As I hit my third trimester of my pregnancy (and we came to the end of the mammoth and stressful task that had been applying for me to stay in the UK on a Family Visa) Dan and I decided we should have a little weekend away to relax, and enjoy some time ‘just us’ before baby joins us.
We booked a gorgeous little AirBnB nearby Raglan, in Wales, which for us was roughly an hour’s drive from our home in Bristol.
The AirBnB was absolutely gorgeous – a converted garage turned into a lovely little cottage on the property of the owner’s home. The owner was SO helpful and kind as an AirBnB host, giving us lots of information about the local area, providing us with fresh bread, juice, milk and eggs (that Dan enjoyed thoroughly), and just generally being a friendly face to chat to.
As it was quite a rainy weekend, we spent a fair bit of time indoors, which worked perfectly for us because, in addition to the board and card games they already had at the AirBnB, we’d brought some of our favourites from home too, like our chessboard.
We spent the majority of our time just relaxing, playing board games, listening to the radio, and chatting about everything we’ve got coming up over the next year – with baby due in October, my visa application currently being processed, and our wedding in May, there’s been a lot to plan and think about over the next few months.
Speaking of my visa application, due to an admin error my Biometrics Appointment – where UK Immigration check all my submitted paperwork and application is correctly filed, take my fingerprints and photo etc – was rescheduled to the middle of the Saturday whilst we were on our weekend away.
It had initially been on the Friday afternoon in Bristol, but on the Thursday it was changed to being on the Saturday midday in Gloucester, about an hour from where our little cottage was. This was a bit of an annoyance, as the weekend away was also meant to be a celebration of that long and stressful visa process being over, but knowing how important the appointment was, we didn’t make a fuss and moved our schedule around it.
Once it was over (which ended up taking a few hours out of our day because ANOTHER admin error had occurred and the four people, including me, who had had their appointments changed from Bristol on the Friday, had ALL been scheduled for 12pm, meaning I didn’t even get into my appointment until 1pm) we made the most of the detour we’d had to take, and stopped in the town of Ross-on-Wye, where we enjoyed lunch at the White Lion in with a gorgeous view of the River Wye. Then it was back to the AirBnB for some relaxing and more board games – and a big sigh of relief that the visa submission was finally over (Now to wait 6-8 weeks for either approval or denial of the visa itself!)
On the Sunday, we took the opportunity to visit the ruins of Raglan Castle, Henry Tudor’s childhood home.
Despite Tudor and Jacobean rebuilding the Raglan Castle we see today is largely the work of one hugely ambitious man – Sir William Herbert. In less than 10 years this country squire turned himself into arguably the most powerful Welshman of the age – From the official website.
Herbert bought the property – where he had already been living as a tenant – in 1432 and set about constructing the castle we see today. During this time Herbert rose in prominence, supporting the House of York during the War of the Roses, fighting in the Hundred Years War in France but making his fortune from the Gascon wine trade.
Following Herbert’s success, Henry Tudor (Who later became King Henry VII) was sent during his childhood to live at Raglan Castle with Herbert.
Following Herbert’s execution in 1469, Tudor, along with the Somerset family, continued to build upon Raglan Castle, which today stands as a popular historical Cadw site.
Raglan Castle is currently open 9.30am – 5pm daily (September 1 – October 31) with admission between £4.40-£7.30. Cadw members enter for free. For more information visit their website.
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