Recent Trips

We've been lucky enough to go on a few little trips over the last two months....

Devil's Bridge, mid-Wales
 
After a few years, we finally made a return trip to this charming area; the village of Devil's Bridge (or 'Pontarfynach' in Welsh) and the Vale of Rheidol, and the stunning countryside around. We stopped off for a little break in the drive, and walked around a very pleasant Welshpool "Where Wales begins", apparently. (Bonus! Found an old cinema building, which is always good!) Not that far up the road we got to Devil's Bridge and found our accommodation easily enough - a splendid old converted coach house next to the pub/hotel, just a short walk from the famous waterfalls and bridges.) As it was still light and nice weather, we went for a quick walk through the village before dinner. 

The next day we went to Aberystwyth to have a look around and get some bits and pieces, and after a lovely little walk through the town and by the coast and castle, drove over to the famous ruins of Strata Florida abbey, located in the middle of a lovely rural valley - we only had a barking farm dog for company. After getting home we had a walk down into the  Rheidol valley right next to the village, and made our way thorough a variety of landscapes: open fields, woodland, and then down into the river valley in the gorgeous evening light. On this trek we also got to cross the private railway, which was fun!

The ruins of Strata Florida Abbey.

You want me to cross a railway line!?

At the bottom of the valley, next to the river Rheidol.

Sunset over the Vale of Rheidol.

The next day, off we went on the long drive on the A487 up to the coastal town of Harlech to see Edward Ist's famous medieval castle. As we drove North, the countryside became more extreme, revealing some deep valleys and high hills at the southern tip of Snowdonia, around Dolgellau. Carla got a bit spooked on those hillside roads at one point! Anyway, the castle is impressive and is located on a commanding position above the flat coastal lands below - great views of the wide bay. Spotted a castle cat, just like at Raglan! On the way back, and quite by chance, we discovered the very beautiful Rhaeadr Nant Col waterfalls. We had so much fun exploring the river and moorland there; it is a beautiful spot, and was quiet out of season. Further along the road we visited the coastal resort town of Barmouth (very nice welsh cakes and lots of seagulls!) and then a brief stop in the ancient capital of Wales, Machynlleth. Lovely weather all day.

A view of the main gate house of Harlech Castle.

Rhaeadr Nant Col Waterfalls

Carla in the moorland above the falls.

Me at the harbour at Barmouth.

The next day it was a sunny walk through the wonderful Hafod Estate, which was just as brilliant as it was on our last visit seven years ago. The estate occupies a large area of a very pretty valley floor and sides, and has lots of paths to explore, waterfalls to find, and beautiful woodland to walk through.After that, we went for a local walk and explored the striking nature reserve next to the three bridges and waterfalls of Devil's Bridge.

Beautiful little rivers are to be found all over the Haford Estate valley.

Amazing sunset behind the Vale of Rheidol, from a viewing platform near the three bridges.

The last full day turned very cold and windy, but we still managed to get a good few hours walking in around the Bwlch Nant yr Arian Forest Visitor Centre. There is a great visitor centre there, some impressive lakes and windswept open and woodland scenery to explore. We spotted lots of redkites flying around there, they looked great swooping over the nearby wooded valley. We got back to car just as it started to rain, which then turned into snow later! So the drive back the next day revealed snowy hills. No trouble with the roads, and the scenery looked beautiful as we drove along.

One of the lakes in barren landscape north of the visitor centre. Very Windy!

Bibury and the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire

For our 9th wedding anniversary, we had a long weekend in the famous Cotswolds area of central England. On the way to Bibury, we stopped off in Broadway (in Worcestershire) a small but very pretty and posh town near to Evesham, that features an interesting wide main street. Up in the hills nearby there is an impressive tower - a 'folly', named the Broadway Tower. A really interesting building that has some absolutely fantastic views of the countryside, as it is so high up. Shame the weather was mixed, sun followed by rain followed by sun! We also saw some deer in the parkland next door. After some fun and games at the tower, we carried onto our accommodation (via a quick stop off in Moreton-in-Marsh to get some artisan bread -alas, none left in the bakers) at the very picturesque village of Bibury. Having arrived in the light, we walked around village and saw locations such as the waterways of the famous trout farm right in the centre of the village - looked lovely.

