Wales

The next few days will see us complete our travels in Wales, as we travel to Chester, explore the Brecon Becons National Park, and head onto to the capital of Wales, Cardiff.

Thursday 27 October

Some rain overnight and the prediction is for more across most of the country but we're heading for Chester today and get on the road fairly early.

The camp site we initially tried was booked out so picked a smaller one – Netherwood Touring Site - which is basically someone's home with very large back yard converted into a camp site with several power outlets and basic facilities (one shower in each, two toilets for ladies, one for men plus a urinal). It is by no means up to the Caravan Club standards but at first glance the facilities seem adequate. It is also reasonably close to Chester city centre so we can either walk or catch a bus. 

On a fascinating historical level, this is the area where the troops of King Charles I fought against the Parliamentarians in 1645 but were savagely defeated.

This afternoon we just went for a walk along the canal and marvelled at the many long boats moored along the bank. We walked past 4 lochs and watched a couple of people travelling in these boats operate the lochs to get through. It seems a very slow way to travel and would loose its romance pretty quickly for us.

At shower time we found out how adequate (or not) the facilities were. Sylvi was right with plenty of hot water in the ladies but Bill had none in the men's. The proprietor simply suggested he shower in the ladies. Lucky the site isn't too full.

Friday 28 October

It is a gloriously sunny day with minimum of 5 and maximum of 13 predicted. We decided to take the 40 minute walk into Chester as it's very difficult to get any online bus times information, and it's a very pleasant walk along the canal.

Being a bigger city (and school holidays), the crowds are out and the mall is bustling. The beautiful “Tudor style” buildings this city is famous for are actually Victorian black and white Revival style which look very elegant. 

The famous and unique “Rows” - the upper level of shops – date back to the 13^th century. A quick look at one reveals old stone steps leading to the upper level and sloping stone walks running along the length. There are some shops on this upper level as well as residential.

The Chester cathedral is immense and stands on the site of a 10^th century Saxon church. There is such detail on the outside with many religious figures as well as gargoyles and animal head down pipes. And on the cute factor, we watched a squirrel foraging in the garden obviously very used to the presence of humans.

Inside the cloister are many displays of archaeological finds – stone coffins, tomb stones – and many references to how the Benedictine monks of the 11^th century once lived. The cloister gardens with very modern fountain makes a peaceful retreat.

Inside the church itself is mind blowing with so many things to look at in this massive building. One interesting thing is the “court” room where matters of discipline, amongst other things, are decided under “canon law”.

The colours of the mosaics on one wall depicting bible scenes seem faded but are still impressive, and the detail in the wooden choir stalls is breathtaking. 

Also very impressive are the many different ceiling bosses in different sections of the vaulted ceiling.

At the end of our visit we took a quick look in the cafe which was once the Monk's refectory – totally amazing in itself. On one wall is a tapestry by Raphael (wow) done for the Sistine chapel in the 16^th century. The colours are very faded but the images still visible and we are in awe that we stood before it.

Finally, we came upon another magnificent sculpture of our favourite, St George slaying the dragon.

After a visit to the Information Centre we did our own walking tour of the city which also included walking much of the city wall. 

There was so much to see including the Eastgate Clock installed in 1899 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, a beautiful tree lined promenade by the river called the Groves where bands sometimes play in the Edwardian bandstand, medieval ruins of St John's church, old Dee Bridge of the 14^th century, remnants of Roman Gardens containing colonnades and an unearthed Roman Amphitheatre large enough to fit 8000 spectators.

The Town Hall looked amazing on the outside. Opened in 1869 by Edward, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, it is an imposing sight opposite the exit to the Cathedral.

One of our favourite things was the city wall, originally wooden and built in 79AD. Between 90 and 120AD the Romans replaced the wood with stone. In the 13^th century the walls were fortified as Chester became the military base for the conquest of North Wales. The 18^th century saw the wall became a promenade rather then defence.

There are still several towers within the wall (all shut) and our favourite is the King Charles Tower so named because King Charles 1 stood within watching his troops being defeated at Rowton Heath (site of our camp site) in 1645.

Wow, what a city, totally loved it. 

And it must have loved us too because when it came time to go home we couldn't find a taxi so caught a bus (grumpy bus driver) that didn't drop of us quite all the way home. 

This turned out to be a good thing as we came upon our local pub, The Cheshire Cat,  and stopped for a very lovely dinner. We even contemplated staying there the night (rather then walk home in the freezing dark) as their website said rooms were 35 pound, but that must have been for a single as we were quoted 65 for a room where the previous occupant had taken the key so we wouldn't be able to lock it unless inside. Too many factors going against us so we declined.

In the end the walk home wasn't too bad (must have been well fortified from the lovely bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio) and we even braved showers in the cold facilities on arrival. Luckily the men's showers had been fixed and both showers were lovely and hot.


More photos on Chester are here.

