Off and Away in the Month of May

 After a brief sort out of the van we decided to spend a week back near Nottingham to explore an area with much potential as revealed by my recent visit. We stayed on a small empty Certificated Site near Underwood NW of the city and rode down to the Trent via the Erewash Canal. From here we carried on to the Attenborough Nature and Bird Reserve before heading through Nottingham city centre and then picking up NCN Route 6 north to Hucknall and back across to Underwood.

Moving on to Newstead we parked up near the station and rode through Newstead Abbey seeing a very young barn owl flutter down from a tree on his first faltering flight. We reached the Sherwood Pines Country Park for a coffee break and then returned via a network of tracks and trails through Newstead once more. A short drive brought us to the Griffins Head at Papplewick which offers a Britstop location in a large flat field that hosts a car owners club show on Wednesday evenings. It also provided a good meal and quiet overnight location so that next day we could drive over to Newstead to park up and catch the train in to Nottingham to visit the Sandstone Caves and National Museum of Justice. This worked really well as both are within easy walking distance of the station. The caves were remarkable and the interpretation and presentation gave a real feeling of how life would have been in the labyrinth of passages. Layers of development right up to the concrete footings of modern buildings covered the history of smuggling, political meetings, storage, beer cellars, a tannery and of course shelter during the bombing raids of WW2. My photos are on an SD card in a camera sent for repair so will appear with luck in the next post but it is a well recommended excursion. 

The NM of J had a good cafe for lunch after which we experienced a mock trial in the superb wood panelled court, looked at the myriad ways in which prisoners used to be treated and baulked at the various old cells and solitary confinement rooms. The history of the justice system was fascinating and well documented - another worthwhile visit. Our train back was a bit crowded due to an earlier cancellation but once back at the van we drove back to Papplewick for another quiet night.

Down at Wollaston Hall we visited the hugely impressive T Rex exhibition that displayed a life size replica skeleton containing some actual excavated bones. Walking round the Park gave us the opportunity to get close to red and fallow deer and some waterfowl with youngsters before we headed home.

I then went down to stay at Dethick on the quiet field near where friends are based and caught up with Barry and his son who have made great progress on his van conversion. It was a peaceful stay before a joint trip down to Wales which started with another Britstop at the Wheatsheaf, Baslow near Chatsworth - the quiet car park was ideal and having arrived early we had plenty of time to ride over to Bakewell and ride the Monsal Trail. After dining well we took a walk down to the Chatsworth campsite which was busy, rather cramped and at £45/ night not nearly as appealing as our arrangement.

 After an early get away we were soon at Ironbridge and parked adjacent to one of the old blast furnaces for a ride up to Bridgnorth along the Severn having briefly cycled along to the bridge and out to the excellent cafe near Ingenuity. We hadn't realised that the Severn Valley Railway has a terminus at Bridgnorth so were delighted to see a steam train arrive and cheekily walked through the restored coaches as the engine changed ends. Eventually with steam hissing and a whistle from the guard the return to Kidderminster departed. Talking to one of the volunteers he explained that steam days were being curtailed due to the shortage of coal following the Ukrainian conflict and will be constrained in the future by environmental controls. A bridge took us across to the castle with its lopsided keep and the castle walls path took us round to the unexpected Bridgnorth Cliff Railway where the friendly operator was keen to show us round and describe his day. After returning to Ironbridge we moved on to a vineyard near Wroxeter that offered another Britstop but as we arrived late and left early we didn't actually go in. 

 

Round by a small church on the Severn we parked up to ride cycle routes to Telford with its new bridge, down to the Coalbrookdale bridge and back along to Ironbridge for a pork pie. From here we returned to the van stopping for a couple of hours at the impressive Roman ruins at Viroconium near Wroxeter.

A substantial wall remains and others outlining the former bath houses store rooms and shops can be seen. School groups had long gone so we had the place more or less to ourselves.

 

A steady run over in to Wales saw us taking a steep road leading to Coco's wild camping where Andrew allows people to pitch where they like over 30 or so acres of undulating hills. There are no real facilities but the views were stunning and despite a stiff wind we were very warm and cosy watching the sun set.

A walk locally the next day took us past a clutch of very swish eco houses partially buried in the hill with a return via woodland as a squall gave us a soaking. However the sun reappeared as we got back so we were soon dried out and amused ourselves as a group of 4x4 vehicles with roof tents  pulled up on our exposed location and beat a hasty retreat after jumping out. A large scout camp away and below us would have perhaps overstretched the very basic composting loos so again we were grateful for the comforts of the van.

 

On Saturday the 21st of May we dropped in to Llandrindod Wells for some shopping before pulling up at Sue's near Llangurrig tucking away in her quiet field for an afternoon in the sun. A ride on the Sunday up to Nant Rhys bothy was cut short by cold winds and drizzle so we we were soon back in the van for a relaxing afternoon before rain fell that evening.