Two views of the Broadway Tower. Great parkland to walk around as well.

The very pretty fish farm in the centre of Bibury.

The next day we started off early and a did a six-mile circular walk around the village in the morning, the highlight was walking along the downs that contained two cows walking ahead of us, who kept looking back every now and again to make sure we weren't getting too close! Once back in the village we wandered over to the see the famous Arlington Row cottages, and The Bibury Court hotel (next to a pretty stretch of the River Coln) - a building that would have been terrific as a recreation for Hammer Horror style cosplay photos! After a little lunch, we went over to the Chedworth Roman Villa, not too far away. This is an amazing ruined location (with excellent visitor centre and facilities) and well worth a visit for those who like British Roman history. We liked the interactive site descriptions from the head sets; the actors portraying the Romans and Britons living here did a very good job. Shame it was a drippy day, as the setting is stunning. After that, we went into Cirencester to have a quick look around and get some provisions. Nice town. The following day, on the way back, we stopped at some pretty small towns and villages along the Fosse Way: Northleach, Bourton-on-the-Water (Japanese tourist heaven!) and Upper and Lower Slaughter. Oh, it was great to watch Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (part 1 of the film series) on DVD that weekend. I enjoyed the film a bit more than at the cinema, funnily enough. I suppose because we could watch over two nights! A wonderful little break in a lovely place! 

Gloucestershire cows!

The exquisite mosaic work at inside the covered area at Chedworth Roman Villa.

Bideford, North Devon

For my 41st birthday, we visited the countryside near to the North Devon coast. Having been there two summers ago and loved it, we just had to go back and explore more. On the way down, our stop off points were Weston-Super-Mare and Bridgwater, both fun to walk around and explore. It was lovely to find the old cinemas (thankfully still operating in both these locations). Windy on the coast  though! It was lovely to see Weston's pier again (I was last there in summer of 1991!) The next day we went to the town of Bideford, which was close by to our accommodation  - an interesting little local centre, neatly positioned on either side the River Torridge. After that we went to the coast to see the beach at Westward Ho! and then onto Bucks Mills, a lovely little community of several houses positioned along a steep valley that leads to a rocky beach. Gorgeous in the sun.

The River Torridge seem from the Long Bridge at Bideford.

The coast at Bucks Mills.

The one road through Bucks Mills.

The following day was very wet, so we we went into Cornwall for the first time by driving down the Atlantic Highway to Bude. The damp weather spoilt the visit, so after a quick walk around and visit to Sainsbury's (a supermarket that sells wetsuits!) we drove home and watched DVDs all day ("Sherlock" and "Falling Skies", both excellent TV series.) 


The next day, my birthday, was a lovely clear day (but very windy from the sea) so we did our main walk of the holiday. This was from Hartland Quay along the rugged coast to the Hartland Point Lighthouse, and then back again using a slightly different set of paths and via the small village of Stoke (very pretty church with a really tall tower!) This was a fantastic walk as we got to see lots of breathtaking scenery and some attractive little river valleys. Still can't work out how a little mobile home got to that isolated spot! 

Hartland Point Lighthouse in its stunning setting.

Various views from a beautiful coastal walk.

Afterwards, we then went back up the coast to Clovelly - a rather picture postcard village primarily built along one steep road from the clifftop down to the small harbour. Its a bit of a tourist trap (only village I know of that you have to pay to get into!) but worth a look for its quirkiness. It was also nice to be able to look inside one of the old fisherman's houses. After that it was off the the shopping village on the edge of Bideford to get a birthday cake!

The harbour at Clovelly.

The steep main street through Clovelly.

For our last full day, we went into Barnstable to have a look around and do a bit of shopping. Shame it was so wet that day, but once again I found an old cinema to photograph - hurrah! It rained so hard all day and night that there was some limited flooding of our little cottage! Thankfully, we got out okay but left a house with a wet bedroom carpet.

