Ruthin Castles, WALES
Airing Date: Mar 28th, 2005
Ruthin Castle is one of the oldest castles in Wales. It was built in 1277 to protect the district against invaders. The surrounding hills may now be a delightful place for a stroll, but during the medieval times it was a dangerous battlefield of armoured knights and bloodied corpses.
By 1963 this medieval castle had become one of the most famous hotels in Wales.
Today guests can spend the night in comfort while imaging themselves in a time long gone.
You can explore the old castle grounds, overgrown gardens, a majestic fortress and even a dirty old dungeon where prisoners were once kept and tortured.
Inside the castle, the hallways echo with eerie stories of the past.
One includes the infamous Lady Grey - the wife of the second in command when the castle was inhabited by the armies of King Edward I. One day she discovered her husband having an affair with a local peasant woman and so to put an end to the affair she murdered her husband's lover with an axe. These gruesome stories still haunt the castle centuries later.
Ruthin Castle has 58 rooms including single, twin, double and superior rooms. They come with an ensuite and all the mod cons you'd expect to find in any 21st century hotel. But unlike other contemporary hotels, this place also offers a medieval banquet in the banquet hall.
This banquet's been running since 1967 and is an extravagant five-course meal of traditional Welsh fare. Although there is no food throwing, the meals are eaten with a dagger and the wine is drunk from pewter goblets, all to the delightful sounds of the 'Ladies of the Court'.
The facts
A Ruthin Castle banquet starts from $87 a person.
Rooms start from $190 a double.
www.ruthincastle.co.uk.
Wales Tourist Board: www.visitwales.com.au.
Prices correct 28/3/05.
