20/08/2023 - 'A week in West Wales' by David

Wales is a long drive from Southampton.

We stopped twice, got caught in three traffic snarl-ups on the way and on finally reaching Wales, we realised that we still had 78 miles to our destination. Let's just say it was a long day, but what awaited us was worth the 7 hours on the road though.

 

Alice and I had a lovely week in a renovated Blacksmith's forge on an acre of land, within a scenic valley in West Wales, and it was as peaceful as it was stunning in it's beauty. 

The owner's mission is to produce a garden of plants that will feed either humans or wildlife and the creatures were abundant. I encountered numerous species landing either on my book or my leg and one day a Butterfly landed on my shirt. The next day a Dragonfly stopped on my hand. It had been flitting around the mill stream that had powered the Blacksmith's bellows years ago, and I let it rest there as I admired it's delicate wings - almost see-through, colours glinting. We shared a moment before it flew off.

There are Housemartins nesting in the eaves and Red Kites drifting gracefully on the thermals above. There is something to see at every turn and I have been captivated. 

I sat out in the sunshine drinking lots of coffee and the odd Bloody Mary, reading an Agatha Christie mystery that I hadn't read before. The property is called the Reading Room and has hundreds of books to choose from. I think you should always judge a book by it's cover and this edition, published in 1953, had a vivid, mysterious piece of artwork of the period and it drew me in.

We ventured out to make use of my new walking poles, recently purchased, and they certainly gave me confidence on uneven ground as we walked on the beaches and promenades of Penbryn, Mwnt and Aberystwyth and the surrounding forest and cliff paths.

In two days we walked 14 kilometres with 468 metres of elevation and my legs felt strong so I was really pleased. I have noticed that I can have days where my legs feel good and then the next day they feel weak as though I might stumble. It's very hard to explain to people just how my legs feel but the word I use to Alice is 'woolly'. It's as though I own them, but that they are starting to do their own thing. 

We had originally planned to walk up Snowdon but two things put us off. Firstly, it would be a five hour round trip on the road, and secondly, in the holiday period, there are so many people ascending, either on foot or by train, that you have to queue to get to the trigpoint at the summit, take a quick photo and make way for the next person. That is not my idea of how I want to spend my time out in the open so we have settled on much quieter routes.

Alice acquiesced to my love of steam trains and we rode the Gwili line and I even got to stand on the footplate! We also went on the Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, the second largest finicular railway in Britain and at the top paid £1 to see the world's largest Camera Obscura! 

We finished our week in Wales with a parkrun at Llanerchaeron and a Beetroot latte.

I will sign off with a confession. As the attached photo will attest to, I'm wearing the ugliest but most comfortable shoes since Smurf boots.

I have had these beauties for years and wore them in theatres for a decade but I have not been brave enough to admit my secret as it will obviously dent my 'boy about town' image. But it's time for me to come out so... "I Love Crocs!!!" 

There, I've said it! And if you don't like it, you can jump in the sea!