Wales 23rd July - 30th

Donnington Castle

This magnificent oak will be centuries old - 300yrs - in Shelsmore Common near Newbury.

We had a great walk with the dogs on our last day caring for them. Their owners arrived back from Canada at 4pm. Relaxed and delighted that all at Crane Farm had had the Sewell care and attention. We were on the road by 6pm towards Newport. Not memorable but half way towards Tenby in Pembrokshire, Wales. 

From Newport next day we stopped in at the Cardiff Castle, walked past the revered Cardiff Rugby grounds. 

Cardiff Castle started off life as a Roman fort in AD55 and has had various iterations over the centuries.   The remodelling of Cardiff Castle was quite something. The Marquess of Bute from 1868 did a real number on various rooms such was his passion for "luxuriant fancy". The family had done well with investing in the Cardiff docks, mining and land ownership.

The clock tower with astronomical statues 3m high carved in stone and painted.

The Arab room - somewhat out of place in central Cardiff, Wales. A more Gothic tone would have been more apt.

Next stop was the National Botanic gardens of Wales. Known for having the the worlds largest single span glasshouse at 110m x 60m. The double bricked walled garden was excellent.

The gardens also had a large historic apothecary building, thought of friend Kerry, she would have found it fascinating.

We were booked at Tenby for two nights to relax by the seaside staying in the Park Hotel, which was a bit of a find. A balmy 24C on arrival. There was a track from the hotel down to the beach starting and ending at the garden bar. Had a good walk about and realising the town was jammed but fortunate that the hotel was well out of it. Really felt like we were on holiday and not having to rise 5am/6am for the horse seemed weird. Of course awake but no urgency to be vertical. Having secured a copy of the Saturday newspaper, very weighty tome, spent a happy few hours reading. 

Looking out of our hotel window

Could almost squint your eyes and imagine you are on the Italian coast not Pembrokeshire, Wales. Tenby has 13th century medieval well preserved town walls.

All the coloured Georgian houses on the High Street are quite a feature, a very tidy town.

And here he is...a dip in the sea in Wales no less.!! Jeff thought it seemed similar to Tahunanui as the beach has a shallow sandy bay which has heated up over the warmer weather the UK has been having. Daniel Craig, eat your heart out...

Left Tenby and drove north west arriving at St Davids. Britian's smallest city as designated by Queen Victoria. Really only contains a few cafes, shops and the centre piece being St Davids cathedral and Bishops Palace. A monastic community since 598AD the cathedral was built from 1181. Oliver Cromwell had a good go at pillaging/ destroying it  in 1658, including taking all the lead from the roof of the Bishops Palace. The Cathedral has been continually repaired since. Being Sunday a church service was on so did not go inside but found the outside impressive.

Further up the west coast of Wales was Aberystwyth. We remember this town from 30 odd years ago. A dreary place, the Welsh version of Brighton. In the intervening period it has not changed.

This is the pier. In an effort to beautify the council had put trees in pots at the end? Of course they succumbed to the elements.

Look closely this traveller had his small dog in his backpack. Was at the cafe we stopped at .

Drove on to Porthmadog where the Ffestiniog Blaenau train goes from.  Porthmadog was jammed with holidaymakers and a tat town. Pleased we had not booked to stay there. Continued into the mist and hills to Beddgelert to the B&B. Tiny village on the river Glaslyn. Impossible to park at the accommodation. So many people in the area being Snowdonia National Park. Gangs of walkers/ hikers. Very foggy, mizzle so not conducive to seeing any distance. Walking up Snowdonia did not appeal, would be a lower altitude version of Mt Everest. You and hundreds trailing up.

Our B&B beside the Prince Llewellyn pub in Beddgelert

Next day we drove back to Portmadog and hopped on the Ffestiniog Blaenau train for the three hour round trip. Oldest surviving railway in the world ( who knew) established in 1832. Blaenau is a slate town so this was the reason for the railway. Originally wagons were hauled up the 13miles by dray horses. Carriages returned by gravity at 1.25%. Life in the slate town would have been desperate, reminded us of Denniston.

Train called the David Lloyd George was a replica built in 1992.

