Address: 4 Blackweir Cottages, Cardiff Castle Grounds
Telephone: 02920343287
Mobile: 07850 429 213
Email: f.peel@btinternet.com
Website: http://www.takemetowales.uk/
I live in Cardiff and have been guiding since 2016. From 2025 I will be pleased to guide specialist and small groups that either want local town tours or have their own transport to visit sites across Wales.
I have had a diverse career in Wales that has included running a PYO fruit farm, Chairing NHS authorities and Trusts, Membership of Welsh University Councils and the UK wide General Medical Council and Optical Council as well as participating in many local arts organisations.
I love walking, gardening, opera and the arts amongst many other hobbies.
Best of Wales - general interest tours
My tours to date have been very flexible to meet the specific interests of the travellers. I believe that the wonder of Wales lies in all the little things that go to make up a rich tapestry of Welsh history and landscape. It is always best to expect to walk a little way to find the beauty spots or places of myth and history.
Alternatively I love to take tours to the gardens in Wales, or the religious sites as well as the better known Castles and monuments. Never forgetting that there are lots of local artisans in both food and crafts.
Castles
Wales is literally littered with Castles, Roman and prehistory hillforts. Never more than a day's march apart. Each castle has its own character and place in history even though they might now be ruined. The traveller must use their imagination to conjure up the past with me.
In North Wales there are the mighty castles built in the reign of Edward I (1274-1307) and in South Wales I like to visit both the early Chepstow Castle to the high Victorian Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch as well as the industrialist's castle of Cyfarthfa.
Countryside
The glory of Wales is that the landscape changes every few miles. So within a day the traveller can enjoy, the beaches, short coastal walks as well as the rolling hills or mountainscapes.
There are plenty of opportunities to stop at waterfalls, river views or admire the panoramas of Wales from our network of roads that meander through the "Land of our Fathers"
Wales is probably better than a textbook if the traveller wishes to see a range of geology and rockscapes.
Copper Coal and Iron
Nothing defines the history of Wales and its people more than the extraction of the minerals from our land. Each industry has its defined characteristics but they make a compelling story of bravery, hardship, health/unhealth, and social change. In the south the traveller can go down a former coalmine, in the north both slate quarries and deep mines can be visited and in Anglesey especially the landscape formed by copper extraction is better than an Impressionist painting.
Don't forget our goldmines as well!
Food and Drink
Wales is surrounded by sea on three sides so no-one is far from sea based products such as cockles, mussels, lobster and crab or samphire and laverbread (seaweed). Sheep fill our landscape and so there is delicious lamb on many menus. Thanks to the lush pastures Wales produces a wide range of cheeses from cow, goat and sheep. The Welsh generally have a sweet tooth and so you will find all manner of delicious traditional Welsh cakes, Bara Brith and other locally made cakes and breads. Then there are lots of artisan brewers and distillers. So much choice.
Industrial Heritage
So much of the great era of the Victorian Industrial Revolution is still evident in our towns and cities. The legacies include the city docklands, domestic architecture, the remains of the great iron and copper smelting works, the chapels and Institutes as well as the houses that belonged to the iron, coal and slate masters. All are interwoven into the fascinating and complex social and political history of Wales. Key sites include Blaenavon, the slate areas of North Wales, Cardiff, the bridges and canals of Telford and the charming Porthgain in Pembrokeshire.
Gardens and Stately Homes
Wales has some of the very best gardens in the UK. Personally Bodnant Garden is my all time favourite as it is full of colour throughout the year - with an extra splash when the laburnam tunnel is in flower in May/June and it is set against the backdrop of Snowdonia - Yr Wyddfa.
There are private gardens that will open for small groups when booked in advance. Near Cardiff is Dyffryn Gardens (National Trust) which were created by an Edwardian collecter from the Cory shipping family. Powis Castle boasts the largest topiary yew formations and sun soaked colourful terrraces.