This is our last day in Wales. Fortunately, although it was still not very warm, the rain stayed away.
We went down to Tal-y-llyn. The lake in this weather looked quite dark, and the wind was whipping up little waves across it. The highest peak is Cader Idris. We got a completely different view of it on Friday, when we drove down from the other side, passing Cader Idris on our right and then catching glimpses of the lake through the trees.
A must-see in this part of the country, is the narrow guage Talyllyn Railway. This line was built in the 1860s and used to carry slate, although it also carried passengers. Talyllyn claims the distinction of being the first preserved railway in the world.
Naturally, we had a ride on the train - taking it from Abergynolwyn to Tywyn and back. It was a really good way to see the countryside, as the train travels very slowly and there was no need to worry about driving.
Afterwards, we drove on through Tywyn and Aberdyfi along the coastline until the road took us back inland. We finished with one final trip through Borth for our last day in Wales.
Pob hwyl, Cymru! - Goodbye, Wales!
Showing posts with label Borth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Borth. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Wales - an update!
Today, we have had quite a bit of rain and so we went back to Borth to have a look around the village itself. On the way, we passed through Eglwysfach more slowly and I stopped to take a photo of my first school (now closed, and known as "The Old School" - that really makes me feel ancient!). This enabled us to see that our house (Tyglyneiddwen) next door to the school was still there after all - another house has been built in between on what was the playgound. Fancy things changing after 40+ years!!!
On the way to Borth, we went past Ynyslas. I remember Ynyslas as the place where you can drive your car onto the beach. To my surprise, this is still allowed, but I wasn't game to risk it! My other memory of Ynyslas is of our car being stuck in the sand one day, and I didn't fancy going through that again!!
The people in Borth were very friendly and welcoming. Funny how the memory plays tricks on you. As I said yesterday, Borth remains essentially unchanged and unspoiled. Like a well-kept secret! Looking at some old photos from the 50s and 60s, we could see that there was actually a caravan park back then - it just looked really different. Much smaller, and none of the modern on-site cabins that I saw yesterday.
After Borth, we went to Aberystwyth for the rest of the day. Aberystwyth is a funny town. Most of the year, it is essentially a University town. In the summer, there are people there for the holidays. All the houses along the Promenade look like guest houses. There is a quaint little electric cliff railway at the North end of the Promenade.
On the way to Borth, we went past Ynyslas. I remember Ynyslas as the place where you can drive your car onto the beach. To my surprise, this is still allowed, but I wasn't game to risk it! My other memory of Ynyslas is of our car being stuck in the sand one day, and I didn't fancy going through that again!!
The people in Borth were very friendly and welcoming. Funny how the memory plays tricks on you. As I said yesterday, Borth remains essentially unchanged and unspoiled. Like a well-kept secret! Looking at some old photos from the 50s and 60s, we could see that there was actually a caravan park back then - it just looked really different. Much smaller, and none of the modern on-site cabins that I saw yesterday.
After Borth, we went to Aberystwyth for the rest of the day. Aberystwyth is a funny town. Most of the year, it is essentially a University town. In the summer, there are people there for the holidays. All the houses along the Promenade look like guest houses. There is a quaint little electric cliff railway at the North end of the Promenade.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Wales
Well, I am certainly getting a variety of driving here in England and Wales. I have now driven on different sorts of roads, including motorways and country roads. I can say that I have driven through the Yorkshire Moors, the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District and now through North Wales, including the Snowdonia National Park!!
Wales was always going to be a very special part of this trip, simply because I remember it. On Thursday, we drove down from the North, through Lancashire and Cheshire and into Wales. The first thing that struck me was that the Anglicised spelling of place names seems to have been dropped, which I think is a good thing. When we lived in Wales, we all learned Welsh language at school, but I don't recall seeing a lot of the language around us. Now all the signage is in both languages, which I think is a good way of protecting the language and ensuring that it lives on.
We stopped Thursday night in Conwy, arriving there just after lunch. The afternoon was spent walking around the town, including of course the wall (Conwy is a walled town) and the Castle. Conwy Castle is one of the ring of castles built by Edward I to help contain the Welsh. He must have met with a lot of resistance!
Walking along the Quay in Conwy, we also came across the "smallest house in Britain", which is 72 inches (182.88 cm) wide and 122 inches (309.88 cm) high. According to one of the brochures, it rates a mention in the Guinness Book of Records.
Today, we drove to Caernarfon in the morning and visited Caernarfon Castle. Like Conwy, it was built by Edward I as part of his ring of castles in Wales. Also like Conwy, Caernarfon is a walled city.
From Caernarfon, we drove through the Snowdonia National Park towards Aberystwyth. On the way through, we saw Mount Snowdon, and also Cader Idris. Now I understand Susan Cooper's descriptions in The Grey King (yes, more children's literature!). We will be going back that way for a closer look in a few days time when we go to Tal-y-llyn.
Coming down past Machynlledd we started to come to spots that were familiar to me. The first of these was Eglwysfach, where we lived when we first went to Wales, and where I started school. The house we lived in is no longer there, but the School is.
