For our first day in Staffordshire we decided to visit the nearby Rudyard reservoir. Apparently, Mr Kipling’s parents named their son after the location where they first met! Dad was attracted by mention of a steam railway so we started with that. The Leek and Rudyard Railway is quite a modest narrow gauge tourist line which runs for a short distance beside the reservoir. But, the tickets were inexpensive and there were some pleasant views. After the train ride we
Category: Holidays
Wales 2024 – Day 7
For our final full day in Wales, we decided to visit the house and gardens at Plas Brondanw. This was the home of Clough Williams-Ellis who designed Portmeirion but is much less well known. The house now contains a free art gallery showing works by his daughter as well as works by living artists. There was a modest charge for the garden but the gallery was free. The garden was modest but pleasant and the gallery was interesting although most of the
Wales 2024 – Day 6
As confirmed fans of “The Prisoner”, a visit to Portmeirion was a must for this holiday. It wasn’t cheap but we felt it would be worth while. Practically our first stop on arrival was the “Prisoner Shop” located in Number 6’s house where we bought a number of items of merchandise including two number badges. A small ‘6’ for Sophia and a realistically sized ‘2’ for Dad. Dad wore his badge for the rest of the day – after all, where
Wales 2024 – Day 5
Today we decided to have a rest from visiting attractions and just explore near to the cottage. In the morning we had clear sunny weather for the first time but it was very windy. Dad took the opportunity to take some photos of the views from the cottage. Unfortunately, by lunchtime thick fog had descended! We stayed in until after lunch and then walked down to the nearby Ynys Y Pandy slate mill which is only a few hundred metres from the
Wales 2024 – Day 4
Today we booked a trip on the Ffestiniog railway. Due to time and cost constraints we went for their “Victorian” service which consists of a return trip to Tan-y-Bwlch about half way along the line. The train is composed of restored and replica carriages from the Victorian era and we found a second class compartment which seemed reasonably comfortable. Unfortunately there was a gap at the top of the partition wall to the next compartment which was occupied a by
Wales 2024 – Day 3
We started by having a more thorough look round Porthmadog. We checked the location of the Ffestiniog Railway station and discovered that the maritime museum is only open in the afternoon. There were of course many charity shops to calibrate and we found a small cafe where we had an acceptable lunch. After lunch and with it still raining we drove over to the Sygun Copper Mine on the basis that surely it wouldn’t be raining underground! We had a
Wales 2024 – Day 2
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
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