Criccieth, Wales Travel Poster

Every picture tells a story, and this one belongs to Criccieth.

The little town sits on the southern edge of the Llŷn Peninsula, where the green of Snowdonia runs down to the wide blue of Cardigan Bay. Its castle is the thing you see first, set high on a headland with the sea on three sides and two beaches curving away beneath it. It was begun by Llywelyn the Great, the Welsh prince, and later taken and rebuilt by the English crown, and it has spent the centuries since looking out over the water with the patient air of a building that has seen most things come and go. On a clear day you can stand below it and see right across the bay to the hills beyond.

Down in the town the pace is gentle. There are painted houses and a long beach, and an ice cream shop that has been drawing people in for generations. It is the kind of place that asks very little of you beyond a slow afternoon and a walk along the front, and gives a great deal back in return.

The poster is an original illustration in watercolour and ink, capturing the castle, the headland and the colour of the coast. With it comes a letter from Ella, telling the fuller story of Criccieth, the people who shaped it and the small details that make it worth knowing. Keep it for a place you love, or send it to someone who would.