WALES 2 A WELCOME IN THE VALLEYS

Friday 15th April, 2005
Saturday 16th April, 2005
Sunday 17th April, 2005
Monday, 18th April, 2005
Tuesday 19th April, 2005
Wednesday, 20th April, 2005
Thursday, 21st April, 2005
Friday 22nd April, 2005

Friday 15th April, 2005

Drop Cap e returned the boat in good order and started on the next phase of our travels. First, through some gorgeous scenery and narrow B roads to Pontypool, where we had morning tea beside the canal.

Caerleon Amphitheatre photograph

Exploring the Roman Amphitheatre, Caerleon,Wales



Drop Cap hen on to Caerleon, the Roman town of Isca, where we validated our Heritage Cards at the Roman Bathhouse Museum. This is an excavated section of a much larger complex of pools, change rooms and hypocausts. It was very well done. Then we went to the Roman Legionary Museum, which was just as good as in 1992, only free, which it was not then.

Drop Cap e had lunch at the restaurant in the Old Priory Hotel, quite nice, then went to see the amphitheatre, like a circular pendant on a Celtic chain.

Tintern Abbey photograph

Tintern Abbey Ruins



Drop Cap otoring through the border country we came to Tintern Abbey, a ruinous Cistercian Monastery, like Reivaulx, which it resembled. There was a lot left, but clearing the plant growth from it makes it less picturesque than when Turner painted it and Wordsworth made it into poetry.

Symonds Yat view photograph

View from Symonds Yat



Drop Cap e drove on to Symonds Yat, a very scenic area in the Forest of Dean, and from there found our way to Ross on Wye, and our B & B, Radcliffe House. We were received by the teenaged daughter of the house and her boyfriend, who told us her parents were in Lanzarotte on holiday and we were the only guests.

Drop Cap o our joy, we have a large family room more or less on the ground floor (no stairs!) with a lovely view over the surrounding countryside and the river. It has a double and two singles, three armchairs, a large alcove for bags etc and a bathroom about twice the size of the one on the boat, tucked away in a cupboard. A good thing about the room was that it could be divided by a curtain between our bed and the singles so we all had some privacy.

Drop Cap e found an interesting restaurant, a Hungarian one, and were fitted in, although there were some large parties in. We are very full with food and wine and the thought of cooked breakfasts does not appeal.
Spent the rest of the evening watching the first TV since home. A Two Ronnies Retrospective and news/comedy/panel game on BBC1. And so to bed - zonk!

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Saturday 16th April, 2005

Raglan Cat photograph

Mac and Edward at Raglan



Drop Cap e were enroute to our first cottage today but decided to detour to visit Raglan Castle, another offering from our Heritage Cards. Raglan Castle had a ginger cat named Edward, who adopted Mac on sight and curled up in his lap. Mac didn't mind, but I felt we should actually see the castle!

Raglan Castle photograph

Raglan Castle





Drop Cap his ruined castle is absolutely spectacular! The thought of what this place was like pre Oliver Cromwell is staggering!

Raglan Castle Keep photograph

Raglan Castle Keep





Drop Cap t had a separate keep tower with its own moat, with lily pads and all, a huge range of other buildings and fancy corbels on the roof. We wandered around for an hour or so, with our jaws dropping, then had morning tea in the Castle Mews before resuming our way to Hay-on-Wye.

Drop Cap ay-on-Wye was seething with people and tour buses but the bookshops didn't seem to be as good as I remembered.
It could be a case of rose-tinted memories of course.
I bought a second hand book about acting by Simon Callow, one of my favourite actors. We had lunch here, and left by about 4:30 via the Co-Op to get in some supplies.

Ysgubor Fach Cottage photograph

Ysgubor Fach Cottage, Crickadarn, Wales

Drop Cap he way got longer and the little roads narrower and narrower as we felt our way towards Crickadarn and Tir Bach (the cottage). We eventually found it and the place is lovely, the views towards the mountains are beautiful.
The cottage, Ysgubor Fach, itself is half of a converted barn, very thick stone walls and on three levels, all with stairs. My knees have really been complaining today, so I wasn't all that impressed. The cottage, however, is very well equipped, microwave, fridge, freezer, washing machine, all the utensils you could need. I need the operating instructions for the washing machine (front loading like all British machines) so will ask tomorrow. I have three bags of washing!

Drop Cap his place seems even more remote than the cottage we had on Skye last time, and I thought that one took the biscuit. The final approach to the farm is up a narrow lane, one car wide, edged with tall hedges so you can't see. I find this intimidating!
When it gets dark, you can look out the front windows and not see another light! Still, I might not be so tired later so will probably learn to appreciate it.

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Sunday 17th April, 2005

Drop Cap e got away very late this morning, it was about morning tea time as we got off. We were planning to do the Black and White Village Trail, but got side tracked several times and, as the weather worsened, we decided to try it another day.

Mini Stone Circle  photograph

Mini Stone Circle, near Walton, Wales





Drop Cap e did find a bronze age stone circlet, only four stones, in a paddock near Walton and risked life and limb to photograph it through the barbed wire.

Presteigne Shopfront photograph

Painted Shopfront, Presteigne, Wales




Drop Cap hen we arrived in Presteigne, former capital of Radnorshire, a very picturesque town with old black and white buildings, some of which were decorated with coloured paintings on the outside, where we spent several hours touring the Judge's Lodging.

Drop Cap his is a remarkable building, Courthouse, prison cells, and, upstairs, the very elaborate Judge's Lodging, where the visiting Circuit Judges used to stay for the Assizes etc. The contrast between Upstairs and Downstairs was so marked! And the court also has a genuine case dramatised on tape which is played out as you go through.

Drop Cap he Old Shire Hall Building (which used to be the Courthouse) had become disused in the last twenty years so the Council decided to renovate it to its former glory. They found much of the original furniture and fittings, glassware and china and kitchen stuff stored in the attics. It is a remarkable job.

Drop Cap e went off in the middle of our tour and had lunch at the Radnor Arms pub, up the road.This was quite pleasant, very old, with heavy black beams and a fire in the fireplace.
The barman was very chatty and we had triple deck sandwiches and soft drinks then went back to the Judge's Lodging.

Drop Cap he Judge's Lodging had a very old white cat, who purred at Mac. There was a sign up over the coffee makings asking people not to give Arthur (the cat) milk because it made him sick!

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Monday, 18th April, 2005

Drop Cap ell, we were off and away a bit earlier today and from an icy cold start it warmed into a beautiful, sunny day.

Black and white cottage  photograph

Cottages on the Black and White Trail, Herefordshire





Drop Cap e did the "Black and White Villages Trail", starting at Kington and proceeding to Eardisley, where we wandered down the main street, rubbernecking at the old houses and taking photos. (I think I would be a bit peeved to find my house on a way marked tourist trail!)

Pembridge Belltower  photograph

13th Century Belltower, Pembridge, Herefordshire






Drop Cap e went on through Weobley and on to Pembridge, which was lovely. They have managed to date and research some of the oldest buildings and they date from the 14 and 1500s. Unbelievable to people from such a young country as ours. The church and its detached bell tower (which looks rather like a pagoda) date from the 1200s.

Black and white cottage  photograph

Cottages on the Black and White Trail, Herefordshire


Drop Cap e had lunch in Pembridge in King's House, which we thought was a pub but it turned out to be a licensed "hostelry", with a smoke free restaurant. It was lovely, the food was simple, but GOOD and the proprietors were overflowing with good cheer and hospitality. Mac had a ploughman's lunch with three cheeses, salad, pickles and a warm baguette, Geoff had chicken liver pate and four slices of toast (he asked how much came with it, always mindful of carbohydrate counts, and the guy said "How much do you want?" Great attitude. I had a really fresh baguette stuffed with thick cut ham, off the bone, I'm sure, not a commercial slicer near it, with Dijon mustard and salad. It was just delicious.

Eardisland Cottage  photograph

Eardisland Cottage, Herefordshire



Drop Cap fter lunch we headed off via the New Inn (which of course was very old) and, after passing a 15th century dovecote, black and white like everything else, and tasting some cider at Dunkerley's Cider Mill (which we did NOT like) we headed for Eardisland, one of the prettiest villages in England (it won a prize).

Drop Cap his lovely place surrounds the little Arrow River and some of the buildings are unbelievably old and seemingly decrepit, but still lived in and looked after. It was such a picturesque place and sparkled in the sun.

Drop Cap fter this I was somewhat "black and whited out" so we headed for Leominster, the end of the Trail and, although a bustling market town, a picturesque place in its own right, where we had afternoon tea and did some shopping, then came home.

Drop Cap asked Mrs. Lewis, the landlady, how the washing machine worked and she showed me the way she does it. They have three cats and one of them let Mac make much of him. So that was a good day's end.

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Tuesday 19th April, 2005

Drop Cap e decided on a rest day today because it was wet again. So we planned several jaunts (hopefully the weather will get better), telephoned Nigel Bird, the Railway Bookseller to arrange a visit tomorrow and I did two loads of washing.

Drop Cap e sat, snoozed, read and generally relaxed. We intend to do this at least once a week if we can while we are self catering. Don't know how it will go while B and B'ing through Scotland. We will want to make the most of our time in each area.

