Browsed by
Category: Powys

The Island in the Sky – Day 3

The Island in the Sky – Day 3

Comments 1 Comment

The weather forecast for today was cloudy but dry so I opened the curtains with a little trepidation, especially after yesterday, to find this.

If that’s the sort of cloudy they meant I’m all for it. Today we go home but not straight home. We plan to go to Lake Bala for a ride on the Lake Bala Railway and to do that we have to go over the Hellfire Pass. We first have to drive along the edge of the lake and passed these rather fine, large trees.

We did notice that there are a goodly number of these very tall, very straight trees in various places around the lake. Nice to see.

We reached the start of the backroad which leads us up to the Hellfire Pass and found that it was a typical Welsh backroad – one car’s width and rather bendy both laterally and vertically.

We were climbing along the side of a valley to our left which Amanda could get a good look at, I didn’t want to take my eyes off the road, and she said it looks really beautiful with a stream running along the bottom and, apparently, waterfalls every few yards.

We managed that road easily enough especially as we didn’t meet any other vehicles (makes life easier) and we eventually turned right on to the Hellfire Pass road. Very soon after a short climb this came into view. There are very, very few places where one could stop off road so, to take this photograph, I just stopped where I was in the road. Again there were no other vehicles and that view is rather dramatic.

We went on a short way to the point at which we could see around that left-hand bend in the valley and I had to stop in the road again for this view.

What a view!

Soon after this we reached the top of the pass where there was a car park – the only one we encountered since we left Lake Vyrnwy so I had to take some more photographs of the views. Incidentally this is the second highest pass in Wales. I mentioned in a previous blog post that we had been over the highest pass in Wales – the Gospel Pass. I wonder where the third highest is?

Now we started down the other side which proved interesting. At times there was level ground either side of the road and at times there wasn’t. There was a very steep slope on the left and there was sometimes a crash barrier and sometimes there was nothing. This, remember, is on a road which is just wide enough to take one car. We did make it down safely and made our way to the Lake Bala Railway terminus.

The train above, waiting in the station, was the one we caught but not before we had a good look around.

This is our rather cute little locomotive called ‘Winifred’. It apparently wasn’t the intended locomotive for today but had to be used because the other one developed a fault this morning.

You may notice that it does not have a cab, so no protection from the elements for the crew, and there isn’t exactly a lot of room on the footplate.

The seating in the carriage wasn’t exactly plush but comfortable enough for a short journey – 30 minutes each way.

This is ‘Maid Marion’ the locomotive that was going to be used today until she got the hump. At least the crew would have had some protection from the weather in that little cab.

This train rockets along at about 10 miles per hour so I was able to take this next photograph of Lake Bala on the move without being joggled about too much. Pretty ain’t it?

When we reached the far end of the line, and the lake, the locomotive had to be uncoupled and moved round the train to the other end which is what’s happening below.

It looks cosy on that small footplate and it’s a good job that it wasn’t raining hard – they don’t even have an umbrella.

I apologise for this next video. It stops prematurely because storage on the camera had filled up. Bother!

That was the end of our trip so it’s time to go home. That was a rather short trip but we didn’t have any idea what the area was like or what the hotel was like so it was a trial trip really. We did like the area and the hotel very much so we would certainly like to re-visit Lake Vyrnwy again, if we can. Until next time!

The Island in the Sky – Day 2

The Island in the Sky – Day 2

Comments 1 Comment

The next morning we couldn’t wait to draw the curtains and this was our view.

Oh! Were did all that fog come from? Whilst we were preparing to go down for breakfast we kept an eye on the view and it was then that we saw the island in the sky. What an astonishing view!

The view was changing over time and we realised that the fog was slowly disapating and we could see more of the island as it did so.

However breakfast awaits!

After stuffing ourselves at breakfast we prepared to go out. First we were off to the local village Llanwddyn (pronounced lanurthin) to look at the dam at this end of the lake and I must say it looks very impressive.

Looking from the dam across the lake we can see the straining tower where the water first passes through a fine metal mesh to filter or strain out material in the water. The tower stands in over 50ft deep water and is over 150ft high but much of the structure is hidden underwater and cannot be seen.

Some of the earlier fog is still hanging over the water which makes the scene that much more picturesque.

From the top of the dam part of the village shows in the early morning sun.

Then we set off on today’s adventure which means climbing up the hillside to look at the remains of a Knights Hospitaller Hospitium built in the 14th century.

The first part of the walk was through forest so we could see little but trees. When we finally left the forest we could still see a small portion of Lake Vyrnwy and some beautiful autumn colours.

We were now out in the open trying to navigate across the relatively featureless moorland.

If you look carefully at the image above you should be able to see a diagonal track starting near the left-hand edge of the horizon and sloping down into the picture. That track leads down to the Hospitium but we didn’t know that at this time.

