"Sommerbilder aus England und Wales"

Name of traveller

Friedrich Althaus (1829-1897)

Reason for travel

• leisurely travel; holidaying

Date of travel

July 1889

Heute Morgen die Droschkenfahrt durch die von der Sommersonne versengte Häuserwüste Londons -- nun die kleine Station an der Nordwestküste von Wales, mit der Aussicht auf die wellenbewegte Cardigan-Bai und die fernen blauen Berge von Carnarvonshire, und, am Abhange des mehr als tausend Fuß hohen Felsberges, die einsame Felsenstadt Barmouth, beschienen vom Dämmerlicht des scheidenden Tages. (Althaus 1)

Content

• architecture:
  • describes different styles of cottage architecture around Barmouth; observes simplicity of stone cottages, their whitewashed fronts and use of slates for roofing
  • builders in Barmouth blast stone out of the local cliffs
• clothing:
  • Welsh women wear the national costume only for special occasions; Welsh men no longer wear any kind of national costume
  • only old women still wear the tall hat and the costume has become a rare curiosity
  • walking sticks are established part of male and female tourists' dress
• customs:
  • finds the Welsh population culturally and ethnically distinct from the superior Anglo-Saxon race of the English; lists various stereotypes
  • sees the Welsh temperament most strongly realised in the continued bardic tradition and the horrible proceedings of annual eisteddfodau
  • competitions in the National Eisteddfod uphold the provinciality and inferiority of Welsh-language culture
  • calls "The March of the Men of Harlech" the Welsh "Marseillaise"
• diet: milk as national drink of Wales as result of temperance and religion
• industry:
  • brief reference to coal mines at Ruabon
  • reference to the slate quarries of north Wales
• language:
  • reference to unpronouncable Welsh place names; describes etymological origin of Barmouth
  • finds it strange that the vast majority of people in Wales continue to speak Welsh; the town population also understand English
  • describes pronunciation of Welsh and his attempts to pronounce various words
• politics:
  • lack of political consciousness in Wales
  • lower crime rate in Wales than anywhere else in the United Kingdom
• recreation:
  • many tourists arrive by train in Barmouth
  • hiking excursions in the area around Barmouth; touristic exploration of the Clogau Gold Mine
  • Barmouth as a sea-side resort is still in its infancy; finds no entertainments there that are typically offered in established English resorts
  • observes the many holidaymakers enjoying the beach of Barmouth; watches countless children gathering shells and building sand castles
• terrain:
  • romanticised descriptions of rural, mountainous north Wales; unique beauty of north Wales coastal landscapes; perfect unity of landscape features
  • Welsh meadows of a more intense green than the well-tended lawns in English parks; praises the rich vegetation of west Wales
• transport:
  • modes of travel: on foot; rowing boat; train
  • ten-hour journey from London Paddington to Barmouth, three hours of which it takes to cross Wales from Ruabon to Barmouth
• follow the links to read the full account: part 1; part 2

Nationality of traveller

German

Language of publication

German

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

serialised travelogue

Citation

Althaus, Friedrich. "Sommerbilder aus England und Wales." Beilage zur Allgemeinen Zeitung 275, 276 (4-5 October 1889): 1-2, 2-4. Print.