Ruins of Raglan
And Tintern Abbey
I skipped telling you about Raglan Castle and Tintern Castle on my very first Ruins story because I couldn’t find any photos. I wasn’t even looking and found some.
Raglan Castle
As I mentioned, Raglan was the first castle I had seen in my whole life. It was in ruins but it didn’t dampen my excitement. I wandered around exploring every nook and cranny and of course had to climb to the top of the keep. I was like a kid in a lolly shop.
Here’s what I wrote at the time: Raglan Castle — amazing — I loved it! I bought postcards and fridge magnets and T-shirts and a history of the castle. Went mad really but the whole lot cost £19 which seemed so cheap. (I later calculated that was around AUD47!)
Tintern Abbey
Later that day we visited Tintern Abbey — in ruins. Here’s what I wrote at the time: Awe-inspiring! Fascinating! Loved it! Bought postcards 20p, a book on Tintern Abbey £3.50 and a book of Welsh proverbs for £4.99.
Tintern Abbey gained fame during the 19th century when Turner painted the crumbling ruins (check out his paintings here) and William Wordsworth and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote romantic poetry about the area.
This was the start of my addiction to ruins of any type or even castles and churches and cathedrals that were older than 200 years — basically everything in Europe!
And Europe isn’t the only place with ancient ruins. Matthew David found some in India.
And Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles found these ruined temples buried under sand!
