Windmill Farm, IoW - Steampunk in the Summer of Love Sometimes you stumble across something so different you just have to go see. So, when we found a site that offered both touring pitches and the chance to glamp in a Westland Wessex helicopter we just had to go. Yes you did read that right, they have a (grounded) helicopter
Ireland2018 Epilogue When I got back I made a little map to consolidate the route. We really did cover a lot of the country
Cornwall2019 An appointment with Albert Those cheap train fares are too good to miss. It's likely to be showery so today's a good day to be warm inside a GWR carriage, or pub near to the destination station. So the plan is: take the bus to Plymouth Station, catch the first sensible train out, somewhere!
Cornwall2019 No, not that city centre! Oh, that's better, first night we've not frozen our derrieres off. Let's hope the weather is improving. Boring stuff to start with. Our journey since Exeter has been marvelously exempt of decent food shops. Even Lynton didn't have much, certainly not a decent butcher or baker open when we walked
Cornwall2019 Dolphins and fish dragons Funny how things change. Just a couple of days ago we were thinking of cutting this trip short because of the cold. Today we extend our stay on this site by another 3 days, until the weekend. Riverside campsite in Plymouth did indeed have spaces, so here we are. Liz
Cornwall2019 The last castle The holiday is reprieved (for now) - Riverside campsite in Plymouth has spaces. Oh, and it's the weekend. This means another CAMRA heritage pub, The Drew Arms in Drewsteigton is open at lunchtime (evening only most of the week). Not only that but it is smack next to the National
Cornwall2019 Settled on an unsettled (and unsettling) day Well, landlord Andy was true to his word and we were chauffered the few miles to Umberleigh station in his Subaru, with him cursing the (probably tourist) driver in getting doing a mere 40mph on this 60-limit road. Mind you I'm not sure if I'd have been much better, this
Cornwall2019 Going with the flow No fixed plan apart from to avoid the cold and wet/hail. So a slow morning getting off-site. Liz manages to snap the pair of dippers on the river, and bidding the warden farewell she informs me that otters have also been spotted. Sadly not by us though. Meander across
Cornwall2019 Dedicated to some brave men It's warm here! In bed that is, it's freezing outside. So we don't get out of bed until 11! To be fair we were asleep until gone 10. We may not have walked far yesterday but it was hard work. Skulked around in the van doing craft things whilst the
Cornwall2019 What goes up... Well, the weather's turned. Let's face it, it was cold and 'orrible yesterday, today is just colder and 'orribler (and haily). Have been introduced to God's timpani section during the night where the hail beat upon the van with a syncopation to make Buddy Rich envious, it set the mood
Cornwall2019 A pretty wall (and a pretty walk) A pair of dippers flash past the van door. How's that for a start to the day! Pay the warden and get the local info - although we have the walk into town sussed after last night's pub visit and going into town is a must - we want to
Cornwall2019 Stopping at the 4th brewery! Travelling day. The bus goes out past the pub to Chagford. We check the map and there's no obvious route in the maze of twisty white roads. Fearing getting sucked in to an ever narrowing eel-tap, we opt for going in the opposite direction, back towards Exeter. Liz, once again,
Cornwall2019 Bird on a weir So, thanks to the pub we can leave the van and catch the bus into Exeter. First question "Where's the bus stop?". It's a narrow road but in front of the house opposite the pub (the nice thatch I photographed yesterday) it widens slightly. "Yes, that's the place" we are
Cornwall2019 On the road again. Day 1 is driving day. Or, since this is England, driving for a bit, sitting in a traffic jam for a bit, repeated. Still not too bad. An 11:15 start, closest we've been to our "I want to be on the road by 11" yet. 112 miles, over an
Blowin' Dixie, double time Sometimes, just sometimes the gods smile on you! Today was such a day. Moving on but in no real rush to get down to the next campsite at Rhayader we decided to pub stop for a night. Many options but the Greyhound pub in the tiny village of Llangunilo, in
On the train Today's cover picture is apposite. It's the very train we took on our day excursion on the Welsh Highland Line down to Porthmadog. Almost just a round trip as the autumn service meant just a couple of hours in Porthmadog before heading back. Now, as the crow flies we travelled
An even gentler stroll We want to be careful not to overdo things and risk a temporary sprain or something. So a gentle day today. Mooch around the van for the morning. Wander up to the village shop for a paper and then on to the local coffee shop. Except it wasn't a regular
A gentle stroll A 6 mile stroll from the campsite today. Much of it on tarmacked roads or well made stones paths. We did try to cut across country on hill paths looking for evidence of bronze and iron age but the path soon disappeared into a tangle of bracken. Not being able
Knights with horse-back The high walls with close-up parallax error shows I have a long way to go before I can take decent photos of somewhere like Caernarfon Castle And this picture would be so much better off those rows of tiny crosses were just a little bigger and more obvious, although the
From rain to train Leaving Llangollen today and on to Snowdonia. Hmm, the A5 on a Bank Holiday Monday. Hopefully the traffic will all be going the other way. Betws-y-coed is full of discount outdoor clothing shops and even more full of tourists. The main parking areas are mayhem and after cursing our way
It's Bank Holiday, it's Wales It's raining! So a 'van day' today and chance to catch up with some of the craft stuff we've brought. Including my weaving. But as the afternoon wears on the clouds thin out and by early evening it is just about sensible to risk a walk down to the pub.
"Caw", said the crow "Balls", said the Milligan (Spike Milligan, Puckoon, 1963) So there I am at breakfast time trying to solve The i cryptic crossword from yesterday (last night's happy hour left me in no mental state to undergo such a challenge last night) and there's this crow somewhere on site, every time
In search of a bodge Grrrr!!!! A few years ago one of the hinges on the van's glass hob cover broke. Amazingly my IBM friend Andy repaired it by adding a steel plate. This was a considerable feat of engineering given just how little space or material there was to play with. Well last night
It ends at the beginning You never really think of canals having starts and ends. You just assume they go somewhere and link to some other navigation system. But the Llangollen canal has a definite start/end. Telford designed a horseshoe shaped weir across the River Dee just a couple of miles upstream of Llangollen
Another bucket list tick Wern Isaf campsite is a nice little campsite on a working farm. A little more ordered and regimented than some campsites but spotlessly clean and great facilities at a good price. It's only just over 1/2 mile from Llangollen. Now that's not a 1/2 mile north of Llangollen,