Saturday 29 October

A friend of Sylvi's, Linda (all time great gal and baby boomer), was the Brisbane organiser for the Walk For Daniel event this year which is especially poignant as his remains were located a few months ago. We haven't heard but are sure lots of funds were raised from all walks held throughout Queensland to continue child protection projects. Check out the newspaper article. The Morcombes are inspirational people and have always comported themselves with dignity and determination.

On more mundane news, Qantas is on strike and hopefully will have everything sorted by the time we head home on 30 November.

Today we are heading to the Brecon Becons in Mid Wales, an apparently gorgeous national park which we'd love to do a nice walk in. It's a bit grey and rainy but there is blue sky in the distance as we head off.

Along the way we hear that Michael D Higgins has won the Irish presidential elections. Second was Sean Gallagher – the guy we saw in Cork – and third Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein.  

Michael D was the only candidate who could speak both English and the native Irish Gaelic.  He was also by far the shortest candidate - we thought of him as the leprechaun candidate - not very PC.

The 3 hour drive to Brecon is absolutely gorgeous with so many beautiful trees that look like they're on fire. The colours are wonderful.

Our camp site, Brynich Caravan Club Site, is fairly busy but this is the last week-end they are open for the year. We spent the afternoon pottering about, including moving our rig out of the mud caused by the rain which decided to annoy.

Later in the evening some camp residents set off some fireworks in preparation for Halloween on Monday. We've been surprised how popular Halloween is in the UK and Ireland. Lots of shops and homes have decorations up, supermarkets selling huge pumpkins for carving and also selling fireworks which are legal here. Bill is itching to get some but we might wait for Guy Fawkes Night in early November.

Tonight the clocks go back an hour here, the end of summer time.

Sunday 30 October

It is very balmy this morning, probably due to heavy grey skies. But as the morning wears on the sun appears and the temps lower slightly.

The plan is to visit the town of Brecon today and do a national park walk tomorrow when we head off towards Cardiff.

The walk into town is along the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal which seems very shallow. This is confirmed as we start seeing the long boats which seem much smaller then the ones we saw near Chester. The trees lining the canal are lush and of autumnal colours, and there are many ducks happily swimming about. We've decided that the pretty coloured ones with green feathers at the head must be the male and the dull brown ones the females. Could be visa versa, but you always see a brown one with a coloured one.

As we arrive in town, we are at the head of this canal which reaches all the way to Cardiff. Try as we might to find the Information Centre, it proved a difficult exercise so we visited a few sights.

The Brecon Castle is a ruin but cleverly attached to the Brecon Castle Hotel. The old coach building seems to have been converted into specialised accommodation and the view to the hills in the beer garden is lovely.

After 2 phone calls to the Info Centre we finally find it and pick up a map for walks in the area.

The only thing open to visit today is the Brecon Cathedral so we make a beeline for it. It's not hard to find as the two square towers can be seen from a great distance. It almost looks like a castle but the grounds also hold the Deanery, Almonry, Heritage Centre and Cafe. 

A christening is taking place when we arrive so we tip toe around so as not to disturb. Some of the features date back to the 11^th century during the time of the Benedictine Monastery. 

There are the usual beautiful wooden features, stained glass windows, decorated tombs of dignitaries and something common to most churches we've seen in the UK – Rolls of Honour for the fall soldiers from the region for both world wars. These ledgers are housed in glass cases which is so special as they will always be there for generations to see. We also found an ancient wooden coffin tucked in a corner which must have been found during excavations.

Walking through the church's graveyard and into the forest beyond, we start the walk home which will take us 90 minutes or so. 

Most of the way is picturesque through colourful forest but suddenly we're foot deep in mud caused by constant rain, frequent walkers and the tractor of the land owner. Luckily we didn't slip over as being covered in sticky red mud would not have been a good way to end such a lovely day.

By the time we are near our camp site we are back walking along the canal and get to see a real viaduct in action as the River Usk flows below the canal with great speed. Bill is impressed at the engineering genius of the builders from generations ago.

Arriving back at camp after 4pm, most of the residents have left so there won't be any more fireworks tonight. It's now dark from 5pm.


More photos from Brecon are here.

Monday 31 October

Things seem to be sorted at Qantas for the moment but could raise their head again just before we head home. And news today that the UK unions seem ready to strike on 30 November over changes to retirement age and pension contributions. Hopefully none of these events will prevent us from departing as planned.

It's not cold but it's raining so our planned walk in the national park is off. We're not too unhappy about it as we did walk around 6 miles yesterday so backing up with a steep walk up a mountain might be a bit too much to ask today. So we're off to Cardiff.

Rather then visit the more popular Cardiff Castle with it's foundations dating back to the Romans, we aim for Castell Coch, the so-called Red Castle, a ruined 13^th century fortress transformed into a “fantasy” castle in 1870 for the third marquess of Bute. However where our GPS directed us was nowhere near the place so we carried on, where we got to see another red building.

This turned out to be a good thing because the second thing we planned to see - the St Fagans National History Museum and Castle – turned out to be an all day event which we totally loved. The “castle” is a country house built in 1580 for the prominent Windsor family who eventually donated the dwelling and 100 acres of land in 1946. The idea for this open air museum (opened in 1948) was modelled on Skansen in Sweden (which we visited many years ago) and displays examples of houses and dwellings from many areas of Wales. We also visited something similar in Oslo at the Norsk Folkemuseum, and like there we thoroughly enjoyed it.