Piles of slate

Little hamlets in the valleys. Hard going in the winters.

A nuclear power station we passed had been decommissioned.

The train ride as a treat for the soon to be birthday boy.... We then drove back the long way to Beddgelert via the Llyn  penninsular noted as a wonderful natural landscape ( welsh hyperbole). Some high crags, lots of bracken. 

Flowering heath on the hillsides, reminders of Scottish hills we had driven on the scanning years.

Misty hills of Wales

Fancy a hillside of slate behind your house?

A slate fence, very clever.

Called in here for drink after our day. Met a Dutch couple who were very interested in our chat. They have many short holidays over Europe given the proximity and price. Kiwis who fly a 24hrs to get here are admired.

Left Beddgelert and headed for National Trust Bodnant Gardens, which are in north Wales. When we last went in 1992 - dear me - it was early Spring. Not as dramatic this time being high summer and a drought. Nonetheless we very much enjoyed the magnificent trees and walk.

Called into Betws-y-Coed, a solid stone town built on the back of the booming slate period and part of the Snowdonia Park area. Lots of folks about.

Downtown/village Betsw-y-Coed

Next stop the Horseshoe Falls which in fact turned out to be a very large weir. Several large Indian families having a fun day and swimming in tshirts and shorts. St Tysillio's church was derelict around the outside but maintained inside. Robert Browning, the poet, had a memorial plaque.

Jeff thought his Nelson volunteer cemetery team would have quite a job cleaning this up.

Fabulous oak ceiling remodelled in 1580!

Near Llangollen is the Pontcysylte Aqueduct on the River Dee. The aqueduct carries the Llangollen canal over the river. It is 307m long and 4m wide. On the go since 1805 it is the highest in the world made of cast iron. One has to admire the skill from those times.

 

Folks pay £10 each for the 10 minute ride. We chatted to the canal boat driver who had been plying the canal for 15years, his father 25years previously. 

One of the brick aqueducts in the area.

The townsip of Llangollen accommodation was fully booked so we went up the road to The Chainbridge Hotel right beside the River Dee. The actual chainbridge has had quite history with floods taking it out intermittenly since built 1817. The hotel has also had a potted history with various booms and busts. We slept in one of the river rooms. Incredibly noisy, double glazing notwithstanding. Midges meant we did not leave a window open. A long night.

Outside our bedroom window at The Chainbridge Hotel.

Next day, Jeff's birthday, moved on to the Elan Valley in mid Wales. Elan Valley is a series of dams that provide water to Birmingham. A clever chap, called James Mansergh, in 1890 identified that the high rainfall, narrow valleys, impermable rock and being higher than Birmingham would be the perfect place for dams. The water is gravity fed over the 70 miles to Birmingham.  

Jeffs birthday treat, in addition to the train,  was the Red Kites at Gigrin farm near Rhadayer. We have seen and heard Red Kites since we arrived in the UK. There has been a big increase in their population due to species reintroduction and legal protection. They are scavengers similar to NZ harrier hawks. The farm feds these wild birds everday at 3pm. As the time ticks by they fill the sky and the sound of the tractor is the dinner bell.

Now based in Glasbury near Hay on Wye, the independent bookstore capital of Wales yahoo!! About to head in to stooge about for the day.

Berkshire 15th July to 23rd July

The last 10 ten days has been a series of luncheons undertaken by us here at The Crane Farmhouse. Was an opportunity for folks for a day in the countryside and given our horse, dog obligations meant we did not have to travel. We have hosted seven lunches and really nice to see friends relaxed and making the most of a long, languid lunch.

Friends from Burghclere - Alan, Malcolm, Celia and another Sandra! Jeff was in Great Shefford Young Farmers moons ago with Alan and Sandra. We met Malcolm and Celia when housesitting a couple of years ago and in fact they recommended us for the three weeks at Crane Farm. Alan and Sandra farm suckler cows, grow cereals while Malcolm and Celia farm beef and have honey hives. Malcolm is famous for being grumpy, especially after he fall in their farm pond badly injuring his leg. He is a sweetheart really. They all had a white knuckle drive here while Malcolm, who was driver, was looking over hedgerows on the way.