We are much further along now and you can still see that diagonal track disappearing into the dip ahead. It turns out that what remains of the Hospitium is in among that Bracken on our left. It would be very difficult walking through that so, although it was disappointing, we gave it a miss.

We went on round to the left and down into that valley which is where that diagonal track was leading and in the valley is a small stone bridge over which that track passes. This medieval bridge is a crude but functional structure and each side is shown in the photographs below.

There was supposed to be a spring near the Hospitium and Amanda found it by wandering around until she could hear rushing water. It was rather buried in the undergrowth but the flow was very strong.

We made our way back to the car (much easier to say than to do) and as it was parked next to the lake we noticed that the change in the direction of the sunlight was now lighting up the arches in the top of the dam rather nicely.

Driving back to the hotel I spotted this nice view of the hotel so stopped to take a photograph.

We went up to our room to prepare for dinner and later I took this photograph of that same view from the window again but different lighting.

I don’t think I could ever get bored with that view.

The Island in the Sky – Day 1

The Island in the Sky – Day 1

Comments 1 Comment

It all started with a boot full. That is to say a car boot not a boot on the foot. “But wait” I hear you cry “Surely you’re not going on another trip so soon after the other one?”

Well, from the look of that boot,with cases, I would say we are going on another trip and, this time, it’s Lake Vyrnwy about 50 miles north of us. The navigation system estimates the journey time to be about one and a half hours. Welsh roads don’t y’ know (one car wide).

The journey proved to be fairly straightforward and we arrived at the hotel without any problems. The hotel is the large building on the hillside in the distance beyond the lake. Just in case you wondered it is all of that building.

It is a nice hotel with two separate seating areas and we had a room overlooking the lake so you’re bound to get some views from the room later on.

The sitting room above had a small balcony outside with some tables and chairs.

Our room isn’t going to be ready until later this afternoon, which we expected anyway, so we decided to drive up to the far end of the lake to have a look at a waterfall.

We parked the car and set off on our walk but hadn’t gone very far when a very friendly local decided he wanted to join us. There was no “Do you mind if I join you?” – he just joined us. Here is Amanda with our new friend.

He eventually became tired of our company and we left him behind. A little further on we spotted these mountaineering sheep on quite a steep slope.


Continuing with our walk we came up to the brow of a hill and suddenly there it was.

We were determined to get to the foot of the falls so we pressed on which involved crossing the river. Not so far to go now.

Then we could see the waterfall in all its glory.

Finally we reached the foot of the falls. The view from here wasn’t quite as good as from further back but it was a lot noisier.

It was now late afternoon so we went back to our hotel. Our room was ready so we took our luggage up and had our first look out of the window. We couldn’t really complain about that could we?

So, dinner this evening, then it’s off to bed ready to wake to a new day.

Sun, Sea and Sand – Day One

Sun, Sea and Sand – Day One

Comments 0 Comment

We struck lucky with the weather on this trip although the first part of the first day was cloudy (no sun, sea or sand) but after that it was sun all day every day.

We left home at about 9.00 AM for a two and a half hour journey so decided to break it up by visiting a National Trust Property at about the one and a half hour mark.

We stopped at Dinefwr Park and, for those of you that don’t know, Dinefwr is pronounced “Din ever”. It consists of Newton House (a stately home), the ruins of a medieval castle (Dinefwr Castle) and lots of parkland which is home to a herd of deer.

As I mentioned above this morning was cloudy but I took the following picture anyway.

However we called in here again on our way home when the weather was better and I photographed it again. Which picture do you think is better?

Inside the house it didn’t matter what the weather was like outside so I carried on taking photographs.

Those rooms, as you might expect, look rather grand. The Dining Room in the top picture and the Sitting Room in the bottom picture. The interesting thing about this property is that nobody minds if you touch the furniture or walk on the carpets or even sit on the chairs.

I did go out to the back of the house where it overlooks the Deer Park and surprise, surprise I saw some deer. They were quite a long way away so even using my telephoto lens to its maximum this is the best that I could achieve. You should, at least, be able to see their antlers.

I took that photograph above from the small formal garden shown below which is at the back of the house. That is the only gardens they have here.

We also had a look at the castle both times we stopped here so as the weather was better on the way back these photographs are from then.

There is a reasonable amount to see in this castle ruin even extending to a few medieval spiral stairways which can be tricky to negotiate because the height of each tread can vary as can the width.

It is possible to see Newton House, together with some lovely views, from some of the high points of the castle so it is worth the scramble.

We had some lunch here at Dinefwr then headed off to our final destination. We booked into our hotel and after sorting out our parking space (they have only 10) which we had reserved we went outside and this is the first photograph I took of Tenby from outside the hotel.

