Dawn Reader

Dawn Reader
from Open Door Coffee Co.; Hudson, OH; Oct. 26, 2016

Friday, May 1, 2015

Frankenstein Sundae, 122




A mostly picture day ... with a little recap and refresher ...

In late April and May 1999 I was traveling through Europe, chasing Mary Shelley—and others of her circle of family and friends—and, as I’ve been writing about here the past few posts, I spent some time in Porthmadog and Tremadog, Wales, places Mary had never gone but places where her future lover and husband (yes, in that order), Percy Bysshe Shelley, had lived for a while in 1813 with his wife, Harriet Westbrook Shelley—five months pregnant with daughter Ianthe at the time of the late-night break-in and gunfire and wrestling-match-on-the-floor at their house (Tan-yr-allt), February 26.
The spellings have changed (as I’ve noted) from Shelley’s time to ours: He knew the little town where he lived as Tremadoc, which lies only about a mile northwest from Porthmadog (spelled Porthmadoc then), where Shelley had become enchanted with the Embankment project (walling out the sea, reclaiming land)—now affectionately called “The Cob.”
Anyway, in 1999 I spent some glorious hours there—the late afternoon and evening of May 2, and much of May 3—wandering around, photographing sites, getting as close to Tan-yr-allt as I could. At the time I was there, the former home of the Shelleys was a private school for little ones. And I didn’t think it was too good an idea for an aging, bearded man to stand around taking photographs. (But, officer, I was just ….)
Since the time of my visit, Tan-yr-allt has become a B & B, and there’s a decent video available that shows the exterior, the views, some of the interior (link to video). 
I’m including today some photos of the region and the house (some from postcards)—with more to come









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