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Tag: Rivers

It’s all too much.

It’s all too much.

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Rain that is!

We, like some other areas, have had a lot of rain recently and I discovered the results of that recently when I went for a walk.

I went down to the River Teme as I often do but when I got to the riverside meadow I found this:

That is a body of water, next to the river, about the size of a small lake which shouldn’t be there and my normal route goes through that water. I didn’t really want cold, wet feet so I detoured inland slightly to here:

This is the stream which is feeding that lake and that stream shouldn’t be there either. The shallowest part of the stream was a couple of inches deep (and about 4-6 feet wide) so it wouldn’t get into my boots if I walked through it which I did. Having done that I didn’t expect to have to walk through any more water.

WRONG!

That water was running along and across Kinsley Road. Again it was only a couple of inches deep so I could walk through it in my walking boots without getting my feet wet but I’ve not seen it like this before. I need to practice my ‘walking on water’ skills a bit more.

Would someone please turn the tap off before leaving?

Here today, gone tomorrow.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

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I went for a walk down by the River Teme in Knighton yesterday and used the path I usually use and came upon this.

You should be able to see the path coming towards the camera except that a lot of it isn’t there anymore. The river has been in flood recently and washed away a large part of the bank not to mention the tree in the top left corner which used not to be there.

It’s surprising what these rivers can do when they get a bit stroppy.

The Island in the Sky – Day 1

The Island in the Sky – Day 1

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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.

Bike and Hike

Bike and Hike

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This post is basically in two parts; the first part is about our Volt Metro LS electric folding bicycles and the second part is not about our bicycles so if you are not the slightest bit interested about electric folding bicycles then skip to the second part.

We bought two Volt Metro LS bicycles earlier this year and haven’t ridden them much so far because we still have to become used to them and that takes time especially when we are fairweather cyclists. This shows one in ‘ready to ride’ mode and the other folded.

They have advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages: Being electric they take little effort to ride. My longest trip so far is 10 miles in about an hour. The only after effects were related to a slight soreness caused by the saddle as I don’t have much padding in the right places. They, obviously, can be folded but there is no built in mechanism to keep them securely folded. We have purchased, at no great cost, two Velcro straps, one for each bicycle, that can be wrapped around the folded frame to stop it flapping about when being moved in the folded mode.

Disadvantages: They are very heavy at 40 pounds (21.7 kg) each. I find that I cannot lift one into the car on my own (remember I’m 83) and even with the two of us I wouldn’t call it easy. They are difficult,when riding, to keep on a narrow track and, sometimes seem to have a mind of their own when it comes to steering. This, I am told, is because of the small (20″) wheel size.

General: They have derailleur type gears, 8 in all, and the changing mechanism is very easy to use. It is also possible to vary the battery power output and, from experience, ‘Low’ is normally sufficient for an easy ride leaving ‘Medium’, ‘High’ and ‘Power’ in reserve for the worst (steep) hills.

I set off for my second test run this morning intending to go from home in Knighton to a village called Leintwardine where Amanda was to be waiting for me in her car and we were then intending to go into the local tearoom for cake and coffee. The journey would be around 10 miles.

A lot of my journey would be on back roads such as Weston Road out of Knighton to Bucknell. Then a short spell on a main road until I, once again, moved on to a back road. One trouble with back roads is that the surface can vary considerably from reasonable, like this one

to pretty poor like this one.

You may also notice the road width. It is about one vehicle wide and if you meet someone coming the other way or someone coming up behind you’ll need to find a passing place.

I did, finally, meet Amanda at Leintwardine at around 10:30 and we went into the Wood ‘n’ Ribbon Tea Room for refreshments.

After we had coffee and cake (very nice) we left at about 11:30 to walk along a nearby public footpath as far as Jay Bridge. Setting off down the side of the tea room it wasn’t long before we spotted something interesting.

You may notice some ‘lumps’ hanging in the tree in the picture above; they are Mistletoe.

