schloss in Carew. Das Schloss in Pembroke ist berühmt als Geburtsort von König Heinrich VII. Heinrich erfuhr auch während seines Exils eine große Unterstützung in Wales. Er landete in Mill Bay bei Dale in Pembrokeshire und nutzte walisische Unterstützung, um die Anzahl der Soldaten in seiner Armee vor der Schlacht von Bosworth am 22. August 1485 zu erhöhen.

Translation by Sharon Williams at Languages For Living.

First of all Ike meets Harri Tudur as they call him here in Wales (Henry VII):

Here’s Ike in front of Pembroke Castle, which began its story in 1093:

The next photograph shows the war memorial in Pembroke.  It has a very personal connection with Ike’s host Sharon. Sharon’s late Grandfather, Jim Teesdale, was captured during the evacuation of Crete during the Second World War and was posted as “Missing believed dead”.  If fact, he was being held in a POW camp in Germany.  After the war, the town commissioned additions to the war memorial and included his name, despite the fact that he was still alive.  It is still possible to see the space where the stone masons had to remove his name:

Next Sharon and Gareth took Ike to see Carew Castle. Carew formed part of the famous Landsker line.  This was a line of castles that was built by the Normans when they tried to subjugate Wales.  This line of castles has left a legacy that survives today.  The Landsker line also denotes the boundary between the English-speaking and Welsh-speaking parts of Wales.  It is also the reason that Pembrokeshire is often known as “Little England beyond Wales.”

Carew also has a Celtic cross. This one dates from the 11^th Century.  The cross has only been at the castle since 1690 and the original location is unknown:

Carew has an associated tidal mill that was first mentioned in 1476 and the current building has been there since the 18^th Century.  It is a rare example of a tidal flour mill.  There is a dam across the Carew River that supplies the water to power the mill.  It has not been used since the 1930s.

If you’ve been following Ike’s adeventure in Pembrokeshire you’ll recognise a recurring theme as the bridge at Carew is very susceptible to flooding. At times the combination of high tides and heavy rain can make the bridge impassable to traffic on one of the main roads linking north and south Pembrokeshire: