June Blog - Part 1

It is half way through June. It looks like summer but it feels far from it.

We have big plans for the month which will find a place in the rest of the blog.

Despite the chill wind we continued our exploration of the Peak District by driving to Mam Tor. It is something like 50 years since I last climbed it. On that day I was with a group of students (mainly coal miners) learning about geology. Being miners our first stop was the pub at Hope. Here we consumed our liquid lunch. Then I could boast that I was capable of walking for four hours on four pints. Those days are long gone in both respects. 

With geologist hammers in hand we set off up Mam Tor. At one point I ran backwards to photograph the group. It was then that George waved his hammer at me. This was not for effect but to stop me. This I did just before the hill ended in a cliff.

Today we would approach the Tor from a different direction. Now there is a free car park for National Trust members and a fenced path to the top. (There was no Health and Safety fifty years ago.) Alone I made it to the top where the wind was very violent. Another adventurer had to take my photograph at the top.

We went back down and across some fields. There seems to be little restriction on where you can wander. We followed the path along the edge of the drop to Winnats Pass. Here we sort of squatted, uncomfortably looking down along the pass.

I have to add that toilet facilities were free and adequate. However, we wanted more than the kiosk at the Blue John mine offered and so we drove off to Castleton. It is a busy, tourist place but it is possible to find somewhere free to park and walk back. We found a café where we enjoyed a very large slice of delicious chocolate cake before making our way home.

On Saturday we continued our exploration of the local area. We again started at the beginning of the path from Moorbridge Lane to Mill Lane. This time we kept to the path and turned right to cross an incredibly long bridge over nothing in particular. (When we first arrived in Stapleford about 18 years ago I took the boys over this bridge – Irene was unable to walk far and was in a wheel chair – this was her first sight of the bridge.) The long bridge led straight on to a railway bridge and down to canal and another bridge. We walked along the canal and back home.

I add this note: Today was the day of the ‘Hemlock Happening’. However, it was spoiled by about 100 school kids who decided to stage a fight and bring the event to a premature end. People had to do without the usual entertainment and fireworks.

Then it was time to get away from it all. The weather still did not look like it was about to be summer any time soon.

At this point the handwritten account takes up the story:

This is the first entry into my new ‘Travel Diary’. First Entry 19^th June 2015

This is the last evening of our week visit to Pembrokeshire; in a particular to the coastal area.

The weather has not been spectacular but we have been dry. There has been a lot of sun, but the air temperature has been unseasonably low.

The cottage is remotely set in the hills near the coast and a short walk gives us a glimpse of the sea.

Purple-pink has been the most outstanding colour with clumps of foxgloves widely scattered especially along our lane to the cottage.

The cottage is a grade 2 listed building but very modern internally. There is a wood burning stove but this has not been needed since the under floor heating is more than adequate downstairs while a radiator keeps the upstairs bedroom warm.

The bathroom is very modern with both bath and shower. It is about half the size of our living room. The sitting room has a comfortable settee facing a flat-screen T.V. attached to a ‘Sky’ box. The chairs and tables go with décor which is very tasteful. The kitchen is large and modern, but the hob and stove require a degree in electronics to use them fully. There is a modern dish washer and washing machine.

The bedroom is large enough to fit the king sized bed with space to spare.

Presently Irene is leaning on the worktop drawing the view through the kitchen window. The view is a grassy bank full of wild flowers.

I forgot to mention that we have a very good Wi-Fi connection.

We arrived on Saturday June 8^th having driven most of the way through pouring rain. The first of our stops was on the M5 at Strensham Services. Then we stopped at Bridgend Designer Outlet (MacArthur Glen). It was a lot larger and a better place than our own on the M1. For one thing it had more cover from the wet weather. The possibility of eating at a Pizza Hut was an attraction to us. (I had done my online research well.) This was the first of two things that went wrong with my food ordering this week. I tucked into my pizza wondering why there was so little meat. At that moment the waiter arrive apologising for the fact that he had delivered the wrong pizza. This turned out to be a blessing as he boxed up the remains of three pizzas which made our dinner for the next day.

