Travelling the UK in a Motorhome for a Year - Week 35 - Cenarth Falls - Pendine Sands - Tenby - Brecon Beacons - Llandovery - South Wales

 

FRIDAY, 24 APRIL 2015 Week 35 

We have moved on down the Welsh coast to Cenarth Falls - a very pretty and typical Welsh village with lots of stone cottages, a coracle and flour mill museum and some AMAZING scenery!  We went for a long walk one day, and we were both very proud that we could finally start getting fit again after the stockpiling of chocolate and wine over the cold winter months in a motorhome was finally over.  This had to be one of the best days of 2015 so far (weather-wise) and we have already had comments on our spring tans!

The mill is in the background, nestled in these beautiful cascading waters. I think the pictures speak for themselves here, and I even managed the cool blossom picture at the top of the page. I was really chuffed with my attempts at a nature close-up shot, as the blossoms were blowing about quite a bit in the breeze.

Until the 1970's farmers used this river to dip their sheep in, and the men in Coracles (little round paddle boats) would push the sheep across to the other side, but as always, the EU got involved, stopped the river sheep dipping and the art of coracle making died with it! Typical bureaucrats! Happily, though, there is still a museum dedicated to the art form.

We had a day out at Pendine Sands, the place where, at one time, the land speed record was always attempted because of the long expanses of beaches. Today, sadly, they are used for Jeremy Clarkson and his team of petrol heads to test drive overpriced sports cars on! However, we did look around the only major thing there - Park Dean holiday camp, which I would like to stay at again someday... (they didn't accept tourers or vans, before anyone asks)

We had a day trip out to Tenby - dull weather, but a nice seaside holiday town that reminds me a bit of Padstow and Wales' New Quay. Quaint with tight streets and various winding paths and sandy beaches - Luverly! Tenby Castle Island - we didn't actually walk down to the beach and back up the hill to the island because we were tired. We looked and admired from afar!

This was St Anne’s Chapel in New Hedges, close to Tenby, where we stayed. I have always loved these little Victorian, iron, flat-pack churches that sprang up during the later industrial age to serve new and isolated coal and farming communities of the 1800s. I'd just love to scoop one up and turn it into a holiday home, but alas, this one is still a fully functional place of worship.

The main pretty beach cove of Tenby - we did find the most amazing seafood restaurant here. Neither can remember the name, but I will Google at some point for a recommendation.

This was the main house that was part of a country estate across the road from our caravan park in New Hedges. Luckily, the grounds were full of free public footpaths that took us past this magnificent home that had its own private/public beach! This "Private" Beach was at the bottom of the above house's back garden, but because of public footpath laws, we could go down to it and enjoy the private beach too. It was very beautiful and one of just a couple of quaint beach coves I've had the fortune to find on our fantastic British coastline.

We moved on to Brecon Beacons, and yes, this is inland, but certain areas of the Welsh coastline do become very industrialised as you go further south and as we were so close, I just really wanted to go to Brecon town, where the MOD's training camp and SAS inauguration site is stationed.

Brecon town in the heart of the Beacons was very picturesque, as was this canal basin. We stayed on a campsite on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in a town called Llandovery - renowned for its sports and rugby training college!

The picture here and above is a spooky kind of monument in the town to a Llewellyn Gruffydd (John Griffard to you and me) Castle above the Bear! He did something heroic, so naturally he was hanged, drawn and quartered on this hill for his loyalty!!! Bonkers our history.

The Huge shiny statue above makes it look like Sleepy Hollow's headless horseman, and it does give one the heebie jeebies when you look up at the monster statue. We also made a brief visit to the St David's Peninsula and visited its monastery and cathedral. Lovely, but when you've seen as many old ruins as I have, there becomes a point of saturation. It was pleasant and I'm glad I went to see it because I've never been to this area of Wales before, but it is seen now, and I doubt I will return. 

However, ten years on, we did actually return to St David's Last August as we did a short tour back up to Porthmadog, and I have to say it was lovely. We looked around the Cathedral of the smallest City in the UK and stayed overnight in a local guest house... So it just goes to show, you never know what is around the corner and what wonderful surprises pop up when you least expect them.😀

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Motorhome Travels Around the UK Coastline - Week 34 - Wales - Harlech - Borth - New Quay - Aberaeron

 TUESDAY 17 APRIL 2015 Week 34

From Porthmadog, we headed to Harlech, which was amazing. Although I’d been there before, I had only ever visited the castle and had no idea there were beautiful soft sand dunes and long beaches here. The caravan park we stayed at, Min Y Don, was just a short walk to the dunes, which reminded me so much of Black Rock Sands in Porthmadog, and the Castle dominated the views inland. I looked upon Harlech with a new love for the place, and I would like to visit again. 