Monday saw us move on to stay at Devil's Bridge with a short walk in en route to call at Nant Syddion bothy where a quick clean up saw all well. The Vale of Rheidol narrow gauge steam railway's afternoon arrival pulled in - a guy on the bridge would have found all his photos somewhat obscured by the clouds of steam and those passengers in the open sided carriages looked a bit chilly. We then walked through the woods and gorges below the triple decked bridge and glimpsed the train returning to Aberystwyth across the valley. The large car park behind the three storey Alpine style Hafod Hotel made for a quiet night after a very good meal - we spoke to a local guy who was tiling some bathrooms but was also a keen photographer with a particular enthusiasm for kingfishers - he had taken some great shots.

Cors Carron bird reserve was the starting point for a ride in to Aberystwyth along the old railway line and down to the harbour. In town the old university buildings are at the start of a major renovation and in the marina we spied an unusual speed boat that looked like it would belong to a Bond villain.A hefty slog took us to the top of Constitution Hill by the cliff railway's top station for a good lunch of fish and chips, out of the wind with a panoramic view of the promenade. After returning to Cors Carron we decided to overnight up at Teifi Pools, very much an old favourite of mine, before walking across to Claerddu bothy which as always needed a bit of a tidy up. The rubbish was recycled at Pontrhydfendigaid before we called at Tregaron to look round the craft and jewellery centre and then drove over the Cambrian Mountains to take the forestry tracks to Moel Prysgau bothy. On a recent cycling visit I had not been able to take away the accumulated rubbish and disappointingly there was even more there this time. This combined with damage to barriers and tyre tracks in the ground leads me to the conclusion that it is mostly 4x4 visitors who do the damage as the amount of rubbish and abandoned kit was more than anyone could walk in with.

Three hours unpleasant sorting of rotten food, broken glass and smelly plastic saw all well once again and we took out the bottles and cans for eventual recycling down at Brecon. I played badminton in Brecon that night whilst Mandy stayed with the friends at Lower Chapel and on the Thursday morning we shopped before heading to Sennybridge Filling Station to do laundry before arriving at friends above the village where we would be staying four nights as they went up to London for a charity cycle event covering 100 miles. That evening we went see Kate Rusby perform at the Hay Festival and the following day saw them off on the drive east. With just two horses and two chickens to look after it was an easy gig, although our need to empty the van loo was thwarted by an over full septic tank necessitating a quick trip in to Brecon to resolve things.

A sunny Saturday saw us take back lanes to Trecastle and then cycle round the Usk reservoir where at the base of the dam a lovely couple have opened a small cafe in their garden after 8 years of renovating a semi derelict cottage. It was good to share experiences of the smallholding life, the rules around food hygiene, which seem as pedantic as ever and the peace and quiet of winter months in mid Wales.

Sunday was spent relaxing with a walk down to the Shoemakers for a pint before returning via the fringes of the Epynnt Military Range where a rogue shower caught us out.

Crad and Dawn returned safely but tired so we headed off in to Brecon for the night with a ride along the canal planned for Tuesday. This took us from Crickhowell down to Cwmbran via the good cafe at Goytre Wharf and then up to the Industrial Heritage site at Blaenafon before dropping down through the Clydach gorge and returning to Brecon in time for the evening screening of the excellent Top Gun sequel. We had parked on the Promenade so enjoyed a walk in to town along the river to the cinema, returning for a very quiet night.

I had contacted Kidwelly Town Council to arrange a stay at Kidwelly Quay tucked away down by the tidal estuary which is a Britstop and very lovely so with plenty of the day left, despite calling in at Llandeilo for the good kitchen shop and a nice deli lunch, we jumped on the bikes and rode round the old military  airfield to the expanse of Pembrey Forest. Tracks took us out to the vast and deserted beach with only some distant horses shimmering in the haze of a mirage to be seen.

 

We managed to lose sight of each other briefly but eventually met at the visitor centre where the campsite was rapidly filling up ahead of the Jubilee weekend. Back at Kidwelly we took in the pretty village and impressive castle before enjoying a great sunset from the old wharf. The Saturday dawned hot and sunny so we set off on a longer ride east towards Swansea, soon meeting up with a young German couple following NCN 4 to London. We left them at Burry Port and continued through the Millenium Coastal Park past Llanelli and round to Loughor where just up from the bridge a small park had a much needed ice cream vendor. It was a steady run back to Kidwelly where we could have stayed on but instead moved round to Laugharne to stay with an old contact from the days when I kept Rare Breeds animals. Leslie has moved from mid Wales down to the coast but still has a flock of mixed coloured sheep that provide her with meat, skins and above all wool for her spinning, knitting and weaving. It was good to catch up after over twenty years and we slept soundly on her yard.