Here in Tenby at 4 o’clock we now have sea and sand but no sun yet but we set off to explore anyway. The hotel has gardens at the front that are terraced down the steeply sloping cliffs to the beach and that is where we went.

It is now 5 o’clock and look, the sun has appeared! So now, finally, we have sun, sea and sand. What a change in just an hour.

We were able to walk along the beach as the tide was out and went to have a look at that lump of rock sticking through the sand. You can see that the rock bedding is steeply inclined and, as we later discovered, that applies to most of the rock on this coast. That tiny bit of head together with a splash of red on the right-hand edge is Amanda.

We walked along the beach until we found some steps up into the town. This is a view back the way we came from town level. You can see that lump of rock that we stopped to make friends with and just to the left of it is a small cream building. Our hotel is directly above that.

It is now 5:30 PM and you may notice that the cloud is dispersing rapidly.

Now I have to ask – have you ever seen a fat seagull?

Well you have now. As you can no doubt work out it is a little cafe so we went in for some coffee and cake.

It was a nice little place and the cake was good. That’s Amanda over on the right against the wall. Having finished our refreshments we went back into the town. Want some colour? We can find you some colour!

This is just one of the many narrow lanes in Tenby. There is plenty more to see but we are calling it a day and are going back to the hotel until tomorrow.

Our weather

Our weather

Comments 2 Comments

About a year ago I purchased a weather station which I erected in our garden where it has been standing since. I thought that you might like to see some aspects of our weather over the last year.

First the temperature (Blue Line). You can ignore the red line which is the Dewpoint.

  

Secondly the rain.

And lastly the barometric pressure.

If you prefer it in tabular form:

High Temperature   85.8°F at 08-Jul-2018 16:38
Low Temperature   19.5°F at 28-Feb-2018 22:26

High Humidity       95% at 04-Jan-2018 08:20
Low Humidity       21% at 25-Jun-2018 13:05

High Barometer     30.729 inHg at 22-Oct-2018 12:32
Low Barometer     29.050 inHg at 05-Mar-2018 23:02

Rain Total 40.69 in
High Rain Rate 6.00 in/hr at 28-Jul-2018 14:39

High Wind 27 mph from 224° at 24-Jan-2018 02:14

This, remember, is all in our garden in Knighton on the Welsh/English border and is not necessarily relevant to other parts of the country but it gives an overall impression.

The weather station does not measure hours of sunlight which is a pity.

 

Rocks and Red

Rocks and Red

Comments 3 Comments

A short while back, before Amanda had her foot operation, we had to go to Llandrindod Wells and I stopped to take this photograph on the way.

It shows a hill called Llandegley Rocks but known locally as the Dragon’s Back and perhaps you can see why. We keep promising ourselves that we will climb it one day but we haven’t managed to do it yet (we are afraid of disturbing the dragon).

As travelling, especially walking, is out of bounds at present I did a little travelling in our garden today and photographed our Japanese Acer. I must say I have never seen it quite so red as it is now. I thought you may like to see it.

Amanda’s foot is progressing slowly but it’s going to be a long time before she can do any serious walking.

Concrete and Roses

Concrete and Roses

Comments 1 Comment

Gregynog Hall is a one hour drive from home.

Let’s get the pronunciation right first. The ‘y’ is not pronounced as ‘ee’ as in ‘silly’ but ‘i’ as in ‘bite’. The ‘greg’ part is emphasised more than the rest. Sorted!

This style is the sort of thing that you would have seen on farmhouses in Montgomeryshire many centuries ago but this building is not what it seems and it has a rather complicated history.

There has been a building on this site since the 12th century but the original medieval hall was demolished and rebuilt in 1577 and then demolished and rebuilt again in the late 1840s. So is that the end of the story then? Well, no, it isn’t because it isn’t actually a timber-framed building. The facade that you see is concrete moulded and painted to appear as a timber-framed building and is one of the earliest uses of concrete for such a purpose.

So the current building is Victorian but includes some parts of the older buildings. The building itself is not normally open to the public because it is now used as a study centre for the University of Wales but today it was open as part of ‘Wales Open Doors’, the equivalent of the English ‘Heritage Open Days’. The grounds are normally open to the public but we didn’t look around the grounds because the weather was poor. We will probably return to explore the gardens at some stage.

So let’s go in.

This entrance takes us straight into the Lounge.

That ‘Chesterfield’ style seating looks very loungy and it was, as we discovered later, when we lounged there drinking our coffee and eating our very scrumptious cake.

The room next door was the Blayney Room which featured the original medieval wood panelling.

The carving over the fireplace was very intricate and amazing.

Just down the hall was the Library and what is now called the Senior Common Room. I don’t know the Common Room’s original name; looks pretty comfy though.

That was the end of our short visit but we hope to return with better weather to explore the grounds and gardens although on this visit Amanda found a Rose Border which looked very interesting. Our next visit may not be until next year.