Wales - 08.

2008-09-07T16:54:02+02:00

Saturday – 23 August. Leaving home we made to Oxford to start the journey along the A40. To get to Wales we went through Cheltenham and Gloucester and stopped of in Ross on Wye – pretty town on the River Wye which forms the boundary between England and Wales.

From Ross on Wye we went on to Monmouth entering Wales just north of this town. From there we went to Abergevenny which is called the gateway to Wales and just on the edge of the Black Mountains – the weather was already starting to rain but it was very pretty. We had lunch at a hotel on the banks of the River Usk which we were to follow for a couple of days. From there onto Crickhowell which is well and truly in the Black mountains and here the fun started.

When we started out we were confident that we would be able to find lots of B&Bs along the way but we did buy a tent and just as well. At Crickhowell we started to look for a place to stay and surprise surprise – nothing – all full because of the bank holiday. In a panic Sue phoned a caravan park down the road and they said they had space and we should just pitch up.

On arrival at Gilestone Caravan Park in Talybont on Usk we found a long queue at the entrance and we both thought that this was going to be a problem. Nothing of the sort as it turned out that there would be plenty of space in ‘the farmers fields’. We camped for 2 nights in a newly mown field adjoining what is the caravan park proper but it was very nice with spotless ablution block and they had put up a big marquee where they had a kitchen and pub and this was the focal point of the park. Beer was only £2 and the pub opened at 8.00am – very civilized.

First night it rained most of the night but we were so tired it made no difference and early the next morning we made our way back towards Abergevenny and went to climb Sugar Loaf. Most of the Black Mountains are within a National park and there are so many walks through this area and we made our way up what was a fairly high mountain in the area. It was very pretty looking back over England, down the Usk valley and when I eventually made it to the top I could see the Severn Estuary.

This was quite a climb and Sue eventually stopped about 80% of the way up with the last couple of hundred meters very steep indeed. On the way down we came across the first of many wild Welsh ponies and this was a really wonderful first hike of about 7km through the Black Mountains.

On our way home that day we did a bit of a circular route up north to Talgarth and Bronllys and back south the Brecon. Brecon, as with many other Welsh towns, is very bleak and we battled to find a pub for lunch but eventually we had a very good lunch at the Monkey Puzzle before heading slowly back to Talybont on Usk. Back at the site we had a lovely walk along the canal into the village itself – so typical of this area – a pub at each end and house in between but very pretty walk although it was raining again.

The next day we decided to head for the coast and travelling along the A40 we went through Brecon, Llandovery and Llandeilo towards Carmarthen which is a very old city with evidence of a Roman city which is dated 45AD and possible one of the oldest habitations in UK. There is a castle in the middle of town and at this point I must say that we have never seen as many castles as we did in 5 days in Wales – they are every where. At Carmarthen we asked a local if he could recommend sights in the area and he sent us south to LLanstefan which is on the coast and out first sight of the sea at Carmarthen Bay. The castle is stuck on top of a headland over looking the bay and must have been a defensive port at some time. We had a walk along the beach but it was howling a gale and raining yet again.

From Carmarthen we went further west to St. Clears and there we went south west along the coast and we wanted to stop in Tenby – we had seen photos of a beautiful port town but when we got there the traffic was chaos and we could not even find parking – so sod this for a joke we decided to push on – a bit late in the day and we still had no where to sleep.

We looked at Pembroke and Pembroke Dock but they looked a bit seedy so we decided to push onto Milford Haven which is a massive port on the south west corner of Wales. There was a massive bridge of about 2km long over the bay that forms the port and it was so amazing that when we got over the other side we turned back on the road and drove all along the side of the bay towards Milford Haven.

At Milford we eventually decided that after 2 nights on the ground we were going to spoil ourselves and booked into the Lord Nelson Hotel which overlooks the very famous Milford Haven yacht Marina. We had a lovely walk around the Marina, great supper and a very comfortable night in the hotel and left early the next morning heading to Haverford West where we hoped to see Sue’s Uncle Mick and Aunty Margaret and their son Michael and his wife. Sue had not seen Michael in over 40 years.

We had tea and cake with the relatives and some advice on what to see in the area and then headed out to St. David’s which is the most westerly point of Wales. Along the way we had got a travel brochure and seen some camp sites and on getting to St. David’s we went to Caerfai Camp site and got a site for 2 nights – driving up to our site we drove straight to the edge of the cliff and pitched our tent about 40 yards form the edge of the cliff with a stunning view out over St Brides Bay. It was blowing a bit and so we had to really secure the tent.

We walked into town and to St David’s cathedral which is one of the most stunning buildings we have seen in England – it is several hundred years old but the workmanship and history is truly staggering. There are also the ruins of the bishop’s castle next to the cathedral and in their time this must have been a very very rich church and diocese.

