Ashbury College - Ashburian Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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[24] THE ASHBURIAN The School

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THE ASH BURIAN [23| A GLIMPSE OF CONWAY By J. C. TYRER THE visitor to England, in his anxiety to see such beauty spots as the Lake District, Devon, Somerset and Lincolnshire, will often find that when the time comes to leave for home he has not visited Wales, and in missing a visit to this particular part of the British Isles he has been deprived of a wealth of beauty and education. Conway, originally a small fishing town not far from Landudno, is one of the beauty spots of North Wales. Its castle, if not the grandest is the most graceful castle in the country. We had always heard so, and a guide book — perhaps somewhat naturally — only confirmed our preconceived ideas. In any case, we started for Conway. The journey from London was broken into two parts in order that we might spend some time in Chester, and although we arrived in this famous old city rather late in the evening we were able to inspect the walls which circle the town, walls upon which one can walk quite safely for their entire distance. From Chester to Conway is far from just a train journey. It was a pano- rama of beauty and serenity eclipsed only by the little town of Conway, a rare old town with walls like those of Chester but different in that the whole town is within the boundaries of the walls. As we approach, the castle appeared in all its sombre austerity, standing out sharply against the bright blue sky. Our train seemed to be the proverbial bull in this wonderful china shop as it pierced the quiet atmosphere of the town with its shrill whistle. There was no taxi to take us to the hotel but it is only a short walk. The hotel at which we stayed seems to have a definite place in history, for besides being the site of a Cistercian abbey it has housed four generations of the writer ' s family. Early next morning we set out for the castle determined to find out every- thing there was to be learned about it. Conway stands on the edge of a steep rock and is washed by an arm of the Conway River, once famous for its plentiful pearls. It was built by Edward I in 1284, and since then has played a formidable part in history. A very short time after it was finished, Edward was besieged, and it was only the arrival of a fleet in the nick of time that saved him from disaster. Built as it was on the side of a river it was in ideal surroundings, for although a land force might cut it off on one side it was a very difficult business to command the nearby waters.

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THE ASHBURIAN [25] A Glimpse of Conway (Cont ' d) Richard III started from the castle on the journey to London which ended with his imprisonment there. It was here also that the erratic Archbishop Wil- liams was born and later served for both the Roundheads and the Royalists. In 1646 it was the scene of General Myttons ' s seizure of the Irish defenders and the consequent action of throwing them into the river bound together in pairs, back to back. So much for its history. When the castle was built, the entrance was by way of a drawbridge over a deep moat, but today a small path takes its place although the remains of the drawbridge are still there. The walls are twelve to fifteen feet thick, and their present condition is marvellous when one considers the number of years of hard weather they have withstood. As we enter we find ourselves in one of the two courts into which the castle is divided. This court is bounded by what was once the beautiful apartments of the King and Queen, but they are now in a sad state of decay and our imagination is left to fill in the details as best we may. On one side of this same court are the remains of the huge banqueting hall. One hundred and thirty feet long, thirty feet wide and thirty-two feet high, it requires no mental effort to picture the lavish feasts that were once spread before the guests. In time past it was supported by nine arches of which only two re- main and these in their antiquity seem to resist the arm of Time with a boldness that does credit to the architect, Henry de Elreton. As we pass to the second court we see the ruins of a little chapel and the sub- terranean rooms in which huge supplies of food were kept. In the second court are the King ' s and Queen ' s towers, and here we are more fortunate for the building is in a much better state of preservation and we are able to gain some interesting if scanty knowledge of the type of architecture employed. Adjoining these towers are the ' priests rooms ' , as they were called, and passing these we come to a little terrace which affords an entrancing view of the town and the surrounding country. Carried away from the present we cannot help but think of the kings and queens who must have paraded without and within the castle ' s walls. Perhaps we stand on the post of some armoured sentry who scanned the countryside round about for some sign of an approaching army. Pictures of great balls, lavish feasts and entertainments flit before us, and as we are recalled to the present and see below the steady stream of automobiles we cannot help but think of the poet ' s cry ; No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change : Thy pyramids built up with newer might To me are nothing new, nothing strange ; They are but dressings of a former sight.