Wales, UK

On Friday night (May 4th), after spending a few days in Berlin at a conference, Mom and Stan arrived in London! I was so excited for their visit that I could barely do anything but be excited all week. Mom and I had a tearful reunion at Heathrow, 8 months after our tearful farewell at Lake O’hara in September. On Saturday, we went to Wales to go walking (British hiking). It was the perfect way to spend the weekend and to catch up with Suze and Stan (S&S); lots of time to visit while driving, walking and dining. We had narrowed our destination down to Newport in north Pembrokeshire because of the coastal walks and the walks through the Preseli Hills which are scattered with ancient pagan standing stones. It turned out to be the perfect place because Newport was a quaint town with lots to offer on its own.

This country is small compared to Canada, but we continue to be amazed at how long it takes to drive places, due to small roads and dense traffic. Many of the country roads in Wales are bordered by high stone walls and shrubs making it difficult to see the countryside as you drive.

After a five hour journey we arrived in St. David’s on the Western tip of Wales and the Pembrokeshire Coast. St. David’s, Britain’s smallest city, is home to a famous Cathedral and a Bishop’s Palace. Stan did not want to spend his vacation in Britain visiting churches and castles so Mom promised him that this would be the only one. Usually cathedrals are built in prominent locations, however this one was built in a gully to attempt to hide it from marauders travelling by sea or land. Unfortunately, this strategy didn’t work that well, as it was attacked several times. The cathedral is impressive and so are the ruins of the Bishop’s Palace.

From St. David’s we did a short drive to the beach and walked along classic Wales’ coastline cliffs to St. David’s head. Our B&B was in Newport, northeast of St. David’s and still on the coast. The B&B was an old house that had been beautifully renovated only a year ago. We had views from our rooms overlooking the sea. Our host spent time telling us about all of Newport’s places of interest: Pentre Ifan (5,000 year old standing stones), the castle, St. Mary’s church, the beach, the mystical forest and the nearby Cwm Gwaun valley, where the community that lives there still follows an ancient calendar. Saturday night, we had a hearty dinner of meat pies and burgers at the Golden Lion pub, a good British experience for S&S. We even got a quarter of a pint of pull ale into Mom.

After a lovely breakfast on Sunday morning we headed out on the short version of the Preseli Hills Circuit (12km). It was sunny for a while, then it turned cloudy with a few drops of rain, and it was constantly windy. We were lucky that we didn’t get poured on. The trail took us up into the bare Preseli Hills, past the steep rock outcrop Carn Ingli, through fields of sheep and then down into the eerie Cwm Gwaun valley. The steep walls of the valley were covered with corkscrew oak trees and carpets of blue bells. It was beautiful but the banjo tune from the movie Deliverance kept running through my head which made me wary.

We found a quaint tea house on a farm in the valley where we could warm up and fill our bellies. The quirky hostess served us and told us about the valley (she said that they are all very “close” there), her farm, and her gardens which she has bus loads of people in to view. I was giving John and hug and asking if he was alright; our hostess picked up on that and comment to John, “Oh, so you’re not used to the walking are you? You must be a townie”. Stan didn’t let that one go for the rest of the weekend.

We finished the walk by going through more fields and by an ancient standing stone. All of the walks are on public footpaths through private land. Stan was baffled by this concept and kept trying to think of ingenious fencing ideas to keep walkers out of the fields.

After our walk, we had a quick warm up at the B&B before heading out in the car to see Pentre Ifan, the impressive 5,000 year old standing stones that used to form a burial mound. A 16 tonne flat stone lies on top of three standing stones. The whole structure looks precarious but I don’t think its going anywhere. The stones from Stonehenge came from the same area. This little jaunt was Stan’s first attempt at driving on the left side of the road and the right side of the car. It was a good place for a first drive as there was no traffic and the roads were only wide enough for one car so he didn’t have to remember to stay on the left. He did well and managed not to scrape up the left side of the car on any of the stone walls.

After Pentre Ifan, we went back into Cwm Gwuan Valley in order to check out the Duffrin Arms Pub (aka Bessie’s pub). About five different people had told us we had to go see it because it was “an experience”. The rain had set in so the valley was dark and even more eerie. After passing a crowd of locals heading into Church on Sunday evening, we found Bessie’s pub. The pub was a converted sitting room of a house with seating for about 10, with a tiled floor, and a hole in the wall from where you could order Bessie’s home brew beer. A glimpse was all the “experience” we needed as we weren’t sure how friendly the locals would be if we stayed for a beer (again, the banjo tune from Deliverance was running through my head). I’m sure you needed special Cwm Gwuan Valley stomach enzymes to digest the beer as well.

We had another great dinner in Newport and then we strolled down to the beach to burn it off. Of course Mom and I got carried away with the exploring and we didn’t end up getting back until well after dark.

Monday, bank holiday weekend in the UK (ie: a long weekend), we did a shorter walk, only a few hours around Dinas Head. It was a good contrast to the hill walk the day before, giving us steep coastal cliffs (if somewhat in the clouds). We ended at a little beach and a convenient tea house with great cakes. Mom was very impressed with the tea houses.

Instead of taking the main highways to Cheltenham, we took the scenic route through the Brecon Beacons (a famous National Park in Wales). It gave us a great glimpse of more of Wales but it took a long time. On all of our drives, John and I enjoyed listening to S&S’s agriculture commentary as we passed different fields of crops and livestock. It added a new dimension to travel for us. In Cheltenham, John and I caught the train back to London. We left S&S with the rental car and maps so they could make their way to the beautiful Cowley Mannor, their hotel/spa for the night. After Cowley they went to to Bodysgallen Hall in North Wales and then to visit some friends. I was so worried about them on the British roads I had to call every night to check on them, but they did just fine and had a wonderful time.

Our long weekend walking in Wales turned out wonderfully. We did all of the walks and saw all of the sites I had hoped, but it wouldn’t have mattered if we didn’t because it was just so nice to be with Mom and Stan again. It made me sad knowing it was only for a short time. Luckily, I had another weekend with them and 10 other family members to look forward to. My Aunt Barb and Uncle Bruce along with my cousins, Eleanor, Margot and Hugh were arriving in London from Calgary, Aunt Carla and Uncle Poul were arriving from Denmark, and my sister, her husband and new baby, Cole, arrived from Winnipeg. Another weekend I couldn’t wait for!