Bwlch Castle

All I'm doing there is clearing out the rubble, opening the site up to hardy tourists (get the word 'hardy', because I'm not going to set up car or bus park access -- you got to get there on your own pins, and it's some hike), and making part of the place habitable for myself. This is where I want to get away from the world, blow my mind out with weed, wake up to the sound of hawks -- whether bird or fighter plane.

But I'm doing it the right way, dammit. Got scholarly folks working on mapping the site, have a real stone mason (Hugh Pugh-Pwll, a real gent and curmudgeon just like me) and some locals to help me with the building work. All repairs will use material already on the site, all design will be architecturally correct. Right now I am restoring the outer appearance of the west side of the castle to its original state, which is its most impressive view from the valley, and I'm also building myself a place to live in -- the gatehouse, now ruined except for the outer gateway arch. That's no big deal, only two rooms and a flush toilet and fireplace, not even a kitchen. For dinner, I'll cross the bridge over to Hugh's, that's part of our deal.

Future plans? Well, I want to rebuild the watchtower so I can install my library and have a viewpoint over this beautiful deserted countryside. And if you really want to know, I'd like to repopulate the valley, have a small village underneath the castle, and play the benevolent Count Dracula role.

May 1999 update: The exterior walls from A to H (see plan) have now been restored for the most part (still some work needed to be done by the postern gate). The kitchen court has been cleared and is now my garden (where I grow all my own veggies to live on), and I now inhabit the reconstructed gatehouse which has a working fireplace, thank the Lord, because it's been damn cold up here this spring . A bunch of young hippies, if there is such a thing, but I guess they are throwbacks to an earlier age, moved into the outer ward recently, set up a tent village, and have helped us considerably in the reconstruction and clearance effort. Hugh is training four of them (including two girls) to be stone masons, so it is very possible that the restoration project will be expanded. I really want my watch tower to be rebuilt now in its entirety. We just need to find those fine young ladies some hulky boyfriends, because there's going to be a lot of hefting needed to be done. If they all are willing to build up the outer ward as a village, raise families, open stores, and make access to the rest of the world (in a limited sense), then these are my folk and I will declare myself the Margrave of Bwlch -- how does that grab you city assholes and gov't bureaucrats? Anybody want to join my principality? Welcome to come if you fit in.

But we got to act fast and establish squatters' rights, because the Forestry people have been hassling me lately. For one thing, they don't like the goats we keep, because they eat the seedling trees. Another problem is pot smoking, though I insist that the young folk don't grow the stuff in the castle grounds. And the biggest problem is that they are all unemployed -- but not on the dole like everybody else around here -- hence undocumented and uncontrolled, what drives the shitheads in Cardiff crazy.

September 1999 update: Amazing progress. The Western curtain wall has been totally restored as intended, and the ABCD wing (Garrison) is being rebuilt as housing for the so-called hippies who have flocked to this site since the web page was published -- although the presence of 40 or so unemployed layabouts has caused some problems with the local council. They are fine workers, even if not paid (well, I feed them and provide beer money), and are establishing a community and learning stone-masonry and other skills that should put them in good stead in the marketplace -- but I hope not in an establishment sense. The outer ward is now almost a village (tents and shacks, but so what?), even has a pub. If we can get recognition, the town will be called Nantygof. When this thing becomes too much of a going concern, I will move out of the gatehouse and go somewhere else. Probably Farnish, where I have recently found I own a couple of other ruined castles. At the moment, I am having too much fun fighting the bureaucrats to leave. They hated the messing around with an ancient monument, but have gone ballistic over the possibility of a new town. I was able to force the macadamizing of a new one-lane road on a forestry trail to the site when our old MP was replaced a couple of months ago (with my financial help, I must admit). Please join us, especially if you are Welsh -- Deheubarth shall rise again! And Nantygof shall be its capital.

Seth Guichardo Pottlebury

Update July 2000: Survived the millennium (unless it's next year). The place looks better and better, except some government busy-bodies evicted most of my aides and destroyed the camp in the outer ward. Middle of February too, and it was damn cold then! Had six people left then, and they lived in the keep. The scholar folks from Cardiff came in April to survey the castle and make other esoteric notes -- they are staying in Gwernogle. No more work getting done until they are finished (and make whatever judgements they will about whether I can proceed with the restoration). So I handed over my quarters to Gareth and Siobhan and went back to Marshmount with the other four. Which is where I am now writing this update.

Update June 2001: Some ups, some downs. The Welsh Council have denied permission to restore most of the castle beyond consolidation of the ruins, but what has been rebuilt will be allowed to remain. The keep can be restored, but not reroofed (and in fact, with a grant from the government, considering the dangerous state of the ruins -- worse than we had anticipated -- this is now well underway). Also the remains of the kitchen and great hall ranges have been partially cleared and stabilized, will full commitment for a five-year archeological project to be undertaken by the University of Aberystwyth. The postern gate has been fully restored, but reconstruction of the garrison wing has been forbidden. Sad to say, the 'village' of Nantygof has been nixed by the authorities. Only officials, archeologists, workers being allowed to remain during the summer months. Gareth and Siobhan, however, are installed as permanent caretakers, and live in the gatehouse and ground floor of the watchtower (which we were able to rebuild); Hugh is still the stonemason in charge of maintenance.

There has been a major snag in our proposals to restore the watchtower. An environmentalist group has determined that the current ruin is a major roosting place for a rare species of bat and they have filed an injunction to stop any interference with that. We have nothing against bats, in fact encourage them, but are proposing alternate accommodation for them until the work is done, at which point they are welcome to move back into an improved roost.