It was an overcast May morning as we left Trowbridge to cross the border into Wales, our destination Castell Coch (Red Castle), near Cardiff – a fairytale castle rising from the woods of Fforest Dawr.

We arrived in good time, only to find our coach parking spot taken up by a number of vans. On entering the castle, we found out the reason: Channel 5 were filming an edition of The Great Auction Showdown with Paul Martin - Paul even came across the courtyard to talk to us.

We spent around two hours exploring, even climbing the many stone steps up and down the castle’s three towers, the main one has an unusually decorated bedroom complete with a vast domed ceiling.

Then on to Cardiff Bay for the remainder of the afternoon, home to the Welsh Senedd where you could have a coffee and look over the balcony into the Parliament chamber or even pay to go in and listen to a debate. Unfortunately, the famous Norwegian Church was closed, but for the young at heart there was a ferris wheel – four of us braved this for a ride!