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Noyelles Travels
Saturday 3rd October
After a fairly slow start got away at 9 to set off for Wales. A strange journey in that 80% was
on busy dual carriageways by passing just about all the towns & cities. Unfortunately crossing the Severn road bridge was marred by light fog which obscured the view. Eventually, at about 4pm we arrived at the cottage which is inland high on a hillside overlooking the sea which is about 5km away. During a quick recce outside we saw a fox walking across the drive.
After a feed we retired to bed up stairs & slept until 10am the next day. The cottage is small but well appointed & is very comfortable. It has 2 bedrooms upstairs & an annexe with another 2 beds. It is of local stone of indeterminate age with a kitchen dining area, lounge & a sitting room.
Sunday 4th October
Up at the crack of 10am for breakfast & then off to Newport which is about 4km to the east of the cottage. It is a small town with many fine stone buildings with a rebuilt castle & a fine church & several pubs. We invested our 20p (50c) for 2 hours parking which is virtually never free in the UK & wandered around the town to find a cafe serving excellent coffee & wi-fi access. Met another Aus couple from Brisbane & heard to our surprise that Australia beat England at the Rugby World Cup last night.
Drove east to Cardigan, a fine small town with a castle dominating the river crossing with a good range of shops in the old stone buildings. To return we took a less direct route which took us on to a headland via a winding, narrow entrenched road & to our horror met a big farm tractor towing a trailer with massive bales of hay. Having just survived this encounter we drove for what seemed ages through a couple of small villages before coming back into Newport & greatly relieved arrived back at Bryn Cottage.
Monday 5th October
A wet & windy day so back into Newport where there was a small market & we bought some interesting breads, cheeses & some vegetables before going up over the heaths above the cottage & then down to a small beach side bay just below the Dinas peninsula. The cove looks west towards Fishguard harbour.
We returned to the cottage & waited for our guests to arrive from Winchester. At about 5.30
they arrived having overshot it & gone further up the road past the cottage. It was great to see Lucilla & Gareth who we first met about 10 years ago on one of our visits. Gareth's grandfather, Aimé, employed Dick’s grandfather Gerard, to collect orchids in Colombia at the end of the 19th century & we had met by a strange series of coincidences in 2002. Gareth has written a book about his Aimé’s exploits there & has made extensive use of Gerard’s book & letters.
It is so good that we can have time together before we visit Columbia in November as Gareth has extensively researched the orchid hunting of the time & knows more about Gerard’s early life than Dick.
We sat up and talked until quite late, by our standards & went to bed pretty exhausted.
Tuesday 6th October
Had a latish start again & drove down to Pwllgwaeolod, a little beach at a creek mouth before Dinas Island, where there is a sea food restaurant. After a coffee we drove back to Newport & had lunch at our new favourite cafe. From there went down to Parrog which is a lovely seaside beach & river mouth.
We walked along the sea front past some fine houses, with a great view across the river mouth. It had been used to export slate & had a ship building yard at one stage but now is just a tourist centre. On our return we drove once again across the heath above the cottage.
We again discussed Gareth’s book & had a very convivial evening after a great roast lamb dinner.
Wednesday 7th October
Off to Cilgerran Castle, an unusual Norman twin towered castle high above the river Towie. This had had quite a turbulent early history as it changed hands from Norman to Welsh several times in the 12th to 14th centuries. Then on to St Dogmael’s Abbey, just a mile from Cardigan, a ruined Benedictine abbey which was beautifully sited across the river from Cardigan. Although it had rained heavily in the night it was just breezy & we had a wonderful time wandering amongst the ruins.
On to Cardigan for a wander before we returned late in the afternoon for another fine meal & another fairly late night.
Thursday 8th October
Lucilla & Gareth left after breakfast & we had a late start after doing the washing we drove to Goodwich, a suburb of Fishguard. We had seen handbills for a concert in a church there but didn’t have its address. After a couple of false starts we found the church & then moved on to St Davids to see the cathedral.
St Davids cathedral is very impressive with an unusual interior dating originally from the Norman era. First we found the refectory where we had an indifferent lunch before
touring the cathedral itself. Returning we drove via Newgate which has a surf beach with intrepid surfers, we had a coffee at a pub across the road from the beach, with a great view of pebble dunes. It was too low to see the beach itself, very disappointing but we were desperate for a coffee, onto Haverfordwest where we stopped and walked about a mile to find a pharmacy to buy Ibuprofen for a very sore d*** who was complaining about his knees.
