Caerphilly Castle, South Wales

Last Sunday, bright and hazy, I went to Caerphilly Castle in South Wales. I was prompted to do this by ideoteca, who mentioned it in a comment in one of my other Welsh castle entries recently. I'm always happy to oblige. I've spent most of my life on the Somerset side of the Bristol Channel, but I have spent quite a lot of time on the other, more mysterious, side. I remember being taken to Caerphilly Castle as a child, though I have to admit, because it was so long ago, I don't remember much about it. It is the largest castle complex in Wales, even bigger than Caernarfon, and one of the biggest in the United Kingdom.

There is no getting away from it, the castle is impressive.

That leaning tower will feature in a lot of these photos, I was fascinated by it.

As you walk around there are huge lumps of fallen masonry that only add to the magnificence of the place.

It has to be, just about, a perfect place to live for these Canada geese. They have as much water as they will ever need to swim around in with the system of defensive lakes around the castle, and somewhere to go to get away from the crowds when they fancy it.

This pied wagtail, and a few of his friends, wasn't concerned in the least about the visitors.

The blob is neither the sun nor the moon. There is nothing mysterious about it, merely a lump of dirt on my lens, but I like the effect.

I couldn't get away without a photo of a Welsh flag.

I loved the huge cracks in the towers of the curtain wall. This castle has certainly seen a bit of life in its time.

Across the road at the visitor centre.

That may be it for Welsh castles for a while.