We start the day with a pile of presents wrapped in childrens paintings with stickers. After the special breakfast we need two hours to pack our bags and clean the holiday home.
At 10, we leave for the “Lourdes of Wales”: Holywell, here pilgrims come to bath in the holy well on top of which St Winefride’s Chapel was built in the 15th century. But the site has been a place of pilgrimage since 1115. We skip the bathing and do a quick tour of the site and continue to the ruins of the nearby abbey of Basingwerk.
The abbey is deserted and in ruins, we examine the remains, stretch our legs and head for the Norman castle at Flint. This was the first castle built by Eduard I in his campaign to conquer Wales. It lies on the coast an was therefor easy to supply. Now the ruins lie in a park and it’s mainly used to walk the dogs.
We cross the border back into England and head towards Liverpool. We found an Asian restaurant with a lot of vegan dishes for lunch which everyone enjoys.
It’s almost next to our last stop of the day, Speke Hall, one of the finest surviving Tudor houses in England. The house is a wood-framed wattle-and-daub structure in black and white. The interior and the furniture is all original and much dates back to the 16th century.
We visit the house in turns while the children explore the maze and the playground on site. We finish with tea and get back in the car for our final push north, all the way to the scottish border at the western end of Hadrian’s wall.
This will be our spot for the coming six nights, with many new castles, houses and stunning nature to explore. But tonight, we have to hide from the rain. As it’s late, we go out for dinner, a final celebration of the day.
