Having left Lisbon we made good pace up the Portuguese and Spanish coasts on two sea days before making landfall at Holyhead on the Welsh coast. The Bay of Biscay was a mill pond, belying it’s reputation for a stormy crossing.

Holyhead is a true old port town, being the ferry transport hub to Ireland. Looks a bit drab. Dublin lies almost directly opposite across the sea.

It is here we start the jig around the Irish Sea. Over the next seven days we are dropping into Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Ireland and then back around Lands End to Dover in England.

But first it is Wales. We have been around this part of the UK before exploring the Welsh coast and the Snowdonia Mountains. However, back then we avoided seeing any of Edward 1 string of castles he had built following his conquest of Wales in the 13th century. We had already had our fill of castles elsewhere!

Conwy (‘Conway’) Castle was the tour choice. Holyhead is on the large island of Anglesey, separated from the Welsh mainland by the Menai Straits. Anglesey is mostly an agricultural area, sheep, cattle and grains.

We stopped for an early lunch on the island at Beaumaris and to also see Edward 1 incomplete, but well preserved moated castle beside the Menai Strait. Had some local pies here, as always rather good with a nice crunchy pastry.

The Menai Strait is a challenging crossing by water due to different tide times at either end creating strong eddies and whirlpools. Our bus crosses over it on a suspension bridge built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, the famous inventive engineer of the times.

It was then onto Conwy for the tour through the castle that is perched on a ridge line right beside the Conwy River. Great spot for a defensive position. We were late getting there because of a big traffic snarl on the motorway. Sheep were loose on the roadway and some had got into a tunnel causing the problem.

The Conwy Castle is also linked to the walls that encircle the town. Edward as part of the Welsh colonisation planted an English settlement beside the castle. They needed the wall to keep the Welsh out, who weren’t impressed by the invasion.

Allthego climbed up the stairs to the top of the Castle walls, great views of the castle construction and the town. Homealone stayed below to look after Slobro who didn’t like the look of the steps up.

We were then back on the bus for the return to ship, the sheep had been cleared from the road and tunnel, and to move on overnight to Belfast.