Moving Forward

 I've been a little quiet of late.  But then my world has seemed a little more quiet as I appear to have lost some hearing in my left ear.  No quantity of ear drops seems to be changing things and despite ear syringing no longer being available on the NHS, I'm struggling to get an appointment any time soon.

Anyway, last weekend we headed over the border to the rugged coastline of Ceredigion and Aberystwyth in Wales (known locally as "Aber" and meaning mouth of the river Ystwyth).  We were there to visit the University open day, but made the most of our time there by immediately seeking out the charming Wetherspoons adjacent to the railway station on Friday evening.

The temperature on arrival was mild enough to sit outside under the canopy with a prime view of the station platform - a train spotter's dream.  We had to laugh when an elderly gent unexpectedly decided to share our table (others were available).  At this point we were nearing the end of our meal (cauliflower and spinach curry for me, chicken burgers for the boys) and as we got up to leave, Gareth noticed that he had the tell tale spotter's book in hand.  Our theory is that we had selected his regular table.

After a brief but bracing walk along the windswept seafront, boasting the oldest pier in Wales (built in 1864)...

...vibrant seafront properties....

...and this impressive war memorial depicting an angel appearing to fling a laurel wreath onto the head of a naked woman emerging from a thicket below (to spare her modesty and because the light was dying and there was by now an icy breeze, here they are in silhouette form)...

...we headed back to our car, pausing only to ogle this feline beauty, who appeared to be trapped inside the shop front of a hair salon.  We checked.  She wasn't.  There was a door open at the rear of the salon, but something had her transfixed.

Our Airbnb accommodation was warm, cosy and comfortable and the welcome pack from Karen was hugely appreciated. 

It even had a kitchen and a TV!   My first Airbnb booking back in 2021 came with unexpected challenges.  My top tip.  Double check the small print with Airbnb bookings.  Luxuries like kitchens and TVs are not a given.  We managed a few days away "self catering" with the aid of a hastily purchased sandwich toaster and an ancient laptop with audio issues to watch the few DVDs in our possession. 

Saturday was largely consumed by the University's open day activities.  Kicking off at 9 am, we were handed a welcome pack including £20.00 worth of food vouchers for the day before heading into a lecture hall for the welcome talk.  This was followed by a visit to the town's Arts Centre, a handsome building housing an accredited museum, for another subject specific talk and tour.

What an inspiring place to learn!  There was antique equipment, beautifully maintained and still in use...

...and a room - the artists' studio - I could happily have made my home.  Check out the view!

We politely refused the shuttle bus and elected to walk back up the steep hill to the campus, earning our lunch in the Arts Centre Cafe, before heading over the road to talk Medieval History.  We ended the day with a tour of the student accommodation before being released into the community.  Just before we left, I spotted a ceramics exhibition and rushed in to grab a couple of photos.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon visiting Aberystwyth's highlights, including the National Library of Wales (an amazing building and the only legal deposit library in Wales, giving it power to request a copy of everything published in the UK with thousands of new publications arriving every week).

The exhibits, including ancient manuscripts, photographs and works of art, could easily have kept us occupied for a day, but sadly we were rapidly running out of time.  I managed to snap this painting by Claudia Williams, c 1980, a highly regarded artist in both Wales where she moved in 1953 and in France where she lived for 15 years, but spent much of my time studying the photo portraits of famous Welsh people.

This gave me severe cabinet envy.

Library door patina.

Onwards to the 13th century castle built by the English to keep the Welsh out.  The castle ruins provided glimpses of Aberystwyth promenade. 

This yellow corner shop caught my eye, the dipping sun conspiring with nature to cast a perfectly proportioned shadow of a tree onto its wall.

There's a great deal more to Aberystwyth, but we were flagging and so headed back to the comfort of our digs for food and wine and the prospect of a lie in.  Ordinarily, we would have been expected to vacate by 10.30, but as the clocks had been moved on an hour overnight, Karen kindly suggested we stay until lunchtime.  We were away late morning with plenty of food for thought.

Talking of food, back at home, I've purchased some new reversible bed linen covered in gorgeous Sicilian lemons (a 70% off bargain from Ian Snow).  We always have lemons in our fruit bowl and to keep the vampires away, often knock up a simple pasta dish dressed simply with grated garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and lemon juice.

What else have I been up to?  Well, I've had another hair cut!  I can't believe how quickly and dramatically my hair grew after the last one.  Unfortunately, my layers grew out too, so they're back in place and my love affair with seventies styling continues.

I've also read Gold Dust Woman, a well researched Stevie Nicks biography by Stephen Davis, watched the Amazon Prime series Daisy Jones & The Six, which takes inspiration from the turbulent story of Fleetwood Mac (worth it for the fashion in my opinion) and gone down a gold dust rabbit hole in my photo edits.  This is an old photo of the boy that was.  Where did the time go? 

In between seemingly incessant rain, we managed a walk from our house and discovered a secret water tower up on the hill, masked by trees and unknown to us until now.

