Welcome back! I wasn’t sure I would have time to get this week’s edition out on time so, what you have here is a very brief summary of our campervan trip to Wales. We had a great few days but actually ended up coming home a day early. On Friday evening we looked at the weather forecast for Saturday to see a forecast of unrelenting rain in the morning. Not much fun packing up a tent in the pouring rain so we decided to set out for home on Friday afternoon instead.
Aside from the grim forecast for Saturday, we had great weather – full bore sunshine from first thing in the morning to late at night. Marvellous. We had a couple of days on the beach, visited a couple of castles as well as a garden or two, trekked along the Coastal Path and spotted some dolphins putting on a private performance for us. Daisy enjoyed just about everything apart from riding in the campervan – it’s too noisy and bumpy! Still, the rest of the holiday was pretty decent, I guess.
We set off on Tuesday heading for a campsite just near Cardigan in west Wales which was excellent. We weren’t the only campers – a half-dozen or so caravans or large motorhomes, a couple of tents and us. Plenty of room on a very picturesque site.
Wednesday morning we set off for a beach, pausing along the way to visit Picton Castle Gardens. Penny had spotted that it was on our way and it turned out to be an absolute gem. Lovely garden with lots of variety.
After a lovely stroll around the gardens we continued on our way to Broad Haven beach. By a stroke of luck, we arrived as the tide was receding leaving a huge expanse of sand – perfect. Daisy does love the beach – or at least the other dogs she might meet and have a play with. Some dogs are too obsessed with a tennis ball or such but there’s generally a couple of others who fancy a good romp and run.
Back to the campsite for dinner and a well-deserved sleep!
Thursday morning we headed off to St David’s, the smallest “city” in the UK. We meandered around the very impressive cathedral and paid our respects to one of our many “royal” ancestors, Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII and grandfather of Henry VIII.
Marloes Sands was our next destination, a vast beach with some stunning geology and rock formations. Again, Daisy scoured the beach to find some companions to play with and enjoyed a couple of romps while Penny and I soaked up some sunshine. Lovely.
On Friday morning we checked the weather forecast to see the depressing information that Saturday morning would be wet. Packing a tent/awning in the rain is no fun at all so, we decided to pack up ready for our return to Moreton Pinkney.
Once we were all packed away, we made our way along the Coastal Path to the beach at Mwnt. The information we had from the campsite said it was about a twenty-minute walk. I’m not sure that we are that slow but it took us about 45 minutes to get there! I know I’m a tired old man and the path is fairly rough but 20 minutes – no way.
The beach is lovely and along the way we spotted some dolphins out to sea. Thankfully, we approached from the south and therefore didn’t see the sign informing us that dogs were not allowed on the beach between the end of April and the end of September! Luckily, no one yelled at either us or Daisy. The café just up from the beach selling outstanding coffee and breakfast rolls was excellent.
Another forty-five minute walk back to the campsite and we set off for home. Along the way we stopped at the ruins of Raglan Castle which was an unexpected gem. We wandered about and scrambled up various towers and discovered that our “ancestor,” Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII, was essentially raised at Raglan.
And, that’s it for this week!
Meanwhile, keep breathing, keep happy, keep smiling, keep exercising, be good, be careful, and keep safe. And be gentle to wasps and bees – we need all the pollinators we can get.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg