I guess many of you will not be blessed with a white Christmas this year, so I thought I’d bring you a little bit of ‘virtual’ snowfall, via the video below, which I took this morning.
I’d also like to thank all of you who have followed me over the past 12 months and especially those who have provided comments, your feedback is very much appreciated.
Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and, hopefully, a safe and peaceful new year.
The weather wasn’t particularly kind while we were staying in the Peak District, but I did manage to get out for another, longish walk, starting in Ashbourne and finishing at our cottage in Alstonefield. Although “The Dales” is generally taken to mean the Yorkshire Dales, there are far more Dales in the Peak District. This walk alone took in Lin Dale, Dove Dale and Hall Dale.
As I approached Mapleton (pronounced as in M’apple’ton btw), I met up with 2 gentleman and a dog, who were also walking to Ilam. I forget their names now (and my apologies to them if they are now reading this), but we had a very nice chat as we strolled along.
After bidding them farewell, (as they went for a cuppa in the café at Ilam Hall), I turned east to take in a small hill, called Thorpe Cloud (@287m or 942ft). On a fine day, I’m sure the views are wonderful. From there, I descended into Lin Dale before heading north along Dove Dale and up Hall Dale to the Watts-Russell Arms (for a more interesting refreshment. 😊)
After our two weeks of ‘self-isolation’ in North Wales, Jude and I decamped across to another cottage in Alstonefield, in the Peak District National Park. There we met up with various members of our family, including my daughter, Sarah and her husband, Karl. Although the weather was a bit gloomy, we set off to do a walk to the nearby village of Hartington, following the beautiful River Dove.
The Peak District is generally considered to be (and is mostly) in Derbyshire, but I’ve just read that the River Dove forms the border between it and Staffordshire. So, as we went back and forth across the various bridges (see below), we were (unknowingly in my case) skipping between the two counties.
It’s also Sarah’s birthday today, so it’s perhaps appropriate that I should post some pictures of her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sarah! 🎂💐🥂😊
For our last ‘day out’ in North Wales, Jude and I took a drive around to the Llŷn Peninsula. After parking up further down the coast, we walked around the coastal path to Porthor, or Whistling Sands as it’s often known. From there we called in at tiny Porth Colmon which, as you will see from my series of photos, is still used as place for launching or, as in this case, landing fishing boats. And then finally we drove to the small coastal resort of Aberdaron, where I somehow managed to get a shot of an apparently deserted beach, despite there being quite a few people around.
Most people who visit the Snowdonia National Park will head for the northern part and the mountain of Snowdon itself, but there are some fine walks towards the south, around what are known locally as the Rhinogs. This gallery covers the route from Cwm Bychan (pronounced ‘coom bukan’ btw) to the summit of Rhinog Fawr. At 720m, or 2,630ft, it’s not a big mountain, but it’s quite a tough ascent due to the very rocky paths.
It was not for nothing that (now Sir) Tom Jones sang about the Green, Green Grass of Home. Wales can be a very wet place (as you may have gathered from all the moss and lush looking fields in my previous post). So, as if to prove I’m not just a fair weather walker, here are few pictures, mainly of the Mawddach Trail (a former railway line) from Penmaenpool to Barmouth.
Just a mile or so away from our holiday cottage, there’s a series of waterfalls. The countryside is so green and vibrant and completely different to back home (and possibly where you might live), I thought it was worth posting a few photos…
Who doesn’t like going to the beach? Well, here I bring you photos of not just one, but three beaches in North Wales. All of them, quite coincidentally, are only a few miles from where Jude and I have been staying for this past 2 weeks.
Firstly, Benar beach, which is very, very long and very wide when the tide is out…
Secondly, we have Llandanwg beach, which is quite small and pebbly in places. But there is a very nice café adjacent to the car park, which serves delicious scones!
Last, but not least, is Harlech beach, which is huge, (by UK standards anyway), even when the tide is in!
For the first two weeks of our UK holiday, Jude and I have been staying in a beautiful, traditional Welsh cottage near the small village of Llanbedr. Further details and pictures can be found here, but I was particularly taken by the garden and so I thought I’d post a few pictures of what it looked like now that autumn is officially upon us. As usual, I have no idea what the flowers are, so my apologies for that.
The 15th August is normally the date when the Mid-summer Festival takes place in our village. But this year, for obvious reasons, it was cancelled. So we were not treated to the helicopter rescue of the dummy which had fallen (or was he pushed?) off the rockface, nor the stream of vintage cars. And the usual procession, of the villagers demonstrating the traditional arts and crafts, will have to wait until next year.
So, I decided to have a wander through the village and take some photos to show you what our village looks like during the summer. Normally the main street would be packed from one end to the other but, this year, there were just the usual weekend and holiday visitors. It was also nice to see the locals dressed in their traditional costumes, simply relaxing and enjoying some time with their families.
If you would like to see an example of what we all missed, here’s a post of the Mid-summer Festival from 2016.
Note that the last two images, courtesy of Wiki, position Evolène on the map of Switzerland and the canton of Valais and give some facts and figures about the Commune – just in case you wondered… 😊