For our last day of the holiday (after getting back home) we just popped up the A5 to have a mooch about Lichfield. Love the cathedral area there, its so pretty! Very pleasant place with lots of shops to explore and fantastic, apply eccles cakes to buy in a fab bakers we found! 
  

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A couple of spring trips, cinema visits other events.

We recently had a couple of short breaks to get away and see some countryside and interesting historical sites. In May, for my birthday, we went to North Devon and based ourselves in a small village near to Ilfracombe and the coastline (a very pretty area on the edge of the Exmoor National Park, and by the coastal AONB). Here we had the opportunity to do some country and coastal walking and visit some really pretty towns and villages. Our first day was spent in Ilfracombe, a large town in the area, which is also a famous holiday resort and has an attractive harbour. We walked along the SW Coast Path to the west of the town. This was a wery good walk; there were some amazing views to see, but on the return we had to dodge some cows who seemed to think we were going to feed them! One of the best walks we did was around the headland near to Mortehoe, to the west of Ilfracombe. The walk provides some wild and stunning scenery and lots of sheep that seem unfazed by walkers. Another fantastic walk was SE of Lynmouth, along the wooded river valleys around Watersmeet. It was also fun to ride the famous cliff railway between Lynmouth and Lynton. On the way to Devon, there and back, we stopped off and looked around the Somerset towns of Glastonbury and Cheddar - it was very windy at the top of the Glastonbury Tor!

In June we stayed up in North Yorkshire and visited Harrogate, Ripon (to see the cathedral), Knaresborough (fantastic views of the river!), and the famous sites at Fountains Abbey and Brimham Rocks. Driving around we saw some lovely countryside and lots of cows! Also, it was fun to visit the oldest sweet shop in England in Pateley Bridge to pick up some treats....and it only rained on one day! Oh, on the way up to Yorkshire we also visited Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, but more impressive was Newby Hall and Gardens just to the East of Ripon. The gardens there are absolutely beautiful; the most impressive element was the extensive rock garden which was a joy to explore. Thankfully the sun was shining for the few hours we were there! There were interesting wicker animals (created by a local artist) located all over the park.

We spotted some old cinemas in Ilfracombe, Lynton and up in Harrogate. The 1930's Odeon in Harrogate town centre was particularly impressive (see pic). Also, we manged to catch this year's Eurovision broadcasts at our rented cottage in Devon. Bizarre TV, but thoroughly enjoyable, particularly the Moldavian gnomes playing trumpets ...on unicycles!

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Since the last update, our friends Sarah and Mandy have visited us, and it was lovely to see them. When Mandy was here we went to Milton Keynes to attend the Collectormania show which was fun as always - I was very impressed with a friend's home made R2-D2! Also, last weekend I went to the London Film and Comic Con, which was very busy due, I think, to the presence of actress Karen Gillian (from the current "Doctor Who" series). Nice to see friends and 'celebrity spot' at both events, and chat with the cosplayers at LFFC. I got a couple of autographs at both events.

As for cinema films, I've been lucky enough to catch a few recent releases. I saw "Thor" with Sarah and "Kung Fu Panda 2" with Carla, and both films were very enjoyable. Contrary to many opinions on-line, Sarah and I both thought the 3D in "Thor" worked very well. The CGI in "Panda" was amazing; there were some really beautiful shots in the film, and Po's character is fab. :) My pal Gary came up for the weekend just gone and we saw "Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon" - more over the top (but fun) Michael Bay robot destruction -in glorious 'real 3D', followed by "Bad Teacher", a Cameron Diaz comedy. We also did some DVD watching by seeing all three "Star Wars: Robot Chicken" specials, and the first episodes of "The Time Tunnel" and "Land of the Giants". I introduced Gaz to the observational comedy of Chris Lilley in "Angry Boys" and "Summer Heights High". I have yet to buy his first series, "We Could Be Heroes". The shows work so well as the characters are so well realised, and they get themselves into some hilarious situations.

<--- Cameron Diaz in "Bad Teacher"