There was so much to see but some highlights were a medieval parish church, a tollbooth, a flour and wool mill (both still operating), a cockpit (where cock fights were once held), a farmhouse and attached buildings and the Oakdale Workman's Institute (a really beautiful building). All of these are of varying ages and were dismantled from their original location (apart from the farmhouse) and painstakingly re-erected here at various times since 1948.

One thing we would have preferred was more light in some of the dwellings as the dull light outside made it difficult to see inside some of the cottages. We guess they were trying to be really authentic but it's not great for photos, or for seeing much inside.

After a break for lunch we went back to see the castle which was absolutely beautiful and fantastic as were the surrounding gardens. It really is a wonderful thing the family did leaving this for all to enjoy. And apart from the parking fee, it's free to visit. We highly recommend.

Arriving at our camp site, Cardiff Caravan Park, we negotiated for a hard pitch rather then grass as all the rain has caused much bog which we're semi happy to walk in during the day when out exploring, but don't want it outside our front door. This is a council run site, and the facilities are quite good and we're within walking distance to Cardiff city. There are lots of cute squirrels dashing about here.

Tuesday 01 November

Happy birthday to our niece Jessica.  After much overnight rain and more into the morning, it finally brightens up as we head off into the city. It's a lovely 13 degrees.

Walking along the River Taff and through Bute Park we quickly arrive at the walls of Cardiff Castle which is absolutely massive. The original sections of the Roman wall from the 2^nd century can plainly be seen below the additions from the Normans in the 11^th century. The 3^rd Earl of Bute owned the property in the 18^th century and lavishly restored and expanded the castle which was handed over to the city in 1947 by the 5^th Marquis of Bute.

One quirky thing is the Animal Wall dating back to 1890 when nine cement animals (with glass eyes) were built into the wall which stood in front of the castle. In 1922 the wall was moved 50 meters down to accommodate road widening and in 1931 six more animals were added. The most recent renovations took place in 2010, which included replacing the armadillo’s nose.

We never really planned to visit the castle so went to find the Tourist Information Centre for a Walking Tour map of the city. This took us to the City Hall and Law Court buildings, the University, Museum, Millennium Stadium (enormous sporting arena), St David's Cathedral (rather ordinary), and many beautiful historic buildings.

The Cardiff Market (opened 1891), an indoor market, is in the centre of the city and was once the gaol. Ashton's the fishmongers has traded there since 1866. There is all sorts of fresh food as well as jewellery, handyman items and homewares.

There are many sites throughout the city including the relatively new Millennium Stadium, build close to the historic Cardiff Arms Park, which still stands in the shadow of the new stadium. 

There is also a large area just outside the old city where a new city administrative area was planned and built, including government offices like the new town hall, law courts, and the University.

On the walk home, again through Bute Park, we pay more attention to the beautiful trees and flowers as well as the lovely Summerhouse Kiosk. This Kiosk was built to resemble the original as the old one was moved to St Fagan's Natural History Museum in the 1970's and we do recall briefly seeing it there yesterday.

As the capital city of Wales, Cardiff has a great mixture of old and new. This was a very enjoyable day and we definitely appreciated the fine weather and mild temperature.

Wednesday 02 November

The first night we didn't hear any outside noise due to the heavy rain, but last night was fine and clear. At around 10pm we heard the local church bells toll the hour and thought that would be it for the night. But our nightmare from Rothenberg Germany had returned – church bells that didn't only toll the hour but each quarter, 24 hours of the day. To add to the lullaby there was either multiple helicopter transports to the local hospital or they were shooting an episode of Police Chase.

Consequently not much sleep was had and this influenced our decision to forget about seeing the Cardiff Bay area and move about an hour away to Newport which brings us closer to our next stop of Bristol.

We did a Tesco shop before finding our camp site, Tredegar House CountryPark Caravan Club Site near Newport.

Tredegar House is a massive 17^th century house with attached buildings – huge stables, brewery, servants quarters - set on 90 acres of now public gardens. You can visit the house from Easter to September, so unfortunately we miss out on seeing the interior, but you can walk around the grounds. It really is a beautiful house with very ornate decorations on the gate and under the eaves. These days they hold receptions and weddings here.

A fascinating thing not too far away is the only Transporter bridge in Wales and one of only 7 in the world. Inspired from one in Rouen, France it was built in 1906 as building a normal bridge or tunnel was too costly due to engineering requirements. 

 Due to lack of maintenance, the bridge closed in 1985 but was put right and reopened in 1995.

Unfortunately the “gondola” only takes 6 cars across at a time so when a new bridge was opened a bit further up the river in 2005, it became obsolete and now remains as a tourist attraction and reminder of this brilliant engineering feat of the time.

Well that's it for Wales, and we head back to England, and over to Bristol, tomorrow.

More photos from Cardiff and around are here.