Soon we emerged into a rather nice meadow which was covered in a pinkish grass – Bent Grass.

We reached Jay bridge to find that it wasn’t at all attractive but purely utilitarian. Still, never mind, it was a lovely walk and the scenery by the bridge (second picture) was delightful.

Standing on the bridge afforded the view of the River Clun below which was the reason for the bridge of course. The original bridge was probably wooden and, I imagine, has been replaced a number of times.

We covered just over a mile, which took us about 30 minutes, to reach the bridge (we were dawdling and looking at the plants and butterflies) and the same to get back. It was now around lunchtime, 12:30, so we went back into the Wood ‘n’ Ribbon Tea Room and had some lunch (again very nice). It’s a hard life.

My bicycle was folded, put into the back of the car and we drove home.

Butterflies and Flowers

Butterflies and Flowers

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Butterflies? Flowers? February? It’s not as silly as it sounds. It all started this morning with a bright sun in a cloudless sky – it was going to be a beautiful day so we just had to go somewhere. That somewhere turned out to be Croft Castle.

We wanted to try and find some snowdrops which were supposed to be found in Pokehouse Wood. Don’t ask me where that name comes from because I don’t know and I’m not about to start guessing but the wood is on the western edge of the Croft Castle Estate. If one parks at Croft Castle then it’s going to be a five and a half mile return walk to Pokehouse Wood which we didn’t really want to do so we, naturally, cheated. On the way to Croft Castle we pass through the small village of Amestrey which, surprisingly, is on the western edge of the Croft Castle Estate so we didn’t pass through, we stopped and parked.

We used a public footpath to reach the edge of Croft Castle Estate where we found a sign, by some steep steeps, which told us that we had arrived at Pokehouse Wood. Up the steps we went and eventually arrived at a wide path where we turned right. Walking along the path, which we noticed was going downhill very slowly, we kept a lookout for Snowdrops. Not a sign. Not a tiny speck of white to be seen anywhere. But then we found these. Not a lot admittedly but it is a start.

As the path was going downhill we eventually arrived at river level, you can see the river below us in the image above, onto another path where we turned right.

Then things started to get interesting.

So, finally, we did find a few. We also noticed that the Snowdrop flowers were beginning to die back so we were lucky that we hadn’t left it another week as we may then have been disappointed.

We also spotted this solitary Primrose.

The path we were on seemed to be heading back towards our starting point so we decided to risk it and continued on this path. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the bottom of the steps we had climed previously so we needn’t have climbed them in the first place. Bummer!

On our way back along the public footpath we stopped to have a look at this tree.

Now that is a tree that you couldn’t easily miss. That tiny person at the bottom is Amanda trying to identify it. She eventually decided that it was a Wellingtonia. Wellingtonias are native to California in America and that is where they grow to their maximum height. They do also grow in other parts of America but not to such a height. However they do also like it here in Britain; growing not to such a height as they grow in California but higher than they grow in other parts of America.

We drove round to the car park in Croft Castle then walked to the restaurant where we had some much appreciated sustenance.

Our next plan was to walk around the upper reaches of Fishpoool Valley so we set off and came across another interesting tree.

This is known as the Candelabra Oak which Amanda estimates can’t be far short of 1000 years old. So you should be able to work out that it is an Oak and I don’t want any dimwits asking “Barry, why is it called the Candelabra Oak” as it should be fairly obvious. We started down the wooded path into Fishpool Valley.

Some way further down we saw, across on the other side, the Grotto which we had heard about but hadn’t seen so we went across to have a look.

It has to be said that we were not awe struck. Apparently some of it is now missing but what and where I don’t know. The second photograph above shows the Grotto on the left with Amanda sitting a little way in front. Walking on we came across our third flower of the day – a wild daffodil.

From the look of the area there should be a lot more of those in bloom in a few more weeks. We’ll have to come back and see. Back to our walk. The path went on – and on – and on.