The garden is slowly coming to life from Euphorbia to tulip bulbs.  

Figs!

Spring is the season our garden has the most colour.  Our beloved and ancient magnolia tree is also on target to bloom over the Easter weekend.  On Wednesday night, there was a chorus of six frogs croaking, their bulbous heads poking out above the surface of the pond water.  Unsurprisingly, this was the sight on Thursday morning.

Gareth's potted Gunnera Manicata are bursting into life (not to be confused with the invasive and illegal Gunnera Tinctoria).  

I've also noticed the arrival of more than one bulb in the post lately.  Gareth's informed me that said bulbs are Voodoo Lilies.  They sound evil.  Apparently they smell like rotting flesh for 2 days when they first bloom in order to attract flies to pollinate them(nice), but we're meant to overlook all of this because of their exotic beauty.  Looks like one has already claimed its first victim!

The birds are yet again losing out to not-so-secret squirrel.

The planned photoshoot didn't happen.  Here's a potted history.  

Casting call yielded two models - let's call them Jack and Jill.  

The first date in February was postponed due to sub zero temperatures.  

I purchase shoes and jeans for Jack to protect his modesty in an otherwise revealing outfit.

Jack drops out of the shoot after booking a lads' holiday.  

An alternative model, Pandora steps in.  We now have two brides.

They say lightning doesn't strike twice, but Jill pulls out three days before the shoot, citing a hospital appointment.  

Catherine, our French jewellery designer exclaims "Oh my God!" and "We should do a bride jilted at the altar shoot."

I am forced to cancel the shoot.

Pandora persuades her boyfriend (with previous modelling experience) to participate.  

We're now trying to find a date to suit all.  So, if you can be bothered to keep up, watch this space.

In the meantime, I've been tinkering and can now create a semi-realistic lightning bolt in post edit, something I think could work for this troublesome shoot.  If it ever happens.

In other news, my Mom was given the all clear last week and we went out for coffee and cake at Enville's Archie's Attic to celebrate.  I had a catch up with my namesake, the business owner, Claire.  She had been given the heads up on my last shoot (see above) by a customer who had visited that very day and announced excitedly that he had just seen a woman in a wedding dress up on the hills.  Much speculation ensued about where the couple had married - the church bells hadn't been ringing that day.  Claire had smiled and said "I bet I know who that was."  There are no secrets in an English village.

Archie's Attic was dressed for Spring....

....and Mom was looking happy and healthy.

Inspired by the prospect of better weather, the wreath on the door and cafe craft workshops on offer, I found my scarcely seen crafting mojo and made a rag wreath for spring from some old scarves.

Spring sunshine let's be having you!

The Beatles and The Stones

I thought I would share with you a little more on our trip to Wales.  A couple of things Wales has in abundance: stone and sheep.  The crumbling old farm building pictured above, was only a minute's walk from our front door and in this corner of North Wales, sharing your garden with sheep is not uncommon.

I must give a timely shout out to our faithful VW old "new" Beetle, that somehow continues to serve the needs of two six foot plus males, an adult female and a week's worth of luggage in transporting us here.  Not for us the gas guzzling people carriers or cars on steroids as I think of them.  No, when we holiday, we'd rather squeeze almost everything we own into a two door car shaped like an insect and sit with our knees raised up to our ears!  

Before anyone points out the titular spelling error, there will be reference to one of the Mersey Beat pioneers coming up, but I digress.  It transpires that the bug is very adept at making small items disappear.  On the third morning of our holiday in Wales, we managed to lose the sacred front door key, after forgetting rule number 1, which was to leave it in the key safe upon leaving the property.  Luckily, our son had stayed behind for a couple of hours (inexplicably he didn't fancy accompanying me to an old graveyard) and was able to let us back into the property.  

Not much to report on the 19th century church incidentally.  It is no longer used for worship, the stone signage indicating the new occupant's business there.  

The building is now being used as an artist and sculptor's workshop and was cordoned off to the public.

Back to reality, a frantic couple of hours passed as we hunted high and low - the pressure and our heart rates increasing ever so slightly when, in the midst of this search, the owner emailed to check if everything was OK.  Finally, after retracing our steps around the graveyard and after the forty third check of the car's interior, Gareth found the key lodged between the driver's seat and the seatbelt.  Phew!

Here are some village views and glimpses of the hills surrounding our valley.  Everywhere you look, the land is divided by stone walls and many of the older buildings are made from what is known as "rubble stone."

However, perhaps the most impressive local stone building was Conwy Castle, a mere 15 minute drive away and an exceptionally well preserved medieval castle fortress.  Built by architect Master James of St George at the bidding of Edward I in a staggering 4 years between 1283 and 1287, the cost of the build was an eye watering £15,000.  Here's our first glimpse, as photographed through the windscreen.

The 13th century castle walls encapsulate the town and accordingly, you are never more than a few steps away from a view of the castle walls.