The next day we hosted Alastair and Jo who live near Baydon. Another Young Farmer cohort. They farm 650 dairy cows and their two adult children live on the property with their own families. Everyone has a role. They do not get away much and they had never been to this part of West Berkshire before.  Alastair was taking it all in.  Jo has Parkinsons disease and has deterioated since we saw her last year. Just breaks your heart, so unfair. Thankfully instead of raising the calves her role is now to help with the care of five grandchildren at home which she loves and suits her mobility at this point.

Since we arrived in the UK six weeks ago it has not rained. Warm and sunny everyday which we are loving. Have turned the horse out a few times at 5am so as to bring him in before it gets to 25C - 10am-ish. Walk the dogs every day for 1.5 to 2 hours and endeavour to include water for a swim. We get annoyed when we see the above signs on a nice stretch of water. Some fishing club with ownership rights which is legal in the UK. Tossers.  Never at a loss for places to walk and do the odd one in reverse, dogs unaware just very enthusiastic.

Sunday we hosted David Patient and family. The dog, Otto, always likes to be in the photo!

Nicholas is 14 yrs old with size 11 shoes already and his sister Charlotte a button.

The kids and dogs had lots of fun and even though Nicholas is wary of dogs but after an afternoon of being licked, smooched on, laying over his feet Nicholas was more relaxed.

David has been retired as a GP for a year now and it really suits him. Much happier.

Drinks at the Queens Arm pub that evening with Libby, who lives in East Garston. We cycled with her last year on the Channel to Med. Libby is an occupational nurse and her daughter a mental health nurse. They have the opportunity for a one year contract at Porirua Hospital in NZ so may see more of them.

After

Before

This is Jeffs effort with the Farm signage. Initially lying in the hedge covered with Hawthorn. Stood it up, trimmed foliage and touched up the white paint. Made it a whole lot easier for folks to find us given the farm tracks they had to negoiate.

Ros and Stuart from Cheltenham visited on their way to East Harting. They had looked after Jefferswood for us a couple of times as Wwoofers - willing workers on organic farms. They were in good form and very much thriving on having downsized to an apartment.

One of the joys of cafes here are the cakes!  Tea shops, cafes usually have a great range. We have been to Priscilla's Kitchen a couple of times on the way back from a dog walk in East Garston. One of our cycling companions, Matthew, is a cafe cake exponent extraordinare so found a book for him at Priscillas.

Priscillia's with in obligatory dog.

Lemon drizzle cake is highly recommended. (As is the carrot cake)

Book for Matthew

We leave our house sit on Thursday 23rd. We have 8 days break, so we are going to go about Wales. School holidays here so should be the least jammed.  Our next house sit starts on 1st August at Congresbury which is 20 minutes SW of Bristol. 

Berkshire 8th July to 14th July

 

On the Ridgeway and surrounding Cranes Farm are racing stables. Area is known as the Valley of the Racehorse. There are gallops up and down the hills that horses are worked on in the early morning.  We pass this group and it is nice to see them running free in a large feild not wearing a fly mask and horse cover like Marco the horse we are caring for. In saying that Marco seems quite content, laminitis notwithstanding, we think he must get lonely though.

Jeff decided to go down to Salisbury, an hours drive, to look at purchasing further parts for the MGB. Carburettors need replacing. Had a happy time at the factory, even getting a personal tour. The parts will be sent by DHL so not having to be wrangled into a backpack. The company still handmakes some parts but has also embraced robotics.

We had purchased tickets to attend the Badminton RHS Flower Show after reading an article in the Saturday newspaper about the property. Owned by the Somerset family since the 1700's, a 21,000 ha estate famous for hosting the Badminton Horse Trials. We have been to the Chelsea and Wisley shows in previous years but the RHS wanted to offer an alternative to Chelsea for those not around London which has become a mammoth event.

Dogs in the back of the car and away we go.  Did take 40mins to drive the final 1.5 miles which the chap who parked beside us was less than impressed by. He had worked at Silverstone Formula One last Sunday and said " we traffic managed 65,000 cars better than this!!" Anyway, we had a short look around, jammed and the steel footpath treads laid between sites was incredibly hot on a 33C day. Improvements need to be made to the experience shall we say.  Stopped at a bend in the Lambourn river on the way back to cool down the dogs.