The Caravan Park was 5 stars with a magnificent steel dragon statue governing the entrance to the park. Very impressive. I even sold some Beyond Books to the other campers! To make the stay even more wonderful, my two lovely nieces came to stay for a night with my brother as it was Easter holidays. 

We walked all the way up the hills to the Castle and walked up and down 400 steps whilst Del sat on a bench by a very strange horse statue carrying a medieval monk with no legs! That’s how I felt after walking around the castle. The views were stunning, but my poor legs hurt a lot the next day! We then went to the beach for a bit of sunbathing, jumping off sand dunes and burying the girls in the sand. Great fun – then back to the van for a slap-up barbecue. Perfect day.

We moved on to Borth. Oh, deary me! What a stark contrast. I booked a Park Resorts because I thought with a swimming pool and entertainment complex, it would be great, because the big campsites were finally opening up for a new season after the winter months of hardcore camping sites… Well, where do I begin? The place was so awful, I had to put more pictures up of our fabulous time in Harlech. (Right) My Brother leaping off a sand dune! (Below) Del burying my nieces in the sand! 😆 Good Fun!

The pitches were so tiny that all the grass was churned up, the toilet and shower block looked like something from the 70s, and no lights in the toilets, making it impossible for me to use. Then we decided to go for the “sensible swim” session in the site's pool so I could have a shower after, but the session was more like a zoo full of screaming kids being thrown around the pool by their parents! And it wasn’t just us disgruntled that the “sensible swim” session had been totally ignored and unenforced by a bunch of bored, apathetic lifeguards. 

One kid was flung into the air and landed on some poor bloke’s shoulder, who left clutching his shoulder in pain! I even asked two kids what was wrong with them. As they seemed to want to splash around in front of the adult swimmers in the deep end, as soon as one attempted to swim sensibly past! What a debacle! At least I got a shower!

The Static caravan area was just as bad as the touring, with enormous industrial bins just left in front of caravans all over the place, but what amazed me was that the £9.50 Sun Campers didn’t care! I’d be complaining or at least moving the smelly trash can away from my front door. Urgh! The entertainment complex was certainly entertaining.

We ate in the bar area. I ordered a Cajun chicken with Teriyaki noodles and vegetables. I considered this to be a healthy option. What was presented to me at the table was a dried up blob of chicken dipped in what can only be described as a Nando’s chilli sauce and plonked on top of re-heated spaghetti with warmish soggy vegetables (and I’m being generous with the term vegetables - I found one piece of mini sweetcorn and a scrap of soggy mixed peppers!) Not the best meal I’ve ever had!

Borth was a tired concrete seaside village. Enough said on that, I’m depressing myself talking about the place. Safe to say we won’t be going back there, and that's why there are no photos! I thought I'd spread out the blog about Borth with extra Harlech Piccy’s instead! We moved on to New Quay, close to Aberystwyth, and I knew this would be lovely as I’ve stayed in this area before. Although I couldn’t get on Quay West Park, where I normally stay, we did find Pencnwc, which had a lovely pool and clubhouse.

I even won two games of bingo, and I normally never win at anything! New Quay is a picturesque fishing village famous for its writer and Poet, Dylan Thomas, and everywhere you go Dylan apparently drank at that pub or this pub… even in Aberaeron, where the little fishing port is famous for its quaint coloured cottages, Dylan drank in every pub there too… I’m surprised the guy ever managed to put pen to paper!

We had a day trip out to Aberystwyth, and although the Victorian-style seaside front was looking a bit like a tired version of Llandudno, we did find a cracking little tapas restaurant tucked away at the back of a great Spanish delicatessen. It was packed, and having to share tables with other guests seemed to just add to the rustic charm for me.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

Book Five of The Beyond Series is available to pre-order.. Lemurian Dimensions available from 1st May 2025

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A Year in a Motorhome Travelling the UK Coast - Week 33 Wales - Caernarfon - Steam Railway Porthmadog - Criccieth

 

FRIDAY, 10 APRIL 2015 Week 33

Despite being ill, we've had a full week of doing and seeing exciting things.