It may be long but we were enjoying it. At this time of year with no leaves on the trees and a low sun the atmosphere was ethereal.

Our final picture, before we climbed out of Fishpool Valley and went back to our car, is of one of the ponds. The surface of the water was completely still and acted like a mirror showing some amazing reflections.

We also saw some butterflies – a Brimstone, a Comma and a Small Tortoiseshell so it must be Spring. That was the end of our day but we hope to be back for more daffodils – weather permitting.

From Iron to Copper – Day 2

From Iron to Copper – Day 2

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Day 2

Tuesday morning. Woke. Levered eyelids open to look out of window. Another sunny day.

After breakfast we drove all of 15 minutes to Bodnant Gardens, which is managed by the National Trust, and we have been here before about 30 years ago before this web site was even thought of so no photographs from that trip. It is not an old garden having been created around 1874 and there is a house but it is private and not open to the public. Bodnant means ‘dwelling by a stream’.

The garden was gifted to the National Trust in 1949 when I was 13 years old which isn’t really relevant but I thought you’d like to know.

A map of the garden

One of the things that we came to see was the Laburnum Arch.

How’s that for a show stopper? This is very near the entrance so was an obvious first and I was lucky to get a photograph with so few people in it. The one trouble with Bodnant is that because it is world famous it is very popular and very busy.

Although the house is not open to the public it is visible.

I’d like to be able to have a look inside that conservatory.

A short way from the house we saw the occasional Rhododendron and at this time of year they seemed to be everywhere. It didn’t seem to matter where we were or which direction we looked there would be rhododendrons. This garden houses one of four National Collections of Rhododendron forrestii, named after the plant collector George Forest, so that might explain it. Bodnant raised their own Hybrid Rhododendrons of which the garden has a mere 350.

As the garden is very large, at around 80 acres, and is on a slope, there is plenty of structure to it.

Above shows the Lily Pond with the Pin Mill building on the Canal Terrace. The building was added in 1938 having been built in 1730 in Gloucestershire; it was rescued from decay by Henry Pochin, the original founder of the garden, who dismantled it, brought it to Bodnant and rebuilt it brick by brick.

We plodded onward down the slope passing numerous rhododendrons on the way and caught sight of this cheeky chappie eating the flowers!. He certainly wasn’t timid and if he eats them all he’ll end up the size and shape of a pumpkin.

We could see from the view in the next picture that we were, at last, getting near the bottom of the valley and the river. Rhododendrons? What rhododendrons? You don’t expect to see them everywhere do you? Oh! Wait!

At the bottom of the valley is the old mill and Amanda showing the way. Nobody mention rhododendrons!

The building is the old mill, a Grade II listed building, which was built around 1837 and was used to turn the wheels of the estate flourmill and then the estate sawmill. There is also a small refreshment kiosk here (it’s a long uphill walk back to the main tearooms).

So that’s the end of the garden then? You have to be kidding! There is now a greater distance to  the ‘Far End’ than we have already covered. So lets’s not waste time – just follow us. Keep up and don’t dawdle.

Off we go then and I’m not going to mention Rhododendrons.

I think that the poor chap above was just stunned by the amount of colour and in the next picture Amanda must have spotted something interesting (no it wasn’t me).

Stepping stones across the River Hiraethlyn. The disappointing part, for you, is that Amanda didn’t fall in. In walking along the valley one can walk on either side of the river and cross at any of the frequent bridges as shown below.

There are a number of lakes along the valley.

Finally we reach the ‘Far End’ BUT we now have to walk back and it’s all UP. :???:   On the way back we popped in to have a look at this – The Poem. Perched on a steep bank overlooking the mill pond this beautiful building was built by Henry Davis Pochin, the original builder of this garden, as a last resting place for his family.

After all that walking we staggered out of the exit and slumped into our car. So was that the end of our day then? Well no. It was about the middle of the afternoon so, even though we were tired, we decided to travel the short distance to Conwy.