I'm really not good with heights and as the entry fee principally invites access to the castle's numerous towers, it would be entirely wasted on me.  Instead, we opted to separate.  The two boys elected to walk the castle walls around the town, as I stalked them through the streets with my camera.  For the record, I did try.  I got as far as the top of the first level of rusty iron access steps before spotting this rather nervous looking dove sheltering in the castle wall.  A kindred spirit?  As the steps felt a little creaky and wobbly and had gaps between them (another big negative for me), I swiftly descended to the safety of the street.

As I did so, I spotted this crucifixion statue outside St Michael's Catholic Church, just as the afternoon sun passed over, rewarding me with this glorious sunburst.  

This marble tablet, depicting the two Marys and created by G. Rinvolucri, is one of twelve adorning the town walls.

Dating back to the mid twentieth century, Rinvolucri was an Italian architect who came to Wales originally as a prisoner of war.  He lived and worked in the Conwy area and designed several Roman Catholic churches in the area.  The aforementioned church was built in the inter-war period as it is not shown on the 1913 Ordnance Survey.  None of the sculptures is signed or dated, but all have dedications.  

The work is Grade II listed for its special interest as a fine mid 20th century devotional sculpture forming the focus of the group of distinctive tablets, all of exceptional quality, on the medieval town walls.

Mercifully, I made the right call in not joining the boys on the town walls and instead, stalking them with my camera through the Conwy streets.  

The consensus was that the walk was, in parts, "terrifying" with the safety barriers next to useless and very easy to topple over.

In complete contrast, we opted to visit the coastal town of Llandudno, situated on the Creudynn Peninsula pushing out into the Irish Sea.  It takes its name from the town's saint, St Tudno. 

Llandudno epitomises British seaside resorts and just about ticks every seaside tradition and is perhaps a quieter, more sedate, slightly old fashioned choice of destination as opposed to somewhere like Brighton for example.

Saint Tudno is said to have been one of the seven sons of King Seithenyn, whose legendary kingdom, Cantref y Gwaelod in Cardigan Bay, was submerged by tidal activity.  According to the theory, Tudno studied at St Dunawd's college in the monastery of Bangor Iscoed, in order to make recompense for the drunken incompetence of his father, which had led to the loss of the kingdom under the waves.

As the story goes, Tudno headed to the great limestone outcrop jutting from the peninsula, known as the Great Orme...

...to bring Christianity to its people.  Tudno originally lived as a hermit in a cave, utilising a nearby spring, before building up his church from there.  Nothing remains of the original 6th century church, but its 12th century replacement, named after Tudno, still stands today...

...with its spectacular adjoining Great Orme Cemetery and imposing headstones, which opened in 1903.

This extensive off shore wind farm in the Irish Sea, was visible on the horizon from the cemetery site.

Much of the town as we know it today came into being in the Victorian era.  The Great Orme itself, standing at 207 metres tall, is home to several large herds of wild Kashmiri goats, descendants of a pair given by Queen Victoria to Lord Mostyn.  

Now, if I thought for one second that Llandudno is an adrenalin-free zone, I swiftly revised that opinion on our drive up and around the Great Orme, taking the dramatic toll road.  The stop and start nature of our ascent was particularly hair-raising and a fully functioning hand brake was essential when giving way to The Great Orme Tramway, which also services the route to the summit.

For those who want to go even higher, there is a cable car option for the return trip.  As you might expect, I was quite happy to photograph these from ground level.

The views winding our way back around the toll road into town were spectacular.

Copper mining, fishing and agriculture were the town's principal sources of employment, but these days, Llandudno is a traditional coastal tourist "fun town".  From slapstick puppet Punch and Judy shows (which have 16th century Italian origins and have remained popular on these shores)...

...to the 700 m long Grade II listed pier (the longest in Wales),

complete with amusement arcade, fun fair, ferris wheel...

...souvenir stalls, cafes and eateries.

This scene on Llandudno's sea front, photographed from the pier on our trip, must lurk in countless photo albums from decades gone by.  Unusually for me, I over exposed it slightly and added a little grain in the edit, to capture that simultaneously timeless and time faded feel.

On the sea front, there were abandoned pushchairs as parents and children revelled with wild abandon, in the unprecedented warm Welsh sunshine, skimmed stones and paddled in the sea.

All life is here.  

Back in town, that other famous "Beatle" - a gilded John Lennon, was spotted posing with tourists, alongside his wife, Yoko.

A girl was making her way through a cloud of bubbles....

...and in the summer of 2022, locals eschewed summer getaways in favour of a staycation.

But soon, the party (and summer) will be over.  This lady already has her mind focused on the impending cost of living crisis.

But before all that, there's still time to linger in sunny season a little longer.  I'll endeavour to conclude the Welsh travelogue next week.  I can't promise there won't be another church.  For an atheist, I do seem to spend a lot of time frequenting old churches and graveyards, but trust me, this one's special.