Conwy is a charming Welsh seaside town with stunning views of the namesake castle and the medieval City Walls that surround the town. I enjoyed wonderful views from the walls, such as the panorama of the city and the sea, but this time I was able to see the city from a slightly different perspective. This place stand out from the rest of seasides in Wales.
Click the photographs below to enlarge.
Walk around medieval City Walls in seaside town. View on Conwy Castle © Copyright Agnes Romaniuk
The fortification of walls loop around Conwy`s streets and they are around 1,3 km long.
Walking along the medieval City Walls, I could see beyond the narrow streets and houses also the roofs and chimneys, which were plenty of families of seagulls with young and gray feathered chicks ready to learn to fly. Some of them were sitting on the chimneys, while others were walking along the edge of the roofs. The view was amazing as the birds are almost within arm's reach for passer-bies from the city walls.
Seagulls families with young chicks sit at chimney and roof Copyright © Agnes Romaniuk
The City Walls are overgrown with various rock plants and flowers. I could see how hummingbirds hawk-moth pollinate red valerian flowers. For a moment I thought it was a butterfly, but butterflies don't pollinate flowers that fast. I made a video about this unusual insect, which you can see on my YouTube channel here:
The City Walls took me to the narrow medieval streets of Conway with old buildings and a marina on the seafront.
From there, I finally saw the Smallest House in Britain, which is very popular among tourists from all over the world. It is such tiny space, that it is hard to believe that anyone could live in such small house. I have seen seagulls that sat at the chimney of this house. When you see below my photographs, then you can imagine how small is this house.
The Smallest House in Great Britain - Wales (the UK) Copyright © Agnes Romaniuk
In 1891 the smallest house was conveyanced to Robert Jones for £20 with sitting tenants, who was also known as Welsh Giant.
Inside the house is tiny corridor with chimney and ceramic plates, kettle and wooden ladder to the first floor with only bed and small cupboard.
I like display of grooved brain coral inside the house. This is a shallow water coral that lives in warm seats. It can grow up to 2 metres wide and live for many hundreds of years. This coral was brought up in a fishing net in the Conwy estuary in the early 20th century and most likely it was dropped by a visiting merchant ship.
Along the seafront is a special marine protected area. It is a wonderfuly diverse area which supports a rich array of marine wildlife, such as corals, sponges, brittlestars and birdlife like scoter, wigeon and oystercatcher.
The narrow and old streets of Conwy are filled with walkers and tourists hanging out in front of pubs, from which there is cheerful music of shanties sung by local barts.
Agnes