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Wednesday, 20th April, 2005

Elan Valley Dam photograph

Elan Valley Dam





Drop Cap oday we had a really good day. We went on a circular tour around the Elan Valley Lakes, a series of reservoir dams built at the end of the 19th Century and which are now very picturesque.

Elan Valley Dam photograph

Elan Valley Dam





Drop Cap hey were built to supply water to Birmingham, getting there by an aqueduct seventy miles long. The dam walls are very Roman, looking like ancient aqueducts, and the spillways looked like waterfalls. They are surrounded by bare hills, dotted with sheep.

Arch at Devils Bridge photograph

Commemorative Arch, Devil's Bridge, Wales





Drop Cap fter we toured there we headed for Devil's Bridge, via a very picturesque stone arch built in 1810 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of King George III.

Mac and Nigel Bird photograph

Mac and Nigel Bird, Railway Bookseller




Drop Cap evil's Bridge is a very picturesque area with forest and waterfalls and the end of the narrow gauge Vale of Rheidol Steam Railway.

We had lunch there, then headed to Tregaron to visit Nigel Bird, the railway bookseller, who was holding some books for Mac. We had a cup of tea with him and spent a couple of hours in chat.

Drop Cap fter leaving Nigel we went back to Tregaron, a very Welsh-speaking town, and spent a lot of money in Rhiannon, the Welsh Gold and Silver centre, before heading over a long, winding, steep, one-lane road over the mountains and back home.
People kept warning us about this road, Nigel and Mrs. Lewis for two, but it had passing places and it was so open you could see things coming for a long way.

Drop Cap t was a good day.

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Thursday, 21st April, 2005

Drop Cap e left home as early as we could (about 8:15) and headed for Aberystwyth, about fifty five miles away on the coast. We seemed to get caught up behind many slow moving vehicles and were beginning to wonder if we would make the 10:30 steam train to Devil's Bridge.

Drop Cap s it happened we arrived in Aberystwyth at about 10:00, struggled through the town centre and found the Vale of Rheidol station right next to the BR station. We parked the car in the free carpark of the V of R Steam Railway, and bought return tickets (Mac and I got a discount for senior cits!) We got these discounts all over the country without even having to show our Seniors Cards, maybe we were looking old!

Vale of Rheidol Railway photograph

Vale of Rheidol Railway Engine at Devil's Bridge



Drop Cap he little narrow-gauge railway was a lovely trip - the scenery was spectacular and the trip lasted a whole hour. We had time to look around in Devil's Bridge before getting the return train. The weather, from being very unpromising early, cleared to a beautiful sunny day with blue skies. The red kites were flying in the mountains and it was a good run.

Drop Cap n our return to Aberystwyth we had a very nice spicy Indian buffet lunch near the station then took to the road again to Machynlleth, another twenty miles or so, to visit Celtica, a "thinly disguised propaganda exercise" according to Geoff, but it was very well put together with sound and light audiovisuals. It told the history and legends and culture of the ancient Celts of Wales. Really good.

Drop Cap t was still warm and sunny all the way home. In Rhayader, on the way home, we saw a vegetarian restaurant called "The Wild Carrot" or Y Moron Gwyllte in Welsh - Moron is "Carrot" in Welsh! Poor Carrot will never live it down!

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Friday 22nd April, 2005

Carreg Cennan Castle photograph

Castle Carreg Cennan near Llandeilo, Wales



Drop Cap ur last day at Ysgubor Fach dawned sunny for the first time and we decided to go down to Llandeilo to see Castle Carreg Cennen.



Drop Cap his is another ruined castle in the care of CADR Cymru, the Welsh heritage organisation so we get in free with our trusty Heritage cards.

Geoff in the Stocksphotograph

Geoff in the Stocks, Castle Carreg Cennan



Drop Cap hen we got there we found the castle perched high on a crag in a simply spectacular situation, quite a long, steep walk from the carpark. I would not have wanted to pay three pounds and then not been able to get up to it. However, as the ticket seller kept saying "it's not as bad as it looks, just take it easy" and I was able to make it up the track, past the medieval stocks where we imprisoned Geoff, and winding round the base of the crag fairly easily.

View from Carreg Cennan photograph

View from the Ramparts, Carreg Cennan





Drop Cap t is very ruinous, a twelfth century fortress, they would have seen the enemy coming for miles. The view from the ramparts is just colossal.

Drop Cap e had lunch in Llandeilo in a very Welsh cafe - the menu was subtitled in English - and nearly everyone around us was speaking Welsh, quite naturally. It is far from a dead language. I'm sure more people here speak Welsh than Scots speak Gaelic.

Drop Cap ame home to pack and clean - our bags seem to weigh much more. Geoff has bought so many souvenirs there is no room for his clothes. We are going to have to send some stuff by Post!


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