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DATES: 20 TO 24 SEPTEMBER 2022 INCLUSIVE

I’d booked this few days away some time back, unusually for me starting on Tuesday 20th, rather than Monday 19th. Such prescience……

Last time I was here ( see my blog North Devon – 2022) there seemed a lot more to see, so I moved a bit further south and centred my activities in the Barnstaple area.

‘Base camp” was at the Camping & Caravan Club site at Umberleigh. I continued to have luck with the weather – nice blue sky….

What was even nicer was that Tuesday evening is when the fish and chip truck turns up – how could I refuse ! Very nice F + C as well…. Saved cooking.

A good excuse  for a glass or two, watching the sunset.

I was also trying a new lighting set up for the tent which seemed to work OK, as well. Small spike mounted solar powered ones for the ground ( ie. anti guy rope tripping over department) and a rope of small LED’s powered off my USB power bank. Good stuff. 

On Tuesday morning ( 21st) I went to a bee farm, yes seriously. The Quince Honey Farm  (near South Molton) started off much smaller in 1949, but moved, only been in existence on it’s present site since 2019. Apart from “making” honey to sell ( they have more that 4000 hives scattered around the vicinity), it’s also a great educational resource to learn about bees and other pollinators. The garden’s split into different areas to provide a diverse variety of forage throughout the year. Just everything about bees, fascinating really. I shall never look at my garden in the same way again.

There is (of course !) a shop and a restaurant, so it’s quite the destination. There weren’t any children in our tour group, but I can see it would be very informative for them.

There was a tour of the honey factory with tasting to start ( with different honey gathered from different parts of the South West, eg Exmoor) followed by beesewax and candle rolling, a walk round the garden and a beekeeping demonstration ( where the young lady tour guide got kitted up and the hive was taken apart and all the various sections show with bees and honeycomb present, etc).

I was surprised that brambles were so good for producing nectar – you live and learn. Followed by broad beans and lavender apparently. There will be more lavender in my garden next year.

Altogether quite an unexpectedly fascinating morning – I bought lots of honey in the shop……..

Oh, and a beautiful sunset to end the day

Thursday 22nd was a cycling day. I’ve “done” some of the Tarka Trail cycling route before, but not started from the Braunton end of the southern “loop”.  So just decided to see how far I could go before collapsing in a heap or chickening out, which I suppose are the same thing !!!!!!!

Bit hazy to start, but brightened up as the day progressed. Dear readers, I did not complete the whole of the loop, but got as far as Bideford. The route from Barnstaple south is along old railway lines along an open estuary, so a bit exposed and windy, but still delightful. Stopped at the cafe there, then trundled back – nearly 50km in all – not bad for an old fella….

 

A bit sore  the next day, but that wasn’t going to spoil my last day ( Friday 23rd). I’ve always wanted to go to Clovelly, but somehow always went past or some other excuse. I arrived early on yet another brilliantly sunny day.

No excuses but there will be plenty of pictures, as it’s that sort of a place. Really lives up to its reputation, IMHO. Yes, it has the inevitable shop and restaurant, but not really too overtly over the top.

Anticipating  that the way down as reportedly VERY steep ( especially after the day before’s strenuous activities) the full compliment of walking sticks was deployed.  Not too bad on the way down, but VERY necessary on the way back up.

Anyway….

This house was halfway down and what a view from the garden !!!!!!

As we continue down. And down……… Its ALL very photgenic.

Part way down is the cottage that Charles Kingsley used whilst living in Clovelly, now a museum. He was a Victorian Anglican clergyman and writer whose successful fiction ranged from social-problem novels to historical romances and children’s literature.  Very small rooms by today’s standards.

Any further down we go, towards the harbour.

Eventually, you get this first view of the harbour – spectacular. And the welcome sight of a pub with outside seats, TBH could have stayed there for the rest of the day, sitting in the sunshine – beautiful !

Somewhat reluctantly ( the sun was REALLY that pleasant…) it was time for the ascent. Not too bad, but I was glad of the sticks on the cobbles.  On the way, I stopped  to say hi to the donkeys. Not used today, you can get a lift back up by Land Rover – what a cheat !

After a refreshing coffee and sandwich, it was back to base. A great day out, well worth the effort.

