Holidays

 We have had a varied couple of weeks off, with mixed weather but we did manage to get out and about a lot.  Here we are a Rhos y Gylwen which had opened the gardens as part of the National Gardens scheme

 This was a coot feeding her baby at Slimbridge wetlands centre. 

 One of 4 stained glass windows in Hereford Cathedral which are stunning.  The commemorate A E Houseman

 Hereford cathedral has lots of icon type art up - here is a Madonna and child

 This is Ludlow - we didn't see much because it was late when we got there but we had a very nice dinner after a very nice cup of tea, so we were impressed

 This is Capel y Ffin which is tiny.  It probably holds about 20 people. It is on a back road (about an F road) between Hay and Abergavenny.  Eric Gill lived here for about 4 years, in a sort of monastry place nearby.  The chapel is still in use.

 Llanthony Prior.  Same road as Capel y Ffin, and was an Augustine priory up to the reformation.  It remimded us both of Strata Florida.  Lovely place.

 This is Tretower Court.  There was a castle here but in the 16th century they built a manor house.  As you can see CADW have done a brilliant job on presenting it. They could show Hampton Court a thing or two, especially in the kitchen.  They have had the painted backdrop done specially and it is scenes from the family history.  There was food set out, with all the cutlery etc, and the hangings have been done specially too.  It was absolutely brilliant.

 This is a shot of the kitchen, where they have had new oak cupboards made as they would have been at the time.  Where they have repaired some of the woodwork with new beams etc they have used oak and copied the way exactly as the originals

This is one of many loos.  This place had an en suite in all the major rooms.  They clearly decided on comfort when they built it as the main bedrooms have en suites as well as the downstairs rooms.

Back to work tomorrow, but we have Hadrian's wall to look forward to

Slip sliding along

 This is the beginning of today's walk at Strumble Head.  Behind Brian is a light house, which you can't see through the mist.  They did say it would be cloudy, but didn't mention that the clouds would want to come along the walk with us.

 Here I am dressed for the lovely summer weather with boots, gaiters, cagoul and hat.

 However by lunchtime it had cleared up a bit , and I had got a great deal warmer.  This is the memorial to the last invasion of the British Isles.  The French landed here in 1797 but were captured by the locals.  You can here more about it here. The cliff face here is very steep so we thought they were nuts to even try. There is a very good tapestry in Fishguard showing the whole story, done by locals to commemorate the event

 Here is Brian in a very pretty little valley.

 This is nearing the end and fatigue is setting in.

Here is one of the seals we saw on the way - not a great picture because they were too far away.  We also saw a curlew and lots of stonechats, as well as lots of gulls, oystercatchers, and cormorants.

The official distance is 6 miles according to the book.  The pedometer on the phone said it was 8.1 miles, so we are going for 7 miles.  I'm not sure how much the official distance takes in all the ups and downs, or whether they just measure it flat on the map.  There were a LOT  of ups and downs.  It was also REALLY REALLY MUDDY!  There were a few stretches where we could walk normally, but an awful lot of it was slipping along, or waddling along with feet either side of the very muddy path, plus it was really overgrown.  Using the Helen system it is a 4 goat path with an added slide mark for the mud.  We met a couple of American ladies and did actually get them to turn back because they asked if it was very muddy ahead, and we said, yes, it certainly was.

When we got to the tea shop in Goodwick I was ready for a good sit down!

However it didn't actually rain, and we did finish the whole distance, so we are weary, but very pleased with ourselves.

Yorkshire

We have just returned from an excellent weekend in Yorkshire. First stop was Hebden Bridge to spend a little time with Sue. Sue's mum has just moved to a nursing home Sue is clearing out her house. However she arrived with some trepidation as on Friday 22nd June there was bad flash flooding in the town. Apparently the river was rising 2 feet every 15 minutes. Luckily nobody was killed but a lot of people have had their homes and businesses ruined. A week later and the town has bounced back in an extraordinary way. A lot of businesses up and running again and people all pulling together. There are signs for help for flood victims and it would seem that Mrs Crabtree's house clearance couldn't have come at a better time as a lot of her stuff, like washing machine, cooker, bed linen can help people who have lost so much. Anyway on the Saturday the town's art festival started and there was a surprisingly good parade by the local people with Stomp like drummers, Jazz bands, amazing stilt walkers and brilliant costumes. It was really good and I think was a credit to the town. Anyway after that we went across the moors to Ripon. Which is really lovely. A beautiful cathederal and is famous for both Wilfred Owen and Lewis Carrol. It has 3 excellent museums. The Workhouse, the Police and the courtroom. We visited all three and were able to don silly hats so that is a result! In Ripon a hornman is appointed and he has to blow the town's horn every night at 9pm. This is a tradition that has gone on, unbroken, since Alfred the Great gave the town a charter. We went home via Burghley House which has an excellent Sculpture garden and a garden of surprises. I would highly recommend a visit to either!. Lovely weekend. Makes me proud to be half Yorkshire (OK a bit tenous, really) Picassa has decided I have had my full share of photos so if you want to see any you will have to go to Facebook