Last Saturday James, Ally and Cat had planned to walk the Carneddau Ridge, which long (nine hours) and strenuous expedition meant that James has now climbed all of the "Furths" in England and Wales. A "Furth" is a mountain or top over 3,000 feet high in the British Isles that is furth of (i.e. "outside") Scotland, that would otherwise be called a Munro if it was in Scotland. There you go.
Since there was no way that I was fit enough to join them I was given the unenviable task of spending a hour in Bangor's Kwik Fit to get a new tyre fitted to James' car.
However my day improved greatly after this because I then drove to the tiny coastal village of Portmeirion. It was only an hour away from Bangor and I was excited to visit it because it featured in a bizarre television series that James and I much enjoyed in the early days of our marriage, called The Prisoner. It was made in the 60s - James and I discovered it in late night repeats in the 1980s and we loved it. It starred Patrick McGoohan as an ex-spy who was confined to a fictional coastal village in a strange Kafka-esque plot, and couldn't escape despite many attempts. The ending was so weird that I can only attribute it to heavy drug use in the 60s by the producers!
Anyway, the unusual and attractive village of Portmeirion was instantly recognisable as the setting for The Prisoner, and I had a brilliant time wandering around its narrow streets. It was very pretty; the houses are painted in a variety of pastel shades and it is built on a steep hill overlooking the sea. It was a very warm day and I enjoyed sitting outside at one of its restaurants to have lunch. I was surprised to discover that it was built relatively recently, between 1925 and 1975, by a designer called Clough Williams Ellis, who wanted to build a holiday village that enhanced rather than destroyed the landscape. Apparently it's very like the Italian village of Portofino although the designer always denied that it was modelled on it. However it doesn't have "the feel" of Italy for me. I can't quite put my finger on why - maybe it's too planned and perfect - but it doesn't matter because Portmeirion has its own character that it quite unique, and it is just lovely!
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