Bank Holiday Travels

Bank holiday weekend and we were on our travels - starting on the Friday with a trip to Portishead, where Martin was working, and I had time for a bit of a wander . . .

Made my way out to the boating lake, with its novelty paddle boats, and model boat enthusiasts.



Took in the 'coastal' views, walking along the shoreline, then headed up round by the Lido . . .



. . . complete with its Banksy-esque mural.  Finishing my morning with a cider, sitting outside the Royal Inn in the sunshine with a good book.

Once Martin had finished work we had a bit of lunch, then headed on to Stratford-upon-Avon for a night of cider and curry.  The next day we moved on again to visit family in East Anglia, but taking the opportunity for a return trip to Kenilworth Castle along the way.

It's a fair old ruin, but still fascinating - particularly the apartment 'block' built for Elizabeth I's visit, where English Heritage have put in staircases throughout to allow you to climb up to the accommodation levels, and even look out of her bedroom window!

Built of local standstone, there is a lot of erosion - but even more graffiti - from the 1700s to the modern day:

We had a good wander round the ruins and the Elizabethan Gardens - luckily this time it was in glorious sunshine not pouring rain!

The remainder of the weekend was spent catching up with family.

Didn't do anything major (avoiding the bank holiday traffic) - our only 'outing' was to the local garden centre (complete with some rather scary inflatable Star Wars figures!) - but it was good to see everyone.



Then it was home again, home again, on the Monday - travels over (for the time being).

Acrobatics

And of course, not having seen one in a while, it (or one of its friends) was soon back, and in particularly acrobatic mode:

Baking Bread

Having been gifted some traditionally ground wholemeal flour from Houghton Mill, and home from work on a wet Monday afternoon, decided to have a go at baking soda bread.

Very easy to make - and it turned out really well - a nice accompaniment to a bowl of soup!

Ceredigion Coastal Path 4 - Llanrhystud to Aberaeron

With a nice day forecast and the garden not needing any urgent maintenance, we jumped at the opportunity to walk another section of the coastal path. 

Now moving further from home, we have to consider how we are going to get to the start point and return home again. Very kindly, the Welsh Government has provided free buses on certain routes at the weekend so a lot of consideration is going into trying to utilise these services.

For today, we decided to take the car to Llanrhystud and to catch the bus back from Aberaeron to the car.

Heading off out of Llanrhystud we walked down towards the beach, stopping to admire the straight ploughing lines in the adjacent field.

From here the path followed the beach boundary - walking on the stones was not a pleasant experience, but fortunately it did not last long as we were soon diverted back into a field.

The lime kilns just past Llanrhystud came as a surprise, having lived in Aberystwyth for over 40 years, it is good to know that there are still places on the doorstep that offer new things to see!

We got a bit lost in Llanon, the path signs were not very clear, and we ended up retracing our steps up and down the impressive metal stairs from the pebble beach to the upper path.  (For those also walking from Llanrhystud to Aberaeron, you do not climb these unless diverted by the flooded river.)

Another pleasant surprise came in the form of Aberarth village.  Having driven through it along the main road hundreds of times, this was the first time we have actually entered the village itself.

The only thing I could see that stopped it being "idyllic" (as the property programmes say) is the lack of a village pub.

It was another flattish stroll from Aberarth through to Aberaeron, finishing as we started, with a walk along a pebble beach.

As expected it was a relatively easy walk, the only hill we climbed did not prove to be difficult or lengthy:

The final stats from my GPS recorder:

Distance 13.3km
Duration: 3:30
Moving Time: 3:15
Calories: 1267
Ascent: 120 meters

Is it a bird?

No it's a squirrel . . .

Hadn't seen one for a while - obviously we chase them off the bird feeder, but still nice to know they are around!