The weather remained typically Welsh, with strong winds and rain, so after doing some shopping in the morning we headed north to visit an indoor attraction, vis the National Slate Museum in Llanberis and the adjacent Dolbadarn Castle. Dolbadarn was actually the main reason that we had chosen this area of Wales after Dad saw it appear on his work computer screen saver! The drive up via Pen-y-Pass was spectacular and Dad had to concentrate hard to keep his eyes
Category: Holidays
Wales 2024 – Day 1
A long drive to our cottage near Porthmadog. We chose to take the M4 over the Severn crossing and then drive up through the middle of Wales as this looked like a more scenic route than using the M5 and was predicted to only take about another 15 minutes. Following a sign indicating services at lunchtime we ended up in Usk and after driving round in circles ended up in the car park of their Rural Life museum. We used
Ireland 2023 – Day 4
A trip to Tintern Abbey today. We started with the nearby Colclough Walled Garden which is only a few minutes walk away and can be visited on a combined ticket. The garden is large by the standard of walled gardens and indeed the walls themselves are quite impressive. There were some pleasant sections with streams running through, but the large kitchen garden area was mostly dug up (it wasn’t clear why at this time of year). Overall, we didn’t feel
Ireland 2023 – Day 3
Off to visit nearby Ferne castle. It isn’t particularly big, but entry – including a guided tour – is FREE! When we arrived a school tour was just starting and we were told that the next tour would also be for a school but that we were welcome to join on so we did. The guide was knowledgeable and managed to keep the children reasonably well engaged. She also gave us a few minutes of her time once the school
Ireland 2023 – Day 2
Our first full day in Ireland. When we arrived yesterday we heard from thecottage owners that there was to be a classic car rally today at nearby WellsHouse at which they would be exhibiting their own vintage vehicle. Since it was only a couple of miles down the road we decided to go. We got to the house quite early whilst the classic cars were still arrivingand had a look around. There were actually plenty of other attractionsincluding formal gardens
Isle of Wight 2022 Day 1
We had an uneventful crossing on the Wightlink ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth. It was so quick and easy that we really couldn’t understand why we hadn’t done so before. It was a relatively short drive to the cottage near Brighstone (but then everywhere is a short drive on the IoW) and we arrived soon after the check-in time. The cottage was clean and reasonably spacious but was one of these places with mean owners who can’t part with a
Lincolnshire 2022 Day 2
Today we drove over to Skegness to see their seal sanctuary. It is more of a mini zoo with a collection of other animals including penguins, reptiles, butterflies, goats and an aquarium. I will admit to a fondness for seals. Their rotund forms and tendency to laze about waiting for the next meal appeals to me! Overall it was worth the entrance fee and the lunch we had in their cafe was perfectly acceptable for such an establishment. It wasn’t
Lincolnshire 2022 Day 1
The first day of our short break in Baumber, Lincolnshire and we started with a trip to the local town of Horncastle. Sadly, many shops in Horncastle are closed on Mondays, but we managed to sample a number of charity shops. One had a nice selection of copies of Railway Modeller, mostly from the 1990s, so I bought a couple for 50p each. We then wandered into a junk shop in the old Coop building. The first room was as
Bigbury Day 6
Our last day in Bigbury-on-Sea. Due to “additional Covid cleaning measures” we were required to leave early on Saturday so instead we chose to pack up and leave after lunch today. With just the morning available and the weather remaining poor we chose to stay local and just go and have a look round Burgh Island. The tide was out so we didn’t need to use the sea tractor. The weather as we walked along the beach was grim with
Bigbury Day 5
We started the day with another windy walk along the beach, this time heading up-river. As usual, the rocks sea heavy seas had dug large depressions around the rocks. It was interesting to observe how much these differed from one day to the next. As we walked upstream there was more seaweed, presumably because the rocks are better protected from the heavy seas and this allowed some interesting rock pools to exist. We turned over a few rocks and found