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23 aprile 5-Day Break in WalesWe shall soon be going for a short break in mid-Wales. We will be going to Llandrindod Wells and having some trips out, half day to the Brecon Beacons, half day to Aberystwyth and a full day going roung the Cambrian Mountains. I shall be taking my camera(s) as there is a good chance of seeing Red Kites flying in the area. The Red Kite is a large bird of prey (mainly a scavenger!) and has come back from the verge of extinction by careful conservation coupled with extensive education on the nature of the birds. It was long felt that the Kite was responsible for the death of small animals, such as lambs, and were therefore fair game for those 'keepers who worked for the local land-owners.
When I return I shall publish my photographs and reports to this blog.
29th April 2006
Well that didn't take long. We have been to Wales for our 5-day break and now ... it's all over! But we had a great time and stayed in mid Wales at the Glen Usk Hotel in Llandrindod Wells. We arrived on Monday afternoon at about 4.00 pm only to find that the lift had broken down! But then we found that our room was on the ground floor so it didn't really matter, after all. After a good night's sleep we woke to lots of Welsh 'sunshine' (you know ... misty rain!) and we were to visit the Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre about 30 miles away. Well, the weather slowly improved and we arrived in time to see the edges of Pen-y-fan gently disappear into the murk only to re-appear after about ten minutes. We got back onto the coach and went to Brecon, home of the 23rd Regiment of Foot, defenders of Rorke's Drift in the zulu war of 1879. Then it was back to Llandod (as the locals know it) by which time the sun had come out and I did a walk round the town. It's a remarkable little place, very Victorian in it's layout and architecture. There were lots of historical bits and pieces to see and lovely old shops to explore.
On Wednesday we had an all-day trip through the Cambrian mountains with plenty of photo opportunities to take advantage of and we had our first glimpse of some Red Kites circling lazily above Rhaeder, where one of the feeding stations is situated. We were lucky enough to see more later in the day, but still a long way up in the sky. The journey through the mountains was spectacular and we past old lead-mines, silver mines and reservoirs, There were valleys so deep that you could just see sheep in the bottoms, but only as tiny specks. We went down the Dyvy valley to Aberdovey and then turned northwards to Tywyn and followed the Tal-y-llyn railway up a valley until we got to a woollen mill which served tea and coffee and the most beautiful cake you could hope to taste. We had lunched at Machynlleth earlier but still had room for a slice of cake!!! Then it was back through the mountains and saw the source of the river Wye on Plynlymon where it trickled down the side of the mountain at the start of it's journey through Wales. More sheep, wall to wall sheep, white ones, black ones, coffee coloured ones and, in one field we saw a small herd (pack? group?) of alpaca.
Exhausted and necks aching from craning our heads to see a tiny blob from the coach window which might have been a Red Kite ... or possibly not, we got back to Llandod in time for dinner. A fabulous day all round.
Thursday dawned sunny and bright for our half day going across to Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge. Sheep and more sheep again and some great views of Red Kites this time. Aberystwyth was it's usual lazy uninspiring self but at least the sun shone, the breeze was cool and the coffee was great!
Our journey home was uneventful and we were back indoors in Kent by about four o'clock.
We had a wonderful time and found that the bluetits were still in the box. Fantastic! |
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