Laugharne Castle, quay and the famous Dylan Thomas Boathouse were all a delight as the tide ebbed away revealing the mud flats of the estuary and we walked round the coast path for a couple of hours with stunning views across to Pembrey and the Gower Peninsula one way and Pendine to the west. We then drove over to Colby Woodland Gardens where Leslie was manning the craft stall in their gallery and were delighted to buy a beautiful lambs wool throw. The walled garden was a joy but we were running out of time so returned to Laugharne where a Jubilee party was taking place on the sports field but we had booked a table at 7 in the Poon Street Food Thai cafe. This was yet another memorable meal with the quirky owner, hard working chef wife and attentive waitress making for a really lovely occasion.After another night with Leslie we departed having bought some lamb chops, sausages and burgers moving only a few miles to a small CS at Llandybie where simple but good facilities complimented the quiet field with good views across the Carmarthenshire countryside. We walked down to Llansteffan on the coast and round on a circuit of perhaps 8 miles but got caught out opposite Laugharne by a heavy shower - a Polish couple had a night under canvas to look forward to as they were walking a section of the Welsh coastal path, but we were comfortable in the van on a showery night.

With a damp Sunday in prospect we caught the train in to Swansea from Carmarthen, mainly to enjoy the views of the areas we had been enjoying over recent days and walked down to the new Arena Arts venue reached by the new Oystermouth Bridge. A quick pint in the art deco Grand Hotel by the station and we were back to Carmarthen on the smoother and faster GWR Hitachi Hybrid hauled Express.

Empty roads led us to the Ferry House Inn at Llanstadwell on Milford Haven where despite its small size and slope we secured a place for the night in the car park overlooking the rising tide. The view from the bar was sublime so we booked a meal for the Monday night and then walked a short way towards Neyland.

 

On a stunning Monday morning we set off to join the old railway line up to Haverfordwest from Neyland with a quick look round a town that more than a decade ago was my shopping and banking centre when I lived in the area. Not much had changed and we were soon on our way to Picton Castle which was asking a fortune to visit, thus we rolled on and dropped down to a point on the Eastern Cleddau opposite Landshipping. A brief section on the A40 to Canaston Bridge  gave way to passing Blackpool Mill which is being restored and arrival at Landshipping itself where a large old house is also undergoing renovation. More empty lanes brought us to Lawrenny with its boatyard and campsite and a cafe overlooking the Cresswell River. From here we dropped through Cresswell itself and reached the impressive Carew Castle with its adjacent tidal mill. A final climb up on to a ridge led us easily in to Pembroke for the final castle of the day - Pembroke. Forty years previously whilst walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path Greg and I had camped at the foot of its walls and it looked as impressive now as it had then with the still waters of the moat  and an abundance of wild flowers.

The Cleddau Bridge took us across the deep waters of Milford Haven and on to the Neyland Bridge from where we swooped back down to sea level and back after 56 miles to the pub for, you've guessed it, another great meal. we decided to make the most of the light evening and walked out towards the bright lights of the LNG and oil terminals with the now gas fired Pembroke Power producing up to 4 million homes worth of electricity. It was thought provoking to pass amongst such complex and indispensable infrastructure mindful of the events on the other side of Europe and the global impacts arising from them.

 

Moving on again we parked up at Dale and walked around St Annes Head with the tanks firing over at Castlemartin Ranges booming in the distance. In 1485 Henry Tudor Earl of Richmond had landed at Mill Bay with 4000 men from 55 ships - astonishingly within a fortnight he had passed up the west coast of Wales, crossed the Cambrian mountains and defeated Richard 111 at the Battle of Bosworth - a remarkable feat given the distance to be covered on foot through terrain that is still inhospitable in places today.

We moved on to a small well kept CL just inland from Druidston as cloud swept in but still walked down to the laid back Druidston Hotel where perhaps 25 years ago I had done some fencing work and occasionally returned for a pint on the terrace with its sunset views. No such pleasure on a foggy night but it was good to go back anyway.

En route to Solva we stopped for a walk on the wide sweep of Newgale Beach passing through an arch in the rocks at the southern end to reach a completely empty cove. Further round at pretty Solva we watched sea kayakers testing their skills as they left the sheltered harbour before finally reaching Porthgain, another beautiful harbour with the popular Sloop Inn and Shed fish and chips. Whilst down by the boats moored up the owner of the Shed rowed across to one of them to take more of the day's catch back to the fryer - as fresh as you could ask for. The remains of the old brick and slate works with huge brick hoppers all added to the charm of the place. Rugged Strumble Head lighthouse gave us our first seal sighting and we stayed a while in the old WW2 microwave communication test centre hoping to spot dolphins in the perhaps too choppy seas.