Incidentally, the guy who now runs the fudge shop used to be the postman for the village – fancy going up and down that all the time. In his 80’s now, but fit as a flea (as the saying goes) – wonder why ?????

So that’s the end of that week. Also, the end of my camping season.

I’ve called a halt to my camping exploits for 2022 , so no more sunset pictures for a while !!!!!!

All in all, packed in:
1. 39 nights away in 3 different countries at 10 different campsites
2. Two multi-day race meetings ( Silverstone Classic and Goodwood Festival of Speed)
3. Loads of cycling – seemingly more than 90 km
4. Plenty of walking as well – 80 km at the Silverstone Classis meeting alone
5. Eight railways/trams/funiculars – heritage and national
6. Lots of great places been and seen – Isle of Mull/Tobermory, Ravenglass, Oban, Clovelly, Lynton/Lynmouth, Llandudno/Great Orme, Llyn Peninsular, Bala, Dolgellau, etc.

So now my 2022 travel blog is complete – at last !
Not too bad for an old man approaching 76 – roll on 2023. Perhaps I’ll get to complete my much planned 42 night Outer Hebridean adventure…..

DATES: 12 TO 16TH SEPTEMBER INCL.

This is a week away  to partially compensate for the unfortunately abandoned mess that was The Great Escape. Well sort of !  Always a pleasure to go to this part of the world – there’s always something to see, any time of the year. So early September for me, just after the schools go back.

Somewhere in my research, I’d come across a list of the supposed “most beautiful seaside villages in the UK” compiled by the Daily Telegraph. Since I’d already knocked some of them off the list ( Portmeirion (Gwynedd), Tobermory ( Isle of Mull), Portree ( Isle of Skye) and Beer ( Devon), seemed to good idea to visit more.

So I duly found myself in Llangrannog in Ceredigion ( south west of Aberystwyth) which was sort of on my way to Brithdir – only a “short” detour !  

Described as a “coast hugging village”, I agree that its very very pretty.  Like all similar locations, access is a down a steep minor road. I took the “leave it in the car park at the top”  route, as car parking at sea level is difficult – must be a horror in summer, as reflected by this sign at the entrance to the privately owned car park. You have been warned !!!!!!

My arrival coincided with lunchtime, so I gave my custom to Cafe Patio, sat outside and admired the view.

Views were available from both sides of the bay, here’s a selected few. Very pretty village altogether. Unfortunately, a bit overcast, weather-wise.

So back on the road after lunch, a quick trip to Tesco’s in Aberystwyth, arriving in Brithdir in good order.

I’d taken a bit of a punt on a campsite that wasn’t part of the Camping & Caravan Club “circuit” (my usual port of call) and it turned out to be a real gem !  I stayed at the Llwyn y Helm Caravan and Camping Park in Brithdir, which is close to Dolgellau. A beautiful site, attached to a working farm. Mostly static and/or long term seasonal caravan pitches, but still good for us tent persons. Very nice ( heated !!) loo block with great showers.  Helpful staff as well; they even  moved a couple of people around so I could stay on the same pitch for an extra couple of day ! NOt too busy at all. I shall be back, as they say…….

There was even a resonably decent sunset……

Tuesday ? Ah yes, the first of the trains – what else did you expect ! The campsite was partly selected because it was only 10 miles from the Llanuwchllyn terminus of the Bala Lake Railway, a narrow gauge railway running alongside a lake ! Strange that …….

It’s only a 9 mile return trip at the moment, but there are grand plans to extend it into Bala itself. At the moment it stops short of the town. Very pretty route though, despite it being ANOTHER overcast day, to begin with, anyway

There’s a very informative museum at the station as well, worth a visit, IMHO

Bala itself is a bit of a “one street town” but still filled with loads of independent shops, cafes, etc. They’ve even managed to keep the tree lining the road. Lunch was taken here, before the trip back to the start station.

On Wednesday 14th, another train.

I’ve always wanted to go on the Conwy Valley Network Rail route from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llandudno, as I’d heard a lot of good reviews on how picturesque it was. Also, there was the Great Orme and its tramway to explore. Every time id tried before it had been closed due to some natural disaster or other. There were only a few trains in either direction, so an early start was mandatory. First of all that involved a 26 mile/45 minute car trip from the campsite, along what I would call an “interesting” road.

