Yesterday we went out again and stumbled on another castle

We went for a lovely lunch at the The Hart Inn in he village of Llangybi (and no I have no idea how to pronounce it either, I have asked and still cannot get my tongue round it) near Usk in Wales. What is there not to love about somewhere which brings little rolls still too hot from the oven to eat immediately whilst you decide on the menu? The crab starter was fabulous and memorable.

Even before Frank was ill, I was loathe to leave him for too long but now he has gone we had time to wander round Usk. We went into a chapel converted into a gallery and I fell in love with a pre-Raphaelite style painting of Ellen Terry.  Find her here, she is still haunting me.  The gallery's website is here.

Usk is a pretty village/town and it pulls out all the stops with flowers everywhere. Unfortunately it has a busy road running through it with quite heavy traffic. Even worse was a pub in the middle of the town having a band, so loud the windows over the road were visibly shaking. I assume this is not a regular feature.

I noticed a sign to Usk Castle, not one I had heard of before. This castle is also privately owned but not by a rich American able to put in the millions needed to restore it or even keep it from crumbling even further like Hampton Court Castle we visited last week. Signs everywhere remind you to enter at your own risk. Once you climb the very steep, very crumbling pathway, it is quite magical.

http://www.uskcastle.com/

We had the place to ourselves with the exception of a couple laying tables in a marquee for their wedding today.