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."
Approaching the castle from the south-east, over the sandy shores of the Towy estuary.
About to fly over the curtain wall, with a view of the whole Upper Ward.
The castle's
well is a distinguishing feature.
Landing spot in front of the Inner Gate, with the twin towered Great Outer Gatehouse visible on the right.
The
flight sequence was seen in reverse behind
Treguard at the end of Series 6 episode 3.
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.
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).
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.