 Goodwick harbour and ferry terminal to Ireland is quieter these days as post Brexit much European freight goes directly to Ireland from Spain and France. The new Co Op in Fishguard replenished our stores before we stopped for a walk round the Old Town and Harbour as some youngsters swam in the warm sunshine. I had done some sea kayaking from here a few years ago and hope to get back on the water again at some stage but for now enjoyed the setting before moving on to Newport for a walk down the estuary and round on to its empty beach for a final excursion. The pub at Trewern put us in the corner of their large car park amongst trees alongside a feisty young horse who eventually seemed to approve of our presence. Returning to Newport we explored the streets and coastal path with everywhere seeming pretty quiet as Jubilee crowds had gone home and school holidays are some way off. Whilst out cycling we had seen a camp site with a Greener Camping Club banner so did some research on the web and decided to stay on one of their sites up at Mwnt.

Returning up the coast I noticed that the small farm where I used to live is now a CS - I always thought its location and wonderful view would lend itself to such an enterprise, even though it always seemed windy up there.

We parked up at Ceiwbr to walk a section of path back to the Witch's Cauldron, a huge collapsed sea cave, and were delighted to spot another seal out at sea and then tucked away in the calmer waters of the Cauldron a young pup lolling about waiting for mum to come back with a meal. It was a lovely sight as he eyed us cautiously from way below. We moved on for a look round Cardigan where the Council have changed the rules about parking for vans and display an illogical and contradictory sign - I will email them asking for an explanation but at present their website is down. Two fire engines were attending a shop fire so the main street was closed to traffic as onlookers gathered round.

 The proposed site at Mwnt wasn't quite as we expected, and we realised had no loo emptying facilities so a quick glance through various apps saw us arriving at Fedwig a couple of miles away where Andrew welcomed us to his huge field at Nantycroy with a stunning view, good facilities and a high hedge to tuck away alongside to avoid the strong wind.

 

We walked along to Mwnt beach on the Friday with food, blankets and towels plus wetsuits but the sea felt really cold leaving us to enjoy a day in the sun as the wind sporadically whipped up the sands and waves. Despite my earlier comment there were several families there with school age children who presumably had forgotten the disruptions to learning caused over the last two years by Covid and made up part of the estimated 140,000 pupils currently not attending school.

That evening we walked down to the picnic table that Andrew has placed on his lowest field but to escape the wind crossed the coast path and walked down a rocky outcrop to tuck away opposite one of the old sea cliff slate quarries that are dotted around this area. The sun slipped behind a cloud bank to give an unusual sunset before we returned to base.

Our final day was a return to the bikes - with a descent to the Cliff Hotel at Gwbert passing some stunning new houses and then the road in to Cardigan where we had another look round and an early lunch at the Castle bistro. My buddha bowl was remarkable with 17 different fruits or vegetables and wild rice which energised us to head out to Poppit Sands. The previous evening we had heard a helicopter and were saddened to hear that a local man had drowned there after assisting two children caught in a rip tide. A donation was made at the RNLI station before we headed up the steep hill towards Moylegrove. A sharp local shower soaked us in minutes - no trees up there to shelter us - but on the long descent to Cilgerran we soon dried out. We dropped further down to the river to read about the tradition of coracle fishing on the Teifi before cycling through to the Welsh Wildlife Trusts Centre nearby. After refreshments and a browse of the shop we took back roads to Fedwig where a few more campers had arrived but it was still pretty quiet.

So after a busy and enjoyable month away we set off for Sheffield stopping in Lower Chapel en route to collect my 3 spare CampingGaz cylinders in preparation for my next trip. As I anticipate cylinder gas to be tricky to obtain in Germany and Poland let alone the Baltic states I will be taking all 5 cylinders full from Britain - 2 full Calor 3.9kg which I won't be able to fill and the 3 Cgaz which I might. However as it is only a two month trip with care the whole lot should get me through as I intend to cook less and with summer temperatures need cooler showers.

A final bonus on our return was to head through the Peak District to Bugsworth Basin on the Peak Forest Canal where friends were staying at the Navigation Inn to enjoy some paddle boarding. We were able to stay by the pub so had a very enjoyable meal together, I've not seen Denise for a couple of years now so it  was good to catch up.

 So the Baltics next which I hope will be amazing. I have a sailing from Harwich on the 29th of June and return on the 30th of August. This will give me the leeway to return to Portugal in early December as we still have to work around the post Brexit 90 day limit - thanks again Vote Leave. What so far has Brexit actually achieved ??????

Anyway relax and enjoy the show : here.