My theme for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is – Places I Have Been. After some contemplation I decided to limit it to Places I Have been in the UK, this is because I have been to far more places in the UK and have very limited experience of places outside of the UK. I hope you enjoy my post.

Fagans

During 2021, and in between the different lockdowns, we eventually managed to take a little family holiday to Wales. I cannot remember where we stayed but I know that Saint Fagan’s National Museum of History was not too far away. Thankfully on the day we visited the weather was glorious (not that you can tell by my photos), as the museum are various properties, obviously located on the grounds. I am not going to lie, but when we pulled up in the car park and saw the building in the photo below, I did not have high hopes for what lay behind it. I have to admit though you should never judge a book by its cover, or a museum by its exterior, as it was wonderful day out.

St Fagan’s or as they say in Welsh, Sain Ffagan, is an open air museum depicting Welsh life and tradition through history. It is a fascinating look back into the history of Wales, from Celtic Round Houses to 1940’s post war prefabs, all depicting the life of the era of the houses. There is a little village with a couple of shops that you can go and have a look around, just behind is a village hall. You will also come across farm buildings, toll houses, a school and a church. In some of the buildings there are museum workers in traditional costume who will explain the history of the building.

One of our highlights was The Castle, previously the home of the Earl of Plymouth. I believe it was the Earl of Plymouth that donated the land to and the Castle to create a museum of Welsh working life. It is possible to go inside the Castle and there is information available explaining some of the history. I am not sure if it was due to the Covid restrictions but only some of the Castle was open for viewing, but the rooms that were open were beautiful and worth taking a look.

One of my favourite pieces of information concerning the museum was that a couple of episodes of Doctor Who were filmed in parts of the museum. Those episodes were Human Nature and Family of Blood, which were set just before the start of World War 1.

All of the photos in this post are my own. Entry is free so if you are around the Cardiff area you should take a visit. If you want to visit St Fagans and want more information >>>Click Here<<< for their official website.