We have been to Conwy before and there are pictures on the main web site of that visit but there some things that we hadn’t seen on that occasion. One of those was the suspension bridge built by Thomas Telford now owned and maintained by the National Trust. When we visited Conwy for the first time there was an entry fee and we thought that it wouldn’t be value for money so we gave it a miss. This time, however, we were National Trust members so could get in free. When we arrived we found that there was now no charge and the bridge was open to all.

It is an impressive bridge and very attractive so it was a worth while visit. From here we walked down to the Quay to see something else that we had heard about.

A house can’t come smaller than that surely unless you know better?

By this time our legs were worn down to the knees so we went back to the hotel. Another dinner, another sleep. Another day. What will the new day bring?

Walls of water

Walls of water

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On Tuesday the weather forecast for Wednesday was that it would been mostly sunny until around 3:00 pm and on Wednesday morning, yesterday, it was the same; mostly sunny. So we set off for the Elan Valley to see if it was worth returning in the, hopefully, better and warmer weather next year.

It was about an hours drive from home and was sunny for most of that until we got near our destination when cloud miraculously appeared and left us with very little intermittent sun. What a surprise. Well not really as this area is known to be one of the wettest in Wales otherwise it wouldn't be what it is.

So what is it? Here's a clue:

It's a series of five reservoirs, known as Claerwen, Craig-goch, Pen-y-garreg, Garreg-ddu, and Caban-coch, which were built between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The one above, Caban-coch,  is the first dam to be reached when approaching from the nearest town – Rhayader (pronounced 'Raider') which is just 3.5 miles away.

The next picture shows the same dam, the reservoir beyond, and the rather threatening looking weather.

This link shows a map of the area which will give you an idea of where we went.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=290040&Y=265910&A=Y&Z=126

We started from the little white square near the 'Elan Village' label and went back along the white road to the B4518 where we turned left and followed that road until we reached the Y shaped junction where we turned left. Although the map appears to show that the road goes under the reservoir it doesn't – it goes across a long stone bridge with numerous arches. We just followed that road to its termination at the Claerwen Reservoir dam.

This dam was opened by the Queen in 1952.

The road continues across the dam and stops at the other side where we get some different views.

The picture above was taken from the top of the dam looking south back the way we came.

We set off back along the road we came on, as there is simply no other choice, until we came to that Y junction. where we turned left towards the Penygarreg Reservoir. 

We made a brief stop to photograph this little series of waterfalls

and continued on to the dam at Craig Goch reservoir.

You may notice that by this time, around 1:00 pm, the cloud cover is increasing making the foreground pretty gloomy. We could have driven along this reservoir until we joined the road that we had used on a previous trip through the Cambrian Mountains to Devil's Bridge and then turned right back to Rhayader but it was near lunch time so we returned the way we came to the Visitor Centre.

They had a restaurant there and we had had a brief look at the menu when we started and wanted to try some of the appetising items on offer. We parked in their car park for which we had to pay £2:00, that covers a day, but we get a discount of 10% on whatever we spend in the restaurant. 

The restaurant seems typical of this sort of establishment except that the food turned out to be anything but typical. The food was really very good and is produced on site. We both had their home made curry, chicken for me and beef for Amanda, and thoroughly enjoyed every morsel. Excellent! We would have like to have tried the cakes but we were just too full. Next time perhaps.

The photograph below was taken from where I was sitting and you may notice that through the window you should be able to see that wall of water flowing over the dam. We hoped the wall would hold out until we had finished our meal.

This trip was enough to convince us that was a lot here to see including lots of dramatic scenery and we intend to return next year in warmer weather to do a lot more exploring. It is only an hour's drive away after all.

The next day when we were back home it started to snow. Admittedly it was rather sparse and none of it settled but it was our first snow of the winter and in November. Brrrrr!