Wales Continued

Urgh, back to the monotony and grind.....and of course the flippin' jet stream (the position of which drives the British weather) has dropped bringing us the most un-July like temps and forecasts....apparently the couple of weeks of heatwave we had is about it for summer this year...joy.

But, at least I can reminisce and look at photos from those heady days of my holiday to Wales all those week ago.....
Day 2 was less than inspiring on the weather front so my Aunt and Uncle took us into the Pembrokeshire National Park and to an off the beaten track local pub for lunch...said pub was used by miners back in the day, a couple of hundred years ago, has sawdust covering the floorboards and all sorts of ancient trinkets, photos and other quirky bits and bobs adorning the walls....including the following found in the ladies loo:


After lunch, we stopped off for some touristy type activities....first up the reservoir at Rosebush

Ciebwr Bay near Moylgrove

Over looking Ynys Fach near the Davils Couldren (the great thing about Wales is even if you spell it wrong....nobody will know)


What you see on the right of the horizon is a particularly nasty little rain shower which we expertly managed to avoid by nipping into a garden centre cafe for a cuppa for the olds and cake for me....

Before heading back to the homestead for dinner....this by the way is the view from my Aunt's house, looking towards Cardigan Bay


Cameo by my Aunt and her, slightly unhinged, dog Pip...the silly 9 yr old pup growls at the Tv every time an animal appears on screen because he thinks it's actually inside the room....but apparently dosen't give a monkeys about the cattle in the field across the road.

St. Dogmaels was an old fishing village and dad and I ventured out after dinner to check out the ruins of the Abbey....


The Abbey was built on the site of a pre-Norman monastery (possibly from around the 6th Century), known as the 'old house' of Llandudoch, around 1113 and upgraded to Abbey status in 1120.


The site is a kind of hotch potch of different Centuries with Cloisters and Abbey Church being added from the 12th Century.


The site is great for wandering around and I was amazed as to how big the area was and how much has survived....even if it is ruins.

Then along the river to Poppit sands, which no doubt looks much more favourable without the darkened skies...

As mentioned fishing was the main reason for the existence of St. Dogmaels and with such a place the obligatory legend surrounds this carving of a mermaid....

History tells of a fishing boat captain who once caught a Mermaid in his nets...the Mermaid persuaded the fisherman to let her go, promising to appear to him when danger was afoot....Days later and the Mermaid, good to her word, appeared to the fisherman telling him to take his boat and crew back to shore...trusting her word he did just that, on the way trying to warn the other boats and crew only to be laughed at...A particularly vicious storm blew up shortly thereafter and 27 local men and boats were destroyed...the only one to survive was that of the fisherman who had caught the Mermaid.

Poppit Sands from up the top of a bloomin' great hill


Cardigan Island from Poppit Sands


Overlooking Cardigan Bay and Island...from even further up the bloomin' great hill.


Poppit Sands

Some like it so much they actually live in small dwellings built into the sand dunes....

The little huts have no running water or electricity....each to their own....but they are the ultimate beach hut I suppose.....Tis all for now.