Turning off the main road, we headed down to Borth, where I remembered my way well enough to drive without direction to Cliff Road, where we lived. Fortunately, the cliff top remains unspoiled, although many houses have changed - oh, and things are smaller than I remembered! Our house, Maramba, is still there, although some changes have naturally been made. The view from the house and from the cliff top is exactly as I remembered, and the war memorial still stands out on the headland. I climbed the path to the war memorial, which now contains a plaque to say that it was damaged by a thunderbolt in 1983, but restored the following year.
Looking inland from the war memorial, I saw changes; on areas where I can remember doing rambles from school, which involved climbing sheep stiles, a very large caravan park now sprawls, although there is still some sheep grazing land up onto the headland.
We drove back to Devil's Bridge, which is where we are staying, via the original home of the College of Librarianship, Wales - now Information Management and located elsewhere in Aberystwyth University. This is where my father first lectured in Librarianship, and was our reason for moving to Wales in the first place!
We are staying here at Devil's Bridge for a few days, and will be visiting many more remembered places. There will be more Borth too!!
Wales was always going to be a very special part of this trip, simply because I remember it. On Thursday, we drove down from the North, through Lancashire and Cheshire and into Wales. The first thing that struck me was that the Anglicised spelling of place names seems to have been dropped, which I think is a good thing. When we lived in Wales, we all learned Welsh language at school, but I don't recall seeing a lot of the language around us. Now all the signage is in both languages, which I think is a good way of protecting the language and ensuring that it lives on.
We stopped Thursday night in Conwy, arriving there just after lunch. The afternoon was spent walking around the town, including of course the wall (Conwy is a walled town) and the Castle. Conwy Castle is one of the ring of castles built by Edward I to help contain the Welsh. He must have met with a lot of resistance!
Walking along the Quay in Conwy, we also came across the "smallest house in Britain", which is 72 inches (182.88 cm) wide and 122 inches (309.88 cm) high. According to one of the brochures, it rates a mention in the Guinness Book of Records.
Today, we drove to Caernarfon in the morning and visited Caernarfon Castle. Like Conwy, it was built by Edward I as part of his ring of castles in Wales. Also like Conwy, Caernarfon is a walled city.
From Caernarfon, we drove through the Snowdonia National Park towards Aberystwyth. On the way through, we saw Mount Snowdon, and also Cader Idris. Now I understand Susan Cooper's descriptions in The Grey King (yes, more children's literature!). We will be going back that way for a closer look in a few days time when we go to Tal-y-llyn.
Coming down past Machynlledd we started to come to spots that were familiar to me. The first of these was Eglwysfach, where we lived when we first went to Wales, and where I started school. The house we lived in is no longer there, but the School is.
Turning off the main road, we headed down to Borth, where I remembered my way well enough to drive without direction to Cliff Road, where we lived. Fortunately, the cliff top remains unspoiled, although many houses have changed - oh, and things are smaller than I remembered! Our house, Maramba, is still there, although some changes have naturally been made. The view from the house and from the cliff top is exactly as I remembered, and the war memorial still stands out on the headland. I climbed the path to the war memorial, which now contains a plaque to say that it was damaged by a thunderbolt in 1983, but restored the following year.
Looking inland from the war memorial, I saw changes; on areas where I can remember doing rambles from school, which involved climbing sheep stiles, a very large caravan park now sprawls, although there is still some sheep grazing land up onto the headland.
We drove back to Devil's Bridge, which is where we are staying, via the original home of the College of Librarianship, Wales - now Information Management and located elsewhere in Aberystwyth University. This is where my father first lectured in Librarianship, and was our reason for moving to Wales in the first place!
We are staying here at Devil's Bridge for a few days, and will be visiting many more remembered places. There will be more Borth too!!
Monday, May 4, 2009
"Surreality"
Surreality - is there such a word? Because surreal is the word I find myself most often using when people ask me how I am feeling about this trip. Surreal because suddenly, after 38 years, I am finally going back to England. Although I identify myself without hesitation as an Australian, this trip will be something of a "back to roots" pilgrimage for me.
There are so many places that I want to see. This is reflected in the itinerary, some of which I know looks like a children's literature tour of England (the lake district country of Arthur Ransome and Beatrix Potter; Rye and Shropshire which are described so well in the works of Malcolm Saville; even the Hundred Acre Wood). But I am especially looking forward to the dearly remembered village of Borth in Wales, for which I was so homesick when we left.
Then there will be the visits and meetings with family, some of whom I don't remember (not having seen them since I was a baby), and others who have been to Australia, but a long time ago.
And so it seems surreal to me that in two weeks time we will actually be in London; there is a lot of work still to be done before that time, but it is very close now.
There are so many places that I want to see. This is reflected in the itinerary, some of which I know looks like a children's literature tour of England (the lake district country of Arthur Ransome and Beatrix Potter; Rye and Shropshire which are described so well in the works of Malcolm Saville; even the Hundred Acre Wood). But I am especially looking forward to the dearly remembered village of Borth in Wales, for which I was so homesick when we left.
Then there will be the visits and meetings with family, some of whom I don't remember (not having seen them since I was a baby), and others who have been to Australia, but a long time ago.
And so it seems surreal to me that in two weeks time we will actually be in London; there is a lot of work still to be done before that time, but it is very close now.
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