WELCOME TO WONDERFUL WALES
Thursday 7th April, 2005
Friday 8th April, 2005
Saturday 9th April, 2005
Sunday 10th April, 2005
Monday 11th April, 2005
Tuesday 12th April, 2005
Wednesday 13th April, 2005
Thursday 14th April, 2005
Thursday 7th April, 2005
Our Hire Car, Peugeot 406 Station Wagon
e left London by the 9:15 fast train to Guildford and were met by the representative of Peter Waugh Hire Cars. He took us and the pile of luggage to their base, a grotty hole-in-the-wall sort of place which, had we seen it first, we may not have trusted. However, the car, a Peugeot 406 Station Wagon seems perfectly OK. All our bags fit and we seem to have enough legroom.
e drove west from Guildford, making very good progress. The car goes quite smoothly and we took motorways, stopping for lunch at one of the services places.
e arrived in Brecon at about 3:45 and found our B & B, The Grange, quite easily. We have a large family room (in an attic, up three flights of stairs) and the people seem nice. There is a laundry and a choice of supermarkets in Brecon so we will do some of both in the morning.
e drove out of town to a small restaurant which was kindly staying open for us and had a reasonable meal.
Mac likes The Grange because it has a black and white cat. The proprietor is a Pratchett fan, her car sports "The Turtle Moves" and "A Dragon is forever" stickers.
Tomorrow, the canal, and two people have told us snow is predicted!!
Friday 8th April, 2005
Galley of "Delyth" from the Saloon
ell, this has been an interesting day! We are fairly snug aboard the Delyth, our narrowboat home for the week. She is a lovely boat, 50 feet long, two doubles, one of which has a handbasin and hairdryer. The galley is very good, the usual small fridge but a very nice stove with separate grill and oven.
Rosemary and Mac on "Delyth" by Geoff
he canal is VERY shallow, with many low bridges and corners and it is easy to go aground and quite difficult to find a place to moor. The edges of the banks are very shallow so you have to find somewhere where it is built up. Therefore we are moored in the middle of Talybont-on-Usk, not out in the country.
ales is very beautiful, very green and has daffodils blowing everywhere. The Brecon Beacons are spectacular, the scenery is both wild and pastoral.
The weather, however, is crazy. I know it is early spring but today we have had continuous flurries of snow! It will pass over, leaving the sunshine quite warm, then back it will come, very heavily sometimes. Mac and Geoff standing outside bore the brunt of it but I was outside a fair bit as well. The wind is icy and our radiators seem a bit half hearted. I hope we will be warm enough. I really did not expect snow!
Saturday 9th April, 2005
oday dawned more brightly and we made rather a late start after visiting the PO shop in Talybont. It is still icy cold and Geoff bought me a red winter beanie to keep my head and ears warm.
e met very few other boats as we puttered (with difficulty) through the Ashford Tunnel (very low and narrow) and reached the only locks on this section, the Llangynidr Five Locks. These did not present any problems, even though we shared the water with a couple of boats coming up. After the locks the only thing to worry about was shallow water and low bridges!
Cruising the Mon and Brec Canal, Wales
he scenery is heart-wrenchingly beautiful! The Brecon Beacons are painted all colours and the foreground is filled with flowers - primroses, violets, bluebells, buttercups and daisies. Even the occasional dandelion!
We have seen lots of ducks (the ones with the gorgeous iridescent green heads) some fishing herons and lots of squirrels. Something crashed over the roof last night - fox, cat, squirrel in clogs, who knows?
Along the Mon and Brec Canal, Wales
e moored for the night just short of Llangattock and were just getting ready for bed when an amazing fireworks display started up across farmland to the west. I have no idea what it was all about but it was professional and spectacular. Perhaps to celebrate Prince Charles' marriage. He is Prince of Wales after all.
Sunday 10th April, 2005
e got away to another late start - it is quite a relaxing holiday if you want it to be. We filled up with water at Llangattock but there were no shops, so poor Mac walked to Crickhowell, a mile or so up and down hills, to get more milk and OJ, but no bread. It was raining when he left but before he returned the sun was out and it has been lovely the whole remainder of the day.
"Delyth" Moored to the Towpath, - by Geoff
e motored on into Gilwern where there was a shop open and got bread and lots of other stuff. I fell over a concealed step in the shop and clobbered my bad knee, yet again! Mac was not impressed with the lack of concern displayed by the shop people.
Geoff on "Delyth"
hen Geoff took us out and through some very tricky bridges until we passed Govilon, a boat marina, quite crowded, and moored by the towpath in the woods, away from the madding crowd. It is so beautiful - peaceful and calm. I posted a couple of cards to Neil and Pat and the Spikesmans. Must get some more soon.