There in plenty of time for the 0835, which wasn’t busy at all.  The pic above also shows the platforms for the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway on the left – bit early for them ……

The Conwy Valley Line is indeed beautiful – even has its own website, see the link. The train  runs alongside the estuary for the latter part of the trip, but you get forest, etc on the middle bit, following the rather grey bit  ( slate and all that) at the beginning.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle on the journey, as the radio based signalling system was on the blink that morning for part of the route, so it was back to hand signals and physical token control for a while. Mr NR’s boffins were on the case…..

The line goes through Betys-y Coed,( another one of my “stopped briefly before, but must go back sometime” towns, which has a rather magnificent station, full of cast iron and character

My aim was the Great Orme tramway, quite a walk from the Llandudno Network Rail station but eventually got there, to find ( to my surprise) a big queue – mostly people of retirement age !!!!! Indeed, chatting to people in the queue, I discovered that the couple in front of me lived in the next street to me in Cinderford – small world….

I wasn’t expecting the ride to be two separate trams, but I guess since it’s 207 m above sea level it has to up in a pretty steep manner…..

At the top, I decided to go walkabout, following Route A from a very informative printout generated by Conwy Council, effectively walking round half of the Orme. It turned out to be a bit more rugged than I expected, but I did end up back at the Summit Complex, so it must’ve worked OK. I was REALLY glad to find the Rest & Be Thankful cafe part way round – everywhere seemed to go uphill…… Some beautiful views though

Once refreshed, I ventured into the Great Orme Mine, which is at the tram halfway station. Veryb interesting, but not for the claustrophobic !  From what I gather, it was found almost by accident in 1987, as they were clearing away an area for landscaping . Big site, well laid out with a good introductory audio visual presentation.

Then it was back down the hill again… I think it seems more precipitous going down than up. Certainly very steep….but fun !

Then a quick walk round Llandudno itseslf, before catching my return train. I had at least sat on the beach – complete with inquisitive seagull.

As with everything at this time of the year, the weather plays a bit part in  daily activities, so Thursday 15th ended up being a walking and climbing day. There’s a couple of great walks close to the campsite, so one in the AM, one in the PM. I followed printed out instructions from a whole catalogue of walks from the Snowdonia National Park Authority website.

Firstly the Torrent Walk. This is a “walk down one side of the gorge and back up the other” type of thing. Apparently quite a hive of industry in its day. Still looks pretty spectacular to me.

I took 35 pictures, so this is just a very, very small selection, but you get the general  idea……..

In the afternoon I went up to the summit of a local 75m hill called Foel Caernwych as part of a circular walk, nicely marked out with while posts across the open bits – I’m pleased to say. After the morning exertions, I was quite happy to get to the top.

Not much of a cairn, but you can see my campsite from her ( right hand photo), all picked out white-ish. It was a tad windy, but I managed to get a bit of an all-round view. Must be even more awesome when the sun is out.

Another day, another blue sky……… Friday 16th.

Today was a travelling day. For some reason, I’d never got onto the  LLeyn Peninsula, ( Pwllheli and all that).  Another one of the “prettiest seaside villages” was Porth Dinllaen, so that was my target.

On the way, I went via Barmouth, famous for its wooden railway bridge, amonst other things.

Access by road to the village is via a private road across part of a golf course, so the golf club do a nice turn in pay car parking – but it is worth it ! Good views as well – despite the wind ( again !). Yes, mad buggers were playing golf in a howling gale…..

So this is the first view you get of the village, before you plunge down the steep road on to the beach. Nice, eh ?

 

The main attraction is the Ty Gogh pub, reputedly “ one of the best in Wales”. in a good spot ! It was busy, so the beach was the place for me. Bliss, eh ? Sitting on a beach in late September, blue sky, warm sun, beer in hand and a ham sandwich. Couldn’t get much better IMHO.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/tHdNjvlcLtk

Had to drag myself away eventually, so awarded myself an ice cream from  the Glaslyn Ice Cream Parlour in beautiful n Bedgellert, one of my all time favourite places in this part of the world. 

