Off we wandered, along the promenade, further than we had wandered before, and there at the side of the road was this. It sat overlooking the sea, situated between the beach and the road at a slightly lower level than the road. It had an ‘enclosed’ feel due to the way it was sunk into the landscape and surrounded with earth banks. Now me being me; saw this and in my ecstatic enthusiasm believed we had stumbled across an ancient site of epic national importance. I was sadly mistaken. But I didn’t begin to discover the real story of this place until I arrived back here and started the Google search.
I must be losing my touch with Google because I still don’t know as much as I would like too. But I have learnt a whole lot. To start with I learned about the Eisteddfod. I had never heard of it before, and despite prolonged Google searches, my knowledge remains a lot sketchier than I would like. However; concisely put this is what I know about the Eisteddfod;
An Eisteddfod is a Welsh festival of literature, music and performance. It is a tradition dating back to 1176 when Lord Rhys held the first festival of poetry and music in his court at Cardigan Castle. Sometime after that the tradition was lost and forgotten with the decline of the Bardic tradition. The Eisteddfod as it is practiced today grew from an eighteenth-century revival and several informal Eisteddfodau.
And to find out more, here are a couple of sites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisteddfod
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/The-National-Eisteddfod-of-Wales/
On to the stones themselves, turns out these stones are Gorsedd Stones and they are; Groups of standing stones constructed for the National Eisteddfod of Wales. These stones are an integral part of the druidic Gorsedd ceremonies which are always performed at the Eisteddfod. These Gorsedd stones can be found all over Wales. They act as commemorative structures and are the hallmark of the National Eisteddfod having visited a community. Each stone structure is arranged in a traditional circular formation usually made from twelve stone pillars with a large, flat-topped stone, known as the Logan Stone at the centre of the circle.
I learnt the standing stones at Rhyl are in fact, Gorsedd Stones.
More about Gorsedd stones here
The National Eisteddfod has visited Rhyl four times, in 1892, 1904, 1953 and 1985 but exactly when these particular stones were laid remains a bit of a mystery to me. According to my Google searches, the Rhyl Gorsedd stones were laid in 1903 in preparation for the national Eisteddfod arriving later the following year. However, I’ve read on several sites that those stones remained in place until some time in the 1940’s, which means the ones I saw, were laid some time after that. So I Googled and I Googled and I Googled, but so far I can’t find confirmation that the original stones from 1904 are no longer there and I can’t find a reference to more stones being laid at a later date. But what I did find is this old postcard. It shows the original Gorsedd stones shortly after they were laid in 1904 and, I have to say they do look quite a bit different even though they seem to be in the same place. The stones in the postcard have an inner stone circle which the present stones do not have.
Finally I found this, a blog by a Rhyl resident which has reference to the stones, but it also has a whole heap of other historical information about the town.
‘’ In the
foreground is a Gorsedd stone circle laid in 1903 in advance of the arrival of
National Eisteddfod of Wales in 1904. The Proclamation Ceremony and other
Bardic ceremonies were held inside the circle which remained there until the
late 1940s’’.
For me this was the perfect end to my holiday in Wales. The
weather was fine, it was dry, warm and lacking in wind.
I sat on the flat
topped stone in the centre of the circle for quite as while and soaked it all
in. While I sat there I noticed evidence that someone had been practicing their
flint knapping skills on that same flat stone.
There were little fresh chips of
silver flint every where plus some larger flints that had been freshly split. As
I walked round and round the stones the sun began to set over the sea. We had
enjoyed amazing sunsets most evenings but on that night, it was the sunset of
all sunsets. It was utterly, utterly memorizing, completely spectacular. 
The
final hour of my holiday was spent watching the sun set over the stones
surrounded by the remnants of recent flint knapping.
It doesn’t get better than that.
That's the last of the 'Holiday in Wales' blogs but I already have a couple of good days out to write about. Sinse the holiday I've spent a day in Blairgowrie and another in Perth. Tomorrow I'm off for a beach walk from Carnoustie to Arbroath, so thats three more blogs in the making already