Fishing Heron, - by Geoff
his is canal cruising as I originally envisaged. Long stretches of meandering through lovely country with only a few locks to concern ourselves with. I am loving it, rather more than I did the Shropshire Union last time - too much like hard work!
Monday 11th April, 2005
"Tulgy Wood" along the Mon and Brec
his canal is so lovely! We cruised all morning through lovely tulgy woods and serene pastureland. (by "tulgy" I mean deep dark forest with gnarled and twisty trees a la Disney, trunks wreathed in ivy and twisted exposed roots)
e hardly saw another boat except at marinas and moorings. So many squirrels and birds of all kinds, mostly unidentifiable by us. Near Goytre wharf there was a whole field of bluebells!
Limeburner Statues at Goytre Wharf by Geoff
e decided to make Goytre wharf our turning point so we stopped, turned, moored and went to the Waterside Restaurant and Bar for a large lunch. They had an historical display about limekilns and limeburners there as well as the base for Red Line Boat Hire, a basin lined entirely with private boats and a BW waterpoint which we filled up at.
e have started back up the canal on our way to return the boat by Friday morning. We plan to moor for the night near where we were last night. If there is time we might go on but I don't think there will be. I would prefer to stay there anyway.
Tuesday 12th April, 2005
othing much happens on the canal, just drifting along, occasionally going aground or clanging against one of a million bridges, all with their own peculiarities. We are heading back up the canal now and already there are more leaves on the trees and more flowers on the banks. It is beautiful and the mountains of the ever present Beacons are a wonderful backdrop.
he only event of note today was being double buzzed by jet fighters, presumably on manoeuvres. Also helicopters, both chinooks and smaller.
Rosemary and Mac on the Usk Bridge at Coed y Ynis by Geoff
e moored for the night at an idyllic little village called Coed y Ynis, which has a lovely old packhorse bridge over the Usk and a very good village store with old fashioned goods I have not seen for years. (Like Fry's Chocolate Cream bars).
The Usk River and Packhorse Bridge at Coed y Ynis by Geoff
fter dinner, Chicken Tikka Masala, which I made, with rice, we all had a game of The Big Idea, an hysterical game of Geoff's which is genuinely mad. A lot of fun.
n the shop today they had a special Royal Wedding Souvenir and the shop lady told us that Charles and Camilla had married on Saturday after having to postpone last Friday because of the Pope's funeral. The fireworks we saw were from another wedding, though, the lady told us. Mac was pleased that we saw a calico and white cat this evening, first cat since Brecon.
Wednesday 13th April, 2005
Lift Bridge near Talybont on Usk
e left fairly late, as usual, and soon reached the Llangynidr Locks. It took an hour or so to do them, so we stopped to give Geoff a very late morning tea. Then we proceeded, going up the narrow Ashford Tunnel and stopping again soon after for lunch. We stopped for rubbish disposal (ah, the romance of the canals!) at Talybont on Usk, posted some cards and went on.
Filling up at the Waterpoint at Brynich
e decided to go as far as we could towards Brecon with a view to getting there tomorrow morning, doing a few things, then heading back down to moor within easy striking distance of Cambrian Cruisers on Friday.
So we are now moored at Brynich Bridge (good BW moorings) and will go up the lock and aqueduct to Brecon tomorrow.
he weather is fine but still very cold, the men, standing on the back, get icy and very dry around the mouth and I get chilly hands and ears. But it is no fun sitting inside even if it is warmer. You (or at least I) can't see enough out the windows. So it's outside for me and at least I can help pole us off when we ground and hold a mooring rope!
Thursday 14th April, 2005
Brecon Basin, Wales
oday we went up the canal to Brecon, the end of the line. We first encountered the Brynich Aqueduct, then the last (or first!) lock on the canal, quite a heavy gate. Geoff and I started closing the gates before Mac had got the boat in (by mistake) and gave it quite a knock. After that it was a short (hour or so) cruise up to the new canal basin at Brecon. This is a superb end to the canal, with dozens of moorings, a really wide turning circle and the Theatre and Tipple 'n' Tiffin Bistro.
e walked into town and had morning tea, then to the Cyber Cafe to check mail and Geoff's money etc. All was well. Then we walked back to the Canal Basin where we had a lovely lunch at the Tipple 'n' Tiffin.
ack along the canal we encountered a group of high school kids doing a Duke of Edinburgh Award practice walk, with maps and packs. Two girls hitched a ride with us and engendered cries of "cheating!" from the others. They were all fascinated by the lock working and we all had chats with them and the two teachers with them.
Cruising the Mon and Brec Canal, Wales
e moored just around the corner from Cambrian Cruisers and packed and cleaned. It is peaceful and smells of sheep and the calm is only broken by the occasional heavily armed war machine screeching or trundling by in the sky. This does seem like a country at war! Unlike our own.
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