Category: Wales
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Strata Florida
The isolation of Mid-Wales today can sometimes be misleading, and shouldn’t be used to judge the past. The villages may seem to be empty and a long way from each other, but when they were established the countryside population would have been very different from today. Without the modern machinery we take for granted today,…
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A Day At The Races – Welsh 100 No 53
You have to love Wales! There are so many unexpected things to do and see in such a small country. Aunty and I went racing at the weekend. Not your normal racing mind. This was racing with a difference, but chariot racing. Well Trotting to be accurate. Not quite Celts hollering and screaming, but still exciting.…
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Talley Abbey – Bankruptcy and Battles
Hidden away in the Cothi Valley are the ruins of an abbey, but this one has a slightly different history to any of the other monasteries in Wales. Talley Abbey was founded by the White Canons, the Premonstratensians. I have to admit that I’ve never heard of this order before, but I’ll try not to…
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Brecon Jazz Festival – Welsh 100 No 52
Brecon town nestles in the shadow of the iconic Pen-y-Fan, the highest point in South Wales. The Welsh name is Aberhonddu, and is the meeting point of the rivers Honddu and Usk. Now it’s not a large town by many standard with a population of just over 8000 worthy souls. But it is an old…
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A day at the seaside – Llansteffan
The weekend weather was glorious, a cloudless sky, temperatures in the mid 20s. What else could we do except spend the day at the seaside? And there are fewer beaches better than that at Llansteffan. And there’s a castle, what else could we need? There have been people living at LLansteffan for 1000s of years.…
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Castell Dolbadarn
After climbing mountains with Paul S during our holiday recently in North Wales it was time for something a little more relaxing. And what better place to visit than a welsh castle, and we have a lot to choose from here in Wales. Castle Dolbadarn stands proud on a small hill overlooking Llyn Padarn and…
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Tryfan – 2Ps scale the heights
Everyone knows Tryfan don’t they. Ask anyone who has experience of the hills and mountains of Wales has either climbed it or have it on their list to climb. And yes, there is some climbing to do. It may not be very high, but it is more of a challenge than many of the higher peaks…
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Cader Idris – Second Time Around
This week the weather has been fantastic. OK a little cold in the morning, but the sun has shine throughout the week. Although Aunty and I didn’t have a great deal of luck with the weather when we went up Cader Idris last year (see here), this year its different when the 2 Pauls attempted…
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Capel Garmon
Hidden in a hollow in the landscape behind Tyn-y-Coed Farm is Capel Garmon Burial Chamber. This is of the Cotswold- Severn type of chamber, an unusual design for this area of Wales, and has created some debate on why it so far north. The first excavation was undertaken by the then Ministry of Works in…
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Ysbyty Ifan to Ffestiniog
Very little text today, but a few photos from a along a road between Ysbyty Ifan and Ffestiniog on North Wales. This short stretch of 12 miles will provide you with a fantastic drive along an empty road with panoramic views over heathland that provides very tough farming lands. The empty skies are reflected in…
Travels With My Aunt 