TOP TEN AGAIN

 Wales are now back in the irb top 10. And we beat #9 Fiji recently, so morally 9th :-)) 

CASTLEHUNTING 20 - CASTELL CAS-GWENT

 

Cadw site:- Castell Cas-Gwent

Wiki site:- Castell Cas-Gwent

From Cadw:-

The stones of this magnificent clifftop fortress trace 900 years of history

Beautifully preserved Chepstow Castle stretches out along a limestone cliff above the River Wye like a history lesson in stone.

There’s no better place in Britain to see how castles gradually evolved to cope with ever more destructive weaponry – and the grandiose ambitions of their owners. For more than six centuries Chepstow was home to some of the wealthiest and most powerful men of the medieval and Tudor ages.

Building was started in 1067 by Earl William fitz Osbern, close friend of William the Conqueror, making it one of the first Norman strongholds in Wales. In turn William Marshal (Earl of Pembroke), Roger Bigod (Earl of Norfolk) and Charles Somerset (Earl of Worcester) all made their mark before the castle declined after the Civil War.

Stunning Castle, stunning location again. The size of the site is impressive, perched on a river cliff commanding the entrance to the River Wye. The Norman Keep in the centre of the castle is remeniscent of the Tower of London & Rochester castle.

CWRW'R WYTHNOS PUM DEG CHWECH

 

AU RECHERCHE DU TEMPS PERDU

Off to St. Pierre Country Club Chepstow for a sneaky 3 day break with Les Enfants.

Wacky to think I was last here 50 years ago with Don, Sonia & Martin. It brought back some memories indeed. 

We had a lovely time, chillin, pooling, Sauna, hot tub & steam roomin. Brekkies were awesome after we worked out what time to get in before the gannets. Bar food & drinks were seriously overpriced, and service was awful. The whole place needed a damn good clean, and some specific freshen ups. 

Saying that, a good time was had by all, which made up for our abortive trip to Mallorca. 

Don't think we'll be back in another 50 years......

CASTLEHUNTING 19 DINEFWR

Cadw:- Castell Dinefwr 

Wiki:- Dinefwr Castle

From the Cadw site:-

Much fought-over seat of the kingdom of Deheubarth

Perched in a commanding hilltop position above the Tywi Valley, Castell Dinefwr occupies a similarly significant position in Welsh history. In the 12th century, the fortress was in the possession of The Lord Rhys, ruler of the ancient south Wales kingdom of Deheubarth. His reign saw a rare period of peace and stability that led to a flowering of Welsh culture, music and poetry.

Sadly, it was not to last. After Rhys’s death, conflicts over succession led to turbulent years as the Welsh princes fought amongst themselves and against the English. Dinefwr eventually fell into English control in 1287 and remained there for centuries, despite Owain Glyndŵr’s attempt to wrest it back during his uprising of 1403.

Nice publicity arial shot

nice bike

What's left of the gatehouse

From inside

Unusual round keep

Stunning location

Quite a nice Castle, with superb views. Lots of original features intact, from which you can get an idea of its former glory. 

One criticism is that there is no signage to lead you from the car park to the site. This could be down to the fact that the car park is owned (?) by The National Trust, Newton House, and you have to pay the NT to park there (unless you have a Hog).

From AI;-

A Cadw membership does not give you a discount or free entry to National Trust properties.

Cadw membership reciprocal agreements only apply to specific heritage organizations.

Reciprocal Benefits with Cadw:-

English Heritage & Historic Scotland: 50% off admission in your first year, and free entry upon renewal.Manx National Heritage: Free unlimited entry.

If you plan to visit National Trust sites regularly alongside your Cadw membership, you will need to hold separate memberships for both organizations, as they are run independently.

Seems they are missing a trick.

THERE & BACK AGAIN

 Fun on 2 wheels again today. Rode to bont & back on my own this time, on the leccy bike. The "eco" mode came in quite handy on the uphill drags, into the wind, and then climbing back up the Mayals, into "sport" mode. My legs were significantly more bored this time as there was no slower riders to moderate my gung-ho attitude on the way out. I still got home after 27 miles on 3/5 bars on the battery meter. The Giant is proving it's worth. 

Can't get the hang of Strava yet. Today it seems to have recorded 3 rides for the price of one. Perhaps letting the screen auto close was a mistake, but the Pixel's battery is no match to the Huawei. After 2.5 hours I was down to 23%, and that was by trying to conserve power by letting the screen time out. 

Strava worked on the way out, but then got all confused:-

NO GUGA FOR YOUGA!

I read a good suspense thriller recently, called  The Blackhouse  By Peter May.

It was set in the small community on the isle of Harris, and centered around events during the Annual Guga (young gannet) Hunt. If you like this kind of novel, I heartily recommend it. 

Today, I noticed this Story on BBC, about this year's hunt being forbidden. A tradition that goes back to Viking times. The cause of the edict was stated as sustainability of the Gannet flock, but I am left to wonder if this is indeed the case.

