Wales and the Lake District

26th April, Machynlleth.
Ray says it's about time I wrote something.  I am not really as lazy as this looks: whenever I take the diary to write in it, I find he's beaten me to it while I was in the bath!  We left Llantwit in the mist this morning at 9.30, leaving Elaine behind for the Lewises to put on the train to London.  The first part of our journey through South Wales and the Rhondda Valley was depressing.

Terraced housing in the Rhondda Valley, Wales.

However, we soon left industria behind and climbed to the wild, lonely highlands inhabited mainly by sheep with beautiful lambs afoot.  We went through the Brecon Beacons Nature Reserve and then through lovely countryside along the River Wye until we went off the main road, straight up the Cambrian Mountains and down the other side.  Breathtaking! 

Open cast mining.

Looking down Glyn Tarek.

Viaduct at Cefn-Coed-y-Cymmer.

Cyfartha Castle, 1826.

Brecon Cathedral.

Wye River Bridge at Builth Wells.

On the banks of the River Wye.

And so to Machynllech where we have a pleasant room at a B&B.  After booking in here we did a short circular tour within the Snowdonia National Park.  We are at the moment at the southern end.  We had supper beside a lake and watched lambs racing each other across the fields.  And I forgot to mention that before we went into the Brecon Beacons Park this morning we stopped at the Merthyr Tydfil Museum which has a lot of china and also much about mining and early steel working in the area.  One thing we've watched with interest is the way hedgerows and walls vary from place to place.  Here it is hedgerows and they have just been cut and pleached.

Dovey Estuary.

Llyn Cwellyn.

28th April, Thirlmere, Cumbria.
Yesterday (27th April) we made our way northwards through Snowdonia and then headed towards Wrexham to visit Janet's parents.  We visited the thirteenth century Caernarfon Castle built by Edward I to keep the Welsh under control.  Judging from the way the Welsh deface all the English words on their bilingual signposts, I think the castle must have been a dismal failure!

Above and below: Snowdonia National Park.

Above and below: Caernarfon Castle, 13th century.

View from the castle walls.

After Caernarfon we headed for Bala, going through the Pen-Y-Pass alongside Mt Snowdon.  It was very cold and misty at the top, but there were hundreds of hardy hikers on the mountain trails.  We didn't actually see many of them, but their parked cars lined the roads for considerable distances.  We went right around Bala Lake and saw one of the narrow gauge trains which operate in Wales.  A lovely spot. 

Llyn Padarn.

The top of Pen-Y-Pass, looking towards Mt Snowdon.

Bala Lake.

We stopped at Trevor just outside Llangollen and booked in to a rather unpleasant B&B (small bed, no central heating, no basin in the room), and then went on to Wrexham to see Janet's parents.  We had a pleasant evening chatting with them, and they gave us a magnificent dinner topped off with black cherries, cherry brandy and cream for dessert.  Another lovely day!

Ray is now making the soup so I have been delegated the task of bringing the diary up to date.  We set out from Trevor (on 28th April) and wandered around Llangollen looking at an aqueduct which carries a canal.  Then on, in the mist, to Valle Crucis Abbey, a ruined fifteenth century abbey which was not interesting enough to keep us out of our warm car for long! 

Aqueduct over the River Dee.

Valle Crucis Abbey, 13th century.

We then headed north and sat in a traffic jam for ages just outside Ellesmere Port.  I was driving, keeping one eye on the brake lights of the lorry ahead and the other anxiously on the rear view mirror where all I could see was an enormous radiator far too close.  Ray found the oil refineries we drove past very interesting, and we did at last get on to the motorway, first towards Manchester and then on to the M6 to the North.  Motorways are not the most pleasant places and I am not really happy travelling at about 70 m.p.h., but they certainly help chew up the miles!  We had a late lunch, now in the rain, after leaving the motorway near Kendal.  Then we drove past Windermere, Grasmere and Rydal Water until we saw a pleasant looking farmhouse B&B, where we booked in.  We then set off on a delightful wander around Derwent Water and various other "waters" and "meres", ending up at the Castlerigg Stone Circle.  It was altogether a lovely afternoon, and we think we will stay here tomorrow night as well, giving us a chance to explore the rest of the Lake District.  We'll post this tomorrow.

Thirlmere in the Lake District.

Above and below: Derwent Water.

Castlerigg Stone Circle, ca 1500B.C.

Thirlmere, Cumbria, 29th April.
Our second day in the Lake District was every bit as enjoyable as our first, and we had quite a bit of sun as an added bonus!  Most of the day was spend roaming around the lakes and mountains.  We went over two very high and steep passes on narrow winding roads, Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass, both having spectacular views from the top.  We visited some Roman fort ruins near Hardknott Pass, and Ann got her feet wet in the marshy ground on the way back to the car via my "short cut"!

Great Langdale Beck.

Langdale Pikes.

A precipice in Wrynose Pass.

A Roman fort near Hardknott Pass.

Then on to Wordsworth's home, Dove Cottage, which had as one its exhibits a copy of the first edition of Milton's Paradise Lost.  Seeing that, for me, was worth any amount of Wordsworth!  We then continued our wanderings around Coniston Water and Ullswater, and then back home.  Our car is giving us 49 m.p.g.!

Above and below: Coniston Water.

Dandelions in the Lake District.

 

On to Scotland

 

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