We went into Caernarfon and saw the castle. Weirdly, I've been here a few times over the years, but had completely forgotten what the town looked like. So, we went on one of these land trains called the Clickety Clacker! Very Touristy. The tour guide was as mad as a March hare and seemed to make up the Welsh and English history as we trundled along the little narrow streets. We found a really old tavern pub called the Black Buoy Inn, lots of low ceilings and large beams and a roaring coal fire in the corner. The food was amazing. We tried a local Welsh dish called the Lobscows (a beef stew to you and me), but it was delicious.

We stayed at a little caravan park in the middle of nowhere, close to the Welsh Highland Railway tracks. The nearest stop was Waun Fawr, but across the road was this gorgeous little church. It was so cute, I could imagine a congregation of about ten people here on a Sunday and the odd ghostly figure floating through the graveyard at midnight, right out of a Brontë novel!

I went for a walk behind the caravan park and found this little oasis of a running stream and fields of sheep with their newborn lambs... Aww - cute! We were lucky enough to see the little Welsh Highland Train pass under a bridge whilst we were out walking one day. Everything is just miniaturised and cute here in Snowdonia. We then had a disaster on Good Friday. The Campsite we were meant to be going to had only booked up a soft ground pitch and told us WE had made the mistake with our booking. 

Furious I stormed off (I've been pulled out by a tractor before now and have no intention of going through that again!) because I know I always ask for a hard-standing pitch when I book. Imagine two ill bunnies driving around Snowdonia, late afternoon on Good Friday, with nowhere to stay and wanting nothing more than to crash in the van for a few hours. It all turned out for the best as we worked our way from Pwllheli to Criccieth and still no room at the Parks, we came across a lovely little site near Porthmadog, where I'd had my hen weekend in Borth Y Gest. 

The sun came out to boot, and we had a cracking afternoon. We even got to go to the very first Indian restaurant I ever went to as a child! I told the taxi driver to take me to the Indian Passageway - he burst out laughing and said, "You mean the Passage to India!" Oops! We stayed the whole weekend in one of my all time favourite places in the whole wide world (lots of childhood holiday memories here) - Porthmadog. 

As you can see, it has a beautiful port, stunning golden sandy beaches and dunes and a brilliant steam railway. We were joined for the weekend with Lauren, so we decided to have a trip up to Blaenau Ffestiniog, with Florence or Linda even! There were actually two engines pulling the carriages as the little railway was very busy and seemed to be carrying more coaches than usual. As you can see, another glorious day to be out sightseeing. I don't think it was quite sunbathing on the beach. I had to explain to Del that the Welsh believe in the little people and so have many fairy and gnome doors to houses to let in good luck and let out evil spirits... I just made that up. I have no idea why anyone would have a door that small! Just thought I had to take a picture, maybe everyone is super tiny in Ffestiniog - Told you everything was in miniature round here. 😊

Despite warnings of sticking ones heads out of moving trains, it seemed irresistible to all tourists carrying a camera to do so - me included!

We have moved on to Harlech and further south Wales and hopefully the normal Tuesday reporting will resume for next week.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

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Life Travelling The UK Coastline for a Year - Week 32 - Wales - Snowdonia

 TUESDAY, 31 MARCH 2015 Week 32

The blog may seem a tad short this week. We have been to Anglesey but haven't seen any of it. Del has been ill, so three days have been pretty much written off. However, we plan to return to Anglesey at the beginning of May.

We spent three days in Betws-y-Coed. We came here for my birthday last year, but didn't have much time to look around properly so this time we had plenty of mooching around the quaint little village and the countryside surrounding it. As it's in a valley, the weather was mild and gorgeous all the time we were there. I guess the photos say it better than my words.

There is something so lovely about Betws Y Coed. So much outstanding natural beauty and some great areas to walk in. Except, of course, for Del posing as the Gorilla's best mate!

A lovely little traditional train station with rides, a model shop and buffet car cafe. We even bought a carved slate sign for a new house!

We stayed in Colwyn Bay for three days as well. We had a day out visiting Llandudno. I came here as a child and had completely forgotten what it was like, so it was nice to return.

The pier out to sea was the traditional old Victorian steel and wood, but it was bent and twisted around the bay before stretching out straight through the sea. Very strange. Although there were lots of lovely little shops and arcades, and cafe bars on there so we had a stroll along the pier.

Lunch was a surprise too. We thought we'd ordered a little chicken platter tapas thing and we were presented with this enormous wooden block of food! The Carlton pub, if anyone wants to know the name. A lovingly looked after traditional Victoriana style pub.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

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