That afternoon we must have walked about 6km along the cliffs around St David’s and then walked through town, stopping for some well deserved refreshments at a pub, and had a lovely night even though it really blew all night and rained on and off all night. Early the next morning it was off to the end of the A40 at Fishguard. There is the most beautiful harbour at the bottom of the cliff which used to be the base of the lobster fishing in this area. Now days it is a ferry port for Ireland.

Making our way back to camp we drove all along the coast and called in at Strumble Head lighthouse. So stark and beautiful with steep cliff and very exposed to the elements. When we parked we noticed what looked like a concrete bunker perched on the cliff and when we went down to it we found a bunch of men hunkered down over the telescopes and they were looking for sea birds, whales and dolphins out to sea. Quite amazing.

The coast road here is very, very narrow and you basically drive along and if another vehicle comes form the other way you have to pull over in a farm entrance or gap to let the other car go past – there are walls on the side of the road which we found very interesting – basically the farmer builds a rock wall about 2 feet high which is then covered in soil and grass, gorse and bramble then grow over this – more effective that any barbed wire fence you have ever seen. These walls are all over Wales – even on the cliff tops where we found that the farmers would put slasto along the tops of the wall and the grass and gorse grows on that. 1 of the photos shows one of these walls.

Talking about photos – it was about here that I managed to delete all our photos.

The next stop was at Abercastle and you will see from the photos that this is a typical small Welsh harbour that was used to fishing in the old days. We saw a beautifully little cottage perched on the side of the harbour which I said I would retire to. It was interesting that in 1875 an Englishman sailed form the states to this harbour in a fishing dory.

We did a lovely walk along the cliffs here towards Porthgain which was out next stop and some of those photos are on the blog.

At Porthgain we bumped into Mick, Margaret and family and spent some time with them. Porthgain is again a stunning little port – see photos and 1850-1910 they mined slasto on the hill above the harbour and then onto boats and off to market. When they had mined out all the slasto they made bricks and after that road stones but today it is a tourist spot. We left the family as we wanted to do a hike that afternoon and we then made our way to Whitesands.

At Whitesand we did a 8km hike though the hills and then back to the coast – lovely heather covered hill and again dramatic views form the cliffs – see photos. It was blowing, cloudy and drizzling but we had a really great afternoon on this hike and spent some time just taking in the countryside and the flowers and some great birds as well.

That night we had a great supper in the pub at Caerfai and hit the bed to prepare for the long drive back the following day. We did not go back the same way and instead we took a more southerly route from Carmarthen which took us down towards Swansea and at Neath we went north west and eventually back to Abergevenny via the Vale of Neath, Glynnneath and Tredegar and then into Abergevenny before taking the same route home from there.

Pembrokeshire, on the coast, is stunning and we both agreed that we would go back there before we went back to the mountains. Unfortunately the weather was grim and we can only imagine what that coast must be like in good weather and maybe we will go back when we have explored Yorkshire and Scotland which are the next planned trips.

Comments

Wales Holiday

2008-09-07T11:32:06+02:00

Our Wales holiday was from 23 to 28 August and the plan was to drive the A40 through Wales and just allow the wind to take us along the highway. We did not have anything booked and the only thing we planned was to stick to the A40 as far as possible, see relatives in Haverford West and see as much of Wales along that route as possible.

For those of you with UK maps you can follow the route from Oxford all along the A40 and for those of you further afield you should be able to pick up the main towns along the way - they are all in central/south Wales and we were going west most of the time.

There was a big 'oops' with the photos. On the Tuesday before we came home I managed to delete about 100 photos. The balance I have uploaded and you should be able to see them by clicking on the photos at the bottowm of the home page and navigating from there.

Here goes

Comments

Start up

2008-07-06T11:18:46+02:00

This is our first effort at making a blog - I just used a fishing log that I have started as a sample to see if this is something that we can use.

Sue and I want to use this as a means of keeping in contact with people and letting them see what we are up to. We want to keep this updated with what is going on in our lives and we will post photos of our trips and our home and village so that anyone can just log on and see what is goin on in our lives.

FRIDAY – 27 JUNE, 2008.

½ day session from 2.00pm to 7.30pm.

Weather – partly cloudy with gusty westerly wind that got stronger during the afternoon.

Location – Pit # 2 top right hand corner swim with wind blowing into swim.

Fish - 3.30pm 5.5lb bream in excellent condition

4.00pm – small perch.

Bait – both fish on worms fished hard on the bottom with loose thrown ground bait. Both fish taken close to margin on left side of swim.

THURSDAY 3 JULY, 2008.

Evening session – 6.30 – 8.20pm.

Weather – warm and sunny evening with almost no wind.

Where – both Abbey pits fished with spinners.

Fish – 3 small perch taken form out of same spot up against a fallen tree in Pit#1.

Comments

DeMilita's in the UK

Wales - 08.

Wales Holiday

Start up