Badminton outside the show area

Ladies with rain, now sun umbrellas on the way in.

Badminton House with its 116 rooms. One of the reasons these sprawling estates have events, shows, film set use is to pay for the upkeep. In the early 1900's some sold off tracts of land for upkeep and death duties. Not many managed to stay entire, as it were, like Badminton.

Jeff trying to get Otto to swim. He chickens out when water touches his belly. Whereas Ella is like a fish, full immersion. Realised Otto, at two years old, has not been taken to the river much whereas Ella, at seven years old, has been given a few more opportunities.

Next day we hosted Jeff's old mate Phil and his wife Diana. Jeff and Phil's step father worked together on the same farm in 1979 and were in the local Young Farmers Club. We have kept in touch over the years and we usually visit them in Great Bedwyn each year. Sadly they have never been to NZ. Having brought up a Downs syndrome son for thirty years, Diana has had early onset Parkinsons for the last ten years. Now other Nuerological issues. Phil full time caring for Diana, their dreams of  travel retirement evaporated. To see the state she is in now, down to 6 stone in weight just makes you want to weep and desperately sad. They really enjoyed their visit, we kept it light and fun. 

Phil and Jeff. We are forever grateful for good health and opportunities we make.

These two larrikins put a smile on your face. In the back of the car watching Sandra head off into Waitrose shopping. In the morning after we have turned out the horse and had our breakfast they stalk you in the house waiting for their walk knowing it will be an adventure. In the car and a short to drive to somewhere that a will be 7-8km jaunt.

Another swim opportunity.

We began our lunch hosting on Saturday with Tim and Caroline from Surrey. Tim has recently retired from being a shop outfitter and Caroline will join the ranks soon. We cycled with them last year on the Channel to the Med ( 1,400 kms over14 days). They were very relaxed and having arrived at 10.30am finally left 5.30pm, when we had to feed the horse. Good fun and we solved all the worlds issues as you do !! Another hot day with 15 days on the trot thus far in the UK!! We love it. Tim and Caroline have no rides planned this year but would like to come to NZ next year. Tim loves trout fishing so we will get them up to Lake Rotoiti and other spots. 

Tim is a big unit, very droll and Caroline just tiny.

Sunday we drove down to Wimborne in Dorset for lunch with folks we met at the Bath sales years ago with David Patient. Geoff and Lisa Ottley; who never let us forget that our efforts in the Bath Sales were paltry. They also own classic cars and Geoff a retired GP. Our good friend Marjory, who was married to David Patient, was there also so just perfect. All these doctors seem to stick together from Med School it seems decades ago. One of the Ottleys daughters, Lara, stayed with us when on her gap year. We are a great respite in Nelson from the Kiwi Experience bus, a good bed, meals and laundry! We are always happy to host and for parents to have a NZ contact for their travelling children.

Today we hosted for lunch more cycling cohorts from the Channel to the Med, John and Maddy. They are the folks who stood us up at Woodstock as Maddy had not written the then arrangement in her diary. She is very animated and talks sixty to the dozen. Her poor patients (she was a dentist)  would never have a chance to reply to her gay chatter. Full of fun whereas John, another medic, is very measured and quiet but boy has he got some deep knowledge. Like Tim and Marjory, John has incredible knowledge about bikes. They did the Munich to Rome ride in June which we are planning next year. Unfortunately Maddy came off her bike second to last day of the 14 day ride - appalling Italian roads. 

So having talked bikes so much over the last few days we think we know what to upgrade our gravel bikes to on return to NZ.

Berkshire 2nd July - 7th July

 

Jeff leading in Marco - 18yr old.

We have the regime for caring for the horse, two dogs and property -Cranes Farmhouse - sorted to keep everything as it should be.

