Andy has needed to do some book deliveries into Wales and around the county. I have been accompanying he and Karen on the rounds. It has given me a good look at the countryside and also some of the villages and towns. We went into Wales to Abysthwyth on the coast. The weather turned drizzly and it was very cold by the sea; the town has a Victorian era pier that has been repaired after it was damaged during winter storms. It is a solid sort of place. The beach had black sand and was not at all inviting in the cold wind. There are the ruins of a castle on the headland which had access to the sea so if it was under siege they could get provisions by boat.
All these castles and ruins reminds me of the Game of thrones series that I am reading. Karen saw some episodes in Spain when she was staying with the AirB&B hosts and bought the series when she got back. We have been watching episodes every few nights.
This is a very nationalistic part of Wales with the Welsh flag flying everywhere. There has been a real resurgence in the Welsh language and primary schools are bilingual and learning continued into high school. All the signs are in both languages and I became so intrigued with trying to understand and say the words I bought a little book on pronunciation. It isn't as difficult as it seems. I can almost pronounce words now.
The countryside is much wilder and sparser in population. On the way back we came over a mountain track past lead mines and three dams that provide water for Birmingham. The three dams are stepped down the valley below each other rather than one huge dam
The wild valleys with waterfalls
The old lead minrs Getting back to Herefordshire you can really see how lush and fertile the country is by contrast to this part of Wales.
That evening we went to Ivar and Susie's place for dinner. They run a successful cider company, Dunkertons Cider.. I haven't seen them since Salamanca. They have a wonderful garden and a menagerie of animals, a dog Meg who is a border collie but too white, a ginger cat and two geese. One of the geese is so old it can hardly stand and it just lies flat on the ground sometimes lije a deflated baloon!
Susie had cooked lamb roast.which was delicious. Andy and Karen are vegetarians so I have been meatless most of the time here. Karen is a good, interesting vegetarian cook, so our meals are always delicious and I am learning to be less meat focused. I wouldn't say I am missing meat but I did really enjoy that lamb! We had taken a bowl of raspberries fresh picked from the garden as our offering. While we picked, Karen and I were listening to a comedy show on the radio which had us both cackling so hard. All Andy could hear was the cackling laughter coming from deep in the raspberry bushes which was destroying the peace of the garden. There is nothing like a good belly laugh to brighten the day. They are both quiet types so I am like a whirlwind to them at times.
The next day Karen and I went to visit the Owl sanctuary and small animals farm. They had fifty or more different owls. There were some you could stroke but one looked like a Harry Potter owl.
He was huge with amazing pink eyelids and looked so haughty I was a bit nervous to touch him. There were lots of beautiful pheasants and funny chickens with feathers on their feet. When they ran they had a funny rolling movement.
They had lots of cute goats too. I love goats because they are so friendly and it is a hangover from reading Heidi when I was a child!
Another book delivery took me to Ledbury where they are having a poetry festival and Logaston Press is launching a new book called Poems and paintings of the Malvern Hills at a gallery there next Wednesday. Today we needed to deliver more books and especially the poetry book so the shops can start selling them. Ledbury turned out to be quite a charming place with some unique lanes. One of the lanes has been grafittiied with a stencil of the local poet John Mansfield in the style of Banksi. Perhaps a guerrilla poet was the artist?
Ledbury street scape.Driving around I am conscious of so many names we take for granted in Melbourne are from here and even from Heredfordshire in particular. Malvern Hills were renowned for the 'healing' springs and it became a spa town. They are very pretty too with lovely trees and spectacular views. There is the Elgar route through the town also. I keep wanting to find out about everything and Andy and Karen are great fonts of information from publishing so many books about the history of the county.
No comments:
Post a Comment