In the evening we returned to Goodwich to attend a concert of the Voskiresenije vocal ensemble at the local church. The Russian group comprised 4 ladies & 4 men with an incredible voice range between them from basso profundo to the highest soprano & their singing was quite wonderful. Each member had a solo opportunity & it was an amazing experience. Unfortunately the audience was small although the recital was received very enthusiastically.
Friday 9th October
Set off for Pembroke this morning & crossed over the hills behind the cottage on the incredibly windy, narrow roads averaging about 30kph, terrified of what we would meet. We came across the tiny church of St Brynach, at Pontfaen which was open & was very pleasing. On the way to
Pembroke we stumbled on Carew castle which is a ruined Norman castle one of whose major claims to fame is that it was owned by the man who killed Richard III. In the courtyard & the rooms costumed school children were being shown life in such a castle & were obviously
enjoying it. Below the castle was a tide mill sitting on a wall with a sluice.
The keeper told us that the tidal rise & fall there is a massive 26ft (8.5m) which is about the same as Nova Scotia so it provided plenty of power to grind grains.
After a coffee at the local pub we moved on to Pembroke to see the castle, the largest in private hands in the UK. It is a marvelous example of a medieval castle sitting at the end of a rocky ridge & it has played a serious role in British history. By chance we had a guided tour with Isla, a lovely enthusiastic guide telling us of its history. As we were the only takers so it was a very exclusive presentation which lasted for about 2 hours.
Making our way down back to the car we returned via Tenby, which proved to be another gem.
Tenby is a small walled port city with islands off the coast. The roads wind down to the small
fishing harbour & the streets reminded us in many ways of Lymington with their mixture of architectures from the Tudor until the early Victorian era. It looked as if it would be well worth visiting again one day.
From there we returned to the cottage as the light was fading.
Saturday 10th October
Left the cottage for Brockenhurst via a more northerly route on our way for lunch with Dick’s cousin Wray in Staunton just south of Newport, Monmouthshire. It was a slow & winding route through heavily treed country for much of the way on quite surprisingly narrow 'A’ & ‘B’ roads. To our surprise we passed an defunct gold mine at Dolauchoti managed by the National Trust. Unfortunately we were too early & couldn’t afford to wait for it to open at 11am so reluctantly we moved on.
We arrived at Wray’s place at 11.30 & after a coffee all moved on to the local pub for a most excellent lunch. It was great to see him & Marrilyn, his wife & to see his lovely water colours.
After quite a long lunch we drove down to Winchester where we caught up with Monica & Colin, friends from Jane’s travels in the late 60s. Here we had dinner before setting out for Brockenhurst arriving at about 9.30.
It was good to catch up with Jenny at last as she had been in Swanwyck when we arrived from Perth.
Sunday 11th October
Rupert came over at 9.45 & we had a very convivial time hearing about his family & their progress. The family all seem to be going well & his life seems just as busy as always & it was good to hear all his news.
In the afternoon we went over to Milford to catch up with Mary & Sean Crane who we hadn’t seen for quite a time. Poor Sean is recovering slowly from a very severe stroke which he had just had when we were in the UK last July & we hadn’t managed to see him then. He is making good progress but is still wheelchair bound & his speech is hard to understand. We all walked up to the beach at Milford & the sea was nearly millpond calm so it was very pleasant. After tea we returned to Brock to take Jenny up to the remote church of St Nicholas where there was a special service. We returned to the village & ate a wonderful meal at the local Indian restaurant.
- comments
Owen And beautiful blue sky! Hoping the knees hold up. Best wishes.
JOHN AND JEAN WOW, Great pictures . Brings back some wonderful memories .Did you find the Welsh Orchid. It is called the daffodil. Jean wants you to know how much she enjoyed the comments and pictures of her homeland. Take care. John and Jean
Alison Hi to you both. Always love reading your blogs. Enjoy.
brian & Judy What a lovely start to your travels . Love the photos of castles & scenery.B.&J.
Stephen and Helga Tomkins Wonderful pictures ! We are impressed with how much you to packed in to your visit to Pembrokeshire. We have been reminded by you to go and see Tenby. Stephen has not been there for 50 years! Great castles, are they not . We wish you both well in following Dick's ancestor's footsteps in South America.
Neil & Jacque Enjoyed your blog. Hope the knees have improved.
Judith Ralston Hi Jane and Dick. I'm thoroughly enjoying living vicariously through your wonderful photos and commentary which bring back many happy memories of earlier travels. (Peta is at Anna's birthday lunch today.) Love Jude
Tish Sounds great fun have never been to Wales love Tish