On the way out we made a purchase at ‘The Works’. We declined to pay 5p for the bag. I had forgotten that we are in Wales and that there is a charge for all supermarket bags. The rest of the journey went smoothly and on the last 5 miles we were faced with the joy of Welsh country roads, which are miles of single track with six foot high hedges at each side and few passing places. It took some getting used to. Our first land mark came into view which was cottage that had a sign saying ‘Home Made Marmalade’. Then we came to Harmony Chapel and next to it was the cottage with the green fence at the bottom of the last to tracks to our destination.

Our host, Olwyn, came over to the cottage to greet us. She was lovely lady. She had left us bara brith.

On Sunday we decided to stay local and go for a walk. It is a fair walk down the lane and further down the next lane to the ‘road’. As we walked along the road Joni rang and we waited to make a decision as to continue along the road or turn right. We turned right. Part way up we found a National Trust car park and logged this in the front of our minds. From there we could just make out the roof of our cottage with only fields between. After this our map reading failed. However, we crossed from the road to the youth hostel at Pwll Deri. This gave us our first glimpse of the Strumble Head light house. We made start down a part of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. But this proved too difficult so we returned along the road passing ‘Balloon Explosion’. (This is a cottage marked with its business name on the Google map.) Harmony chapel was soon in view at the bottom of our lane back.

In the afternoon we decided to go to Strumble Head. The lane is marked ‘No Coaches’. However, the ‘Strumble Head Shuttle’ runs frequently. At the lighthouse there is plenty of parking. At this spot we watched seals playing in the water below the cliffs.

For the first of two occasions in the week we missed the road back to ‘Harmony’ and followed the road to Goodwick (A part of Fishguard). This was a useful stop for the Tesco Express. There was free parking at the supermarket but two days later I noticed a 20 minute limit. We got away with it and had a long walk down the sea wall dividing the bay between the leisure area and the ferry port.

Back we went along the road that was to become very familiar especially with the ‘Marmalade’ house.

Taking the weather into account we decided to go into St David’s as it did not matter too much whether it was dull or not. I wanted to go to Skomer on a brighter day. In fact while we were in the cathedral the sun came out and the sky became blue making our visit to ‘White Sands’ special.

St David’s cathedral, for its reputation of being the smallest one in the UK, still had a magnificence and stood proud in extensive grounds. We could not help but marvel at the temerity of bishops to build a palace about the same size as the cathedral. There is little wonder that Protestantism took off.

At White Sands, as we should find common throughout the week, parking was free. We took a walk over the coastal path to St David’s Head. It was scary in places, but the views were stunning. There were even orchids growing by the path.

We had a good meal at the beach café before walking along the large, sandy beach.

Tuesday was the Skomer Island trip. People we met at St David’s warned us that it would be difficult to get a boat across. When we got there we found that people had been queuing from 7.00 am. Some people had then settled down to a cooked breakfast on the ground at the back of their cars. At the ticket office there was a disappointment that there was only one place for the trip across. But we felt blessed that there were the last few places to have a cruise. Even then there was a lot of waiting. The cruise was spectacular. There were puffins swimming around us, flying over and sitting by their burrows on the island. All too soon we returned. The tide was even lower which meant in addition to the steep slope back to the landing place we had to step up from the very bow of the boat.

 I neglected to mention that the car park was National Trust and for us it was free. [The journal entry ends at this point and the blog takes up the story.] This being the case we thought that we could move on to another car park. We were now heading to Marloes Sand. The journey took us through Marloes where we parked the car right up to the door of the Lobster Pot hotel. The very genial host served up the juiciest piece of fish that I have had.

 At the National Trust car park we asked the attendant to direct us to the path to the beach. He said there were two. The first had great views but was steep but there was the easier less picturesque route. We took the latter. The bay was massive with lovely, clean sand with rocks sticking out at odd angles. The back of the beach was littered with the paraphernalia of a photo shoot with steps, frames holding reflectors and back drops. The group were spending three days there shooting for a winter fashion collection.

We took the scenic route back and we did have stunning views of the beach.

Now we had done St David’s and Skomer. We were left with a castle and a garden. So on Thursday we began our journeys north. Our destination was Cilgerran Castle. It is a traditional Medieval Castle overlooking the Teifi. Once more we left the main road to follow a single track one which opened up into the village. Having discovered that there was no parking in the castle area we parked up and walked to the castle. Having found out two things, firstly that it was National Trust (i.e. free) and secondly, there was no coffee. The attendant directed us to the post office that was supposed to have a coffee machine. It was broken so the lady put the kettle on and we had a coffee and snack sitting on tables by the street.

