A 12th century Norman castle built on a hill near the village of Llansteffan in Carmarthenshire, overlooking the River Towy estuary.
Smirkenorff landed the following
dungeoneers in the Upper Ward of Llansteffan Castle:
- Kathryn (
Team 1 of Series 5)
- Chris (
Team 7 of Series 5)
-
Matt (
Team 1 of Series 6)
- Alan (
Team 3 of Series 6)
- Ben (
Team 5 of Series 6)
- Chris (
Team 7 of Series 6)
Having found his voice in
Series 6, the
dragon made no secret of his dislike for this particular location. He told Matt it was "
not one of my favourites", mentioned that it involved "
a tricky landing", and said he hadn't the strength to take Chris any further: "
This will have to do." His most vehement comment was made during Alan's quest: "
Now you'll probably love this place, but I positively loathe it."
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Approaching the castle from the south-east, over the sandy shores of the Towy estuary.
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About to fly over the curtain wall, with a view of the whole Upper Ward.
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The castle's
well is a distinguishing feature.
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Landing spot in front of the Inner Gate, with the twin towered Great Outer Gatehouse visible on the right.
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The
flight sequence was seen in reverse behind
Treguard at the end of Series 6 episode 3.
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Smirky approached the castle from a more southerly angle during the end credits of
Series 5 episode 7. The North Tower can be seen on the right of this image.
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A third flight sequence was used for the end credits of Series 6 episode 9. This time Smirkenorff approached from the north-east, passing the East Bastion and the foundations of the Round Tower (the castle's keep).
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He also landed a bit closer to the Gatehouse than usual.
Llansteffan Castle is now in the care of Cadw and is open to the public (
free admission). Click
here to visit the website.
A selection of photographs taken by Canadanne in June 2014 can be found
here.