6am we go up to the stable, give Marco a carrot to keep him happy while Jeff gets his medication hidden in a handful of horse feed. Marco is fed pellets then brought out of his stall and his horse cover, fly mask and grass muzzle is put on. Marco is then turned out onto his field. Grass muzzle is to restrict amount he eats as too much grass exacerbates the laministis the horse has. Once turned out we makeup hay 3 nets, weight exactly 2.8kg each. One is soaked in a tub of water and weighted with bucket of water to keep it submerged. We then muck out the horse stall and feed the feral cats who live in the barn. Muck is barrowed along a cypress hedge alleyway to be dumped. We also muck out the field. Return to the house and feed the 2 dogs - 315gm and 185gms each weighed. Jeff and I have breakfast 7.30am and then take the dogs for their walk 7-8km. Find interesting walks a shortish car ride away like woods, rivers etc. as around the farmhouse is the Ridgeway byway which is boring for all concerned. On return to the house, a coffee then head up to the barn around 11am to bring the horse from his field,  remove cover, mask and feed restrictor. Marco then given the soaked drained hay net in his stall. Most of the sugars have soaked out. The sugars in the grass feild rise late morning so hence Marco has to be brought in. We put another hay net into soak.

So from around midday we can relax until 5pm when the horse gets the second soaked hay net. In the afternoons we have been fixing a few things that require Sewell attention. The horsecover beiing left in a pile is annoying so Jeff made a stand so the cover goes on easier rather than wrestling to find the right way while the horse gets grumpy with any delay in being turned out. The horse water trough was not working properly, probably not for ages, so bits purchased to repair. Fussing around the extensive garden,  keeping pots etc alive in the warm temperatures, not complaining, marvellous blue sky days 25C to 33C. Plenty of reading done plus Formula One and Tour de France to watch. At 9pm we go up to the horse for the final time in the day to give him his 3rd soaked hay net. We muck out the stall again.

Dogs sleep in the house at night but know not to go upstairs. Like most Labradors it is all about food and walks.  Upstairs we have got used to the low oak beams, after a couple of head knocks. The farmhouse is isolated so no non rural noise. We love hearing the pheasants, pigeons and seeing deer potter about. Cool inside even upstairs at night and can leave windows wide open. Gets light enough about 4am. Both sleeping well as we have our own bedding and pillows. We are living in maybe a 1/3 of the house as formal lounge, dining room, other bedrooms etc not required.

There is a robotic lawnmower, called Bilbo. Has his own little den where he returns to and recharges. Quite odd seeing it go about the various lawns. So no lawn mowing required by us.

An East Garston house, this is a high decile area with racehorses, fancy cars and extensive properties.

Lambourn River, a clear chalk waterway.

A hint of water and both dogs, Otto and Ella are in. We try and time these stops halfway on our walks. 

We have found some lovely walks around Lambourn river, Great Shefford and Eastbury. Went out to the Uffington White Horse to do a circular walk. You see the horse on the Berkshire Downs for some way. It is 110m long prehistoric chalk horse carved 3,000yrs ago. An offering to a Celtic god is the current thinking.

The view looking from going back up the White Horse circular walk. No significant rain here for sometime, or any forecast. Arable crops will maturing early. Already wheat, barley being harvested. Maybe light crops as the wheat heads have not plumped out due to lack of moisture.

We have several friends coming for lunch over the next several days. Thank goodness for M &S Foods. Easier for us if friends take a drive to here and Cranes Farmhouse is a "wowzer"  according to friend Caroline from West London.

Oxfordshire - Berkshire June 26 - 1st July

j

Burford pub made to be very inviting

We will come back to this another day for the classic scone with clotted cream.

Building inspectors heart attack....

The Cotswold Cheese Company

Main Street

Friday was forecast as another hot day so off early to a village called Burford, another Cotswolds stunner and only 20 mins away. Being there by 9am is the trick to have the place to yourselves basically. Had a lovely feel about it, many independent quaint shops.

Moved on to the Burford Garden Company is an Oxfordshire institution at 6 hectares of all things plants, just mind blowing. Dogs not allowed in so we took turns to stooge about.

Time for a cooling swim for Omey so went back to Minster Lovell but she would not go into the river, just a muddy duck pond. Jeff had to lift her back into the car, a muddy mess, then we hosed her off back at 1 Wood Lane. Heat of the day lessened by 6pm so we took Omey on the public pathway to the "Bird in Hand" pub 20mins walk for Friday night drink and dinner. The English classic fish pie was pretty good washed down by a lager. A bassett hound and Omey ignored each other. 