 The most famous thing about Cilgerran is that it is the only place where coracles are made. The coracle place was down the hill from the post office. Here we found the river, toilets and information. Then we walked up the hillside to find the castle. The path stood in need of attention but it was lovely woodland walk. There are substantial pieces of the castle and climbing stairs was easier than most castles that we visited. Out on the grass we had a photo session and two wagtails made there entrance and got up quite close.

We returned the same way that we had come and this led us back to a pub that I had seen selling two meals for £10. This was ‘The Freemasons Arms’ near Newport. The landlord seemed to be working single handed. We went through into the garden. Here we found that he was a keen gardener and he grew a lot in containers, even potatoes. While we eat he did his watering.

There was another surprise in store on the bend in the road just out of Fishguard there was another free car park. This gave great views over the bay which included the ferry loading up with cars. Further down there was an area with four canons pointing over the sea.

On Thursday it was garden day. Although it was not that far away through Fishguard it did not open until the afternoon so we made our way towards Newport. On the way we called in for a quick view of Dinas but the coastal path was too steep here and we went on to Newport. 

Having parked our car, for free, by the sea we made a mistake and walked up to the road. 

It was steeper and further than I had imagined. We then had the task of finding somewhere to eat. The walk up and down the main road was tiring. The first pub did not have what we wanted. The second was elegant with great outdoor seating. My order came. It was a beautiful looking platter. As I eat I began to wonder about the lack of carbohydrates when, true to form, the waitress came with the pieces of bread and butter that should have come with the order.

After the slog back down to the car and a short journey to yet another impossible road we came to the gardens. Dyffryn Fernant Gardens had a strange management system. There was a car park and a sign saying ‘Entrance Through the Hut’. However there was no one in the hut. There were things for sale, a pot of coins and a sealed collecting box. On the pot of coins the sign said’ Please take only for change'. The collecting box was where we put our £12.

 The garden was huge. There was fascinating mix of wild and cultivated flowers. There was a meadow were mares tails were left to grow. There was a beautiful bed of purple and orange flowers. A robin showed a complete lack of fear. Perhaps he will be the subject of my Christmas cards.

Friday arrived all too soon. We decided to be local. Although it does not exist on the map we found our way to Aber Mawr. The beach here is graded boulders but is very attractive. 

There was a car park and a toilet stop, but my research showed that we would get refreshments at Trefin. On the way in we spotted a typical Welsh cottage. (These are few and far between.) The café was very pleasant and inexpensive. It was also an art gallery displaying some powerful seascapes.

The next stop had to be Abercastle. This is a large bay for fishing boats. It has small castles each side of the beach and we were impressed by the white cottage hanging on the cliff side.

We now had to find a woollen mill. This was very hard to find on Google let alone in real life but find it we did. Once more along the narrow lanes and out to the buildings. The visit to Melin Tregwynt Woollen Mill was at no cost and we were free to wander in and watch and view the relatively modern water wheel.

To end our exploration there was a last visit to Strumble Head with a goodbye from the ferry and a gull.

Back in the cottage it was time to pack.

In the evening Olwyn came to ask if we were able to leave a little earlier than the agreed time. They were inducting a new minister into Harmony Chapel. The 90 year old one had just stepped down and there having a younger 60 year old one. She explained that she would need to spend a lot of time getting the chapel ready.

On the following morning the mist and rain came back. I had decided to make a round trip and head north to Aberystwyth and west back into England. The coastal route was dreadful. Each time we went down into a valley we entered thick sea mist. It is the first time that I have used both front and rear fog lights.

We made it to Aberystwyth. I knew that there would be a MacDonald’s. This part of the town was much changed since we travelled back and forward to Sally at the university. There was now a large retail park and a lot of housing.

The journey from there was easier. We sailed through Newtown and Welshpool before making a stop at the services just through Shrewsbury. We had our lunch which included delicious pancakes and then back on the road with the inevitable hold ups on the motorway.