IF IT'S NOT ON STRAVA......

 

I did it & lived to tell the tale!

West Cross to Bont & back - circa 27 miles in all.

The next one will be 32 + 7 miles.......

Watch this space.

How many codgers does it take to fix a puncture?

CWRW'R WYTHNOS PUM DEG PEDWAR

 

BIKESAFE WALES

 

I did it! With a little nudge from friends, I got on a BikeSafe course, run by South Wales Police, & ticked this off my "to do" list.

Firstly, on signing up you get a link to 9 online modules to do as pre work. These are based on the police system of risk reduction, IPSGA (not snappy, I concede) as used by their riders, and outlined in their manual, "Motorcycle roadcraft".

It's all about Identifying & eliminating risks

The day was fab, lovely, sunny, dry & the scenery was stunning. a few bods were no-shows, so I ended up having one instructor to myself for 4 hours on a spectacular drive through the South Wales Valleys

My take-aways?

• The importance of road positioning in different circumstances
• Using high revs & a low gear to balance the bike in turns
• Not stopping in "Pole position" after filtering
• Not having to overtake - wait for the right time, if at all
• Sign up for the next course in a few months, or maybe next spring - The Dragon Rider Scheme from NPT is good & cheap, apparently
• Try giving a running commentary whils riding to identify hazards & plan to avoid them
• "Drive like Eeyore - everyone is trying to kill me

The route

First order of the day - brekkie 

20 Sturmi Way, Pyle, Bridgend CF33 6BZ

Coffee stop

and back for debrief

The thing the above misses is the joy. The sheer joy of doing something great fun with others who feel the same way. With great views, the zen of motorcycling.

:-)

 

RESERVOIRS

From 

https://ramblingatthebridgehead

Reservoirs by R.S. Thomas

There are places in Wales I don’t go:

Reservoirs that are the subconscious

Of a people, troubled far down

With gravestones, chapels, villages even;

The serenity of their expression

Revolts me, it is a pose

For strangers, a watercolour’s appeal

To the mass, instead of the poem’s

Harsher conditions. There are the hills,

Too; gardens gone under the scum

Of the forests; and the smashed faces

Of the farms with the stone trickle

Of their tears down the hills’ side.

Where can I go, then, from the smell

Of decay, from the putrefying of a dead

Nation? I have walked the shore

For an hour and seen the English

Scavenging among the remains

Of our culture, covering the sand

Like the tide and, with the roughness

Of the tide, elbowing our language

Into the grave that we have dug for it.

by R. S. Thomas

from Not That He Brought Flowers (1968)

Ronald Stuart Thomas (29 March 1913 – 25 September 2000), published as R. S. Thomas, was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest who was noted for his nationalism, spirituality and deep dislike of the anglicisation of Wales. M. Wynn Thomas said: “He was the Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn of Wales because he was such a troubler of the Welsh conscience.”

R. S. Thomas believed in what he called “the true Wales of my imagination”, a Welsh-speaking aboriginal community that was in tune with the natural world. He viewed western (specifically English) materialism and greed, represented in the poetry by his mythical “Machine”, as the destroyers of community. He could tolerate neither the English who bought up Wales, and in his view stripped it of its wild and essential nature, nor the Welsh whom he saw as all too eager to kowtow to English money and influence.

As Capel Celyn was flooded in 1965 it’s almost certain one of the resevoirs referred to in this poem is this lost community. Capel Celyn was a rural community to the north west of Bala in Gwynedd, north Wales, in the Afon Tryweryn valley. The village and other parts of the valley were flooded to create a reservoir, Llyn Celyn, in order to supply Liverpool and Wirral with water for industry. The village contained, among other things, a chapel, as the name suggests, capel being Welsh for chapel, while celyn is Welsh for holly.

More, I hear you ask?

Clywedog by Gillian Clarke

The people came out in pairs, Old, most of them, holding their places Close till the very last minute, Even planting the beans as usual That year, grown at last accustomed To the pulse of the bulldozers. High in those uphill gardens, scarlet Beanflowers blazed hours after The water rose…

July 10, 2018

In "Literature"

Invitation by R. S. Thomas

And one voice says: Come Back to the rain and Manure of Siloh, to the small talk, Of the wind, and the chapel's Temptation; to the pale, Sickly half-smile Of the daughter of the Village grocer. The other says: Come to the streets, where the Pound sings and the doors Open to its music, with life Like an express train Running to time.…

December 21, 2018

In "Literature"

Once it was the Colour of Saying by Dylan Thomas

Once it was the colour of saying Soaked my table the uglier side of a hill With a capsized field where a school sat still And a black and white patch of girls grew playing; The gentle seaslides of saying I must undo That all the charmingly drowned arise to…

August 25, 2018

In "Literature"

THE PLAN

Short term target:-

Complete 1st U3A Cycle group ride on Monday 

Prep -

Ride the Prom to check bike's functions

Ride to meet-up point to check timings

Check!