Yes they still have post boxes in the UK but slowly disappearing.

Saturday due to visit our next housesit at East Garston for a famil. A woods walk for an hour and a half for the dog to take off the edge, she was quite happy to sit in the car for the hour to East Garston. Crane Farm is a big property and we will be caring for a horse and two black labradors. When we arrived all dogs got on well . Met Paul, Yvonne and tbeir cleaner; who has worked at Crane farm for years. Unfortunately the horse has laminitis so a lot more faffing about to care for him as he can not stay in the field after noon. Nice folks who had never had housesitters before. We were recommended to them from a job we did in Berkshire a couple of years ago. Agreed to arrive on the Tuesday night before tbey depart so as to go over the horse regime the morning of their departure.

Swept by the Windrush River on the way home for a dog swim, beside herself with delight.

Next day we headed out for an 8km loop at Asthall. Lovely rolling downs past St Marys church. We walked past headstones and to our amazement come across the infamous  Mitford sisters all in a row. Unity, the Hitler lover/ Nazi who tried to commit suicide when Britian declared war on Germany, Jessica the Communist, Diana the socialist and Nancy. There were three other siblings. An upperclass aristocratic family all mad as hatters, inbreeding seems to do that. All girls were expected to disregard formal education and marry young to a prosperous husband.

St Marys circa 1700's

Can just make out the Mitford name.

Sunday and the villages were heaving with tourists but nothing prepared us for driving past Jeremy Clarkson's lasted venture - Diddly Squat Farm Shop and "The Farmers Dog" pub. Hundreds of people, cars and coaches. It was rammed so we beat a hasty retreat back to Wood Lane. A neighbour in the village and his wife called in for afternoon tea. He had been design engineer for the Arrows F1 team then head hunted as design engineer by Renault Alpine formula one team which was apt as we watch the Formula One racing here every Sunday night on Channel 4 - Austrian this week and Silverstone next Sunday.

Next day another walk and another church called St Oswalds. A lady saw our small backpacks with "kiwi" on them and said "you must go into the church on your walk as it is on the site of a Roman Villa and is mainly 13th century...." She was not wrong. Murals from 1348 were still on two walls showing people alive and dead with the reminder to "live today" as death finds us all; whether king or pauper.

Note the floors, seven hundred years of use.

Private family stalls

Last day at Wood Lane we went back to Blenheim Palace for a walk on the grounds and to meet friends at Woodstock. We cycled with John and Maddy last year in France. John is a real cycle gear nut and we wanted to get his opinion on two new road bikes we want to buy on return to NZ in anticipation of cycling Munich to Rome May 2027. Alas Maddy forgot our date so Jeff, moi and the dog had a nice lunch at Hampers Deli in Woodstock anyway. Arranged that they come to East Garston mid July- written in the diary this time.

Went back to Huffkins at Burford with a wet dog after a walk and swim. Scrummy scone and clotted cream for Jeff and Victoria sponge for me. Delicious.

Jeff very keen to go back to the Jeremy Clarkson project before we left the area. Tuesday morning still very busy and to be honest we were very underwhelmed. People are like lemmings buying mugs, teeshirts, bacon burgers and beer. Farmshop produce was pitiful. The Hawkestone beer is good says Jeff but otherwise do not waste your time.

Beer garden at The Farmers Dog, 11am.

The bacon burger team

  

So owners of Omey arrived back 2pm, said our goodbyes and we headed off to Newbury to get supplies to take to East Garston. The Cranes Farm is 10 minutes by car from tbe village, pub only, and Newbury for essentials 25 minutes. Paul and Yvonne busy packing to depart for Canada for three weeks so we got ourselves setup - groceries, bedding etc.

Different area, plenty of tasks, friends will call in and super property.

Dogs Ella and Otto at front of the main house

View out the front of the main house.

Cottage that visiting relatives stay in and workshop, office at right.

 

Marco the horse with Laminitis. Jeff spent this afternoon setting up a horse cover rack to reduce the 6.30am tasks.