On the drive back, I had to stop to attend to an annoying windscreen smear at the Rhyd Du station of the West Highland Railway. My good fortune as a train passage exchange happened just as I stopped, so obligatory train pictures !

 

My last full day was 17th September  – a cycling day ! The last time I was this way I cycled along the Mawddach Trail ( which runs on old railway line between Morfa Mawddach and Dolgellau) but I didn’t complete the journey because of some bike issue or other – can’t remember. So another “ghost” that had to be slain……. 

This time I went from Morfa Mawddach ( free all day carpark !!) to Dolgellau and back. The plan was then to walk into Barmouth across thw ooden bridge for lunch. Well, you know about plans……..

Th route follows the bank of the Mawddach River. Although at low level, the river estuary funnels all the available  wind to blow either from the West (normally) or East ( occasionally). In places there is little or no shelter and the ride can be a cold one. If it rains as well it can turn what you might call “challenging”. Luckily, it was a reasonable  day, but the breeze was certainly very present, so good one way, a bit of work on the return. Still. stunningly beautiful and teeming with bird life.

Part way along at Penmaenpool is an old toll bridge, which replaced a ferry service. It’s opposite the George III Inn ( now a pub/hotel), which was used as a “waiting room” for the ferry.

Somehow they squeezed the railway line between the pub building  and the river – must’ve been a bit tight. There was a station here at one time, the building now absorbed into the Inn. 

 

 

DATE: 11 SEPTEMBER 2022

An annual event in the Forest of Dean, the Vintage Show usually provides “fun for all the family”, as they say. I go for the cars, tractors, steam engines, etc. There’s the usual stands selling food, garden furniture, ice cream, plants, etc. And all for local charities.

Some tasty steam powered stuff this year, including  a steam roller complete with it’s own travelling workman’s trailer and road works signs appropriate to the era – I remember it well……. All beautifully preserved.

I especially liked this Foden steam lorry – oh the smell of fire and steam……..

Then it was off to the various car and commercial vehicle sections. I only took pix of the one’s I had a personal “connection” with, as there were several hundred to choose from ! Here goes !

A Cortina GT, no less. I had one of these when I was a Student Apprentice. Even managed to throw it round the Nurburgring Nordschieife, hopefully with style ! All 20 km of it.  Fantastic fun !

Another throwback to camping when I lived at home. We had a black one of these Morris Minor Travellers, with all the kit for four of us ! 

These Austin Atlantic’s used to be “the thing” at the time, all American and stuff. Beautifully built though with the tan leather interior.  Look at that column gear change……

When I lived in Tunbridge Wells, our near neighbour had one of these, kept it in immaculate condition as well. Probably worth a small fortune now.

Another car I had at some time, mine was cream and a lot less tidy than this example. It had vacuum operated windscreen wipers ( which didn’t work all that well when “ accelerating”) and a thermosyphon cooling system, no pump, just hot water rising displacing cold water in the radiator.

Now to the other end of the scale regarding complexity – a Citroen DS…  A hydraulic marvel of the time, it still looks relatively up to date, IMHO. So comfortable…

There were plenty of Mini’s, of course, but not one with such a huge supercharger from Vmaxscart– must be fun to drive though, claims to provide 150 bhp +….. OOOOOF !

Now here’s an oddity, an Austin Apache, from South Africa. It seem to be an Austin/Morris 1100 with front and back added – see photo. Never seen one of these before……

This is what I like about old fashioned motoring – a spare set of spark plugs in the engine bay of this MG MGA. Look at the highly sophisticated wiring as well…..

Now a few commercials. If I remember correctly, Tunbridge Wells Council had dustbin lorries based on the same Dennis chassis. 

Ah, the ubiquitous Royal mail van. I think the General Post Office had the same type. I like the extinguisher on the outside……

There were plenty of stationery engines as well. This particular Bamford ( later to become JCB ?) is powering an “end over end” butter churn. 

At the bootom of the field was this traction engined log saw, a mighty machine in action.

Plenty of bikes, including this rather strange collection of French mopeds. They belonged to a weird display team, complete with helmets and flowing superman type capes. Unfortunately, I missed their actual performance. Shame.

As it said on the poster, they were celebrating 100 years of the Austin 7. Here’s a rather splendid example, to finish off in style.