daytime

Sunday, 15 September 2019

15th September 2019

Dear All,

After swimming on Monday I prepared the last two cricket strips for this year in uncharacteristic damp conditions. We had grace again after Preschool as Arthur had been in Adenbrookes over night with breathing difficulties. In the evening we had a Cemetery Trustees meeting which was more exciting than usual as we have been left £17,000!

We have since spent the rest of the week in the Black Mountains in Wales. On the way down we stopped off to explore Tewksbury taking their Heritage trail. It is an interesting town to visit with numerous old buildings and hidden alleyways. Our usual impression is gained from seeing it under water when the River Avon floods.

Tewkesbury No.66 Church Street

Mill Avon, Tewksbury

In Wales we stayed in the Manor hotel on the edge of Crickhowell, George Everest of mountain fame was born in the building and interestingly he is buried in Hove in a churchyard 5 minutes from Mary-Ann and Andy’s house. The hotel had great views but the rooms were far too hot so we had two fans going for most of the time.

Stephen and Jane Gregory have spent several holidays in the area so had given us a list of their favourite walks. On Wednesday drove to Llangymdr and ascended to Tor y Foel starting and finishing by the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. The weather was reasonable with some drizzle and some sunshine and great views. Of course there was a little more climbing than Cambridgeshire!

Descent from Tor y Foel

Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal

The weather forecast for Thursday was not good so we decided to visit Blaenavon Ironworks and the Big Pit coalmine. Both were very interesting although we could not do the underground tour of the coal mine due to maintenance work. The weather did not turn out to be as bad as forecast.

Blast Furnaces at Blaenavon Ironworks

On Friday we undertook a longer walk in a remote part of the Black Mountains covering Mynydd Llysiau and the Grwyne Fechan (are you much wiser?). The weather could not have been better and it was a spectacular walk with excellent views and we only saw two other people in 5.5 hours walking.