The last leg of the Gwent trip took in Abergavenny, yet another Welsh town that seems to have escaped the Beeching savagery (correct me Mudge/Tom). Gwent/Monmouthshire is always an attractive county for me. 3 hours in the car and then decent train links from bargain motels. If only the Chinese takeaways were better. Obviously the only… Continue reading THE BRIDGE TO ABERGAVENNY
Tag: Wales
AUTUMN IN CWMBRAN
My newish Rough Guide to Wales is proving it’s usual middle-class self. Lots of nonsense about misericords and 13th Century battlements, nothing about where to see spitting in Ebbw Vale pubs or buy a Chinese takeaway at midnight, which is my definition of Rough. No mention at all of Cwmbran, an authentic Welsh New Town at… Continue reading AUTUMN IN CWMBRAN
THE CARDIFF 6 PUB HALF MARATHON
PARENTAL ADVISORY – CONTAINS BORIS The train from Newport to Cardiff takes 13 minutes, and matches the Potters Bar to Kings Cross journey for culture shock. Unlike Newport, Cardiff never sleeps. This was my first visit since City’s unfathomable capitulation at Ninian Park the City Stadium three years ago. The city centre was so much fun… Continue reading THE CARDIFF 6 PUB HALF MARATHON
NEWPORT REINTRODUCES SUNDAY CLOSING
I will get back to cheery posts very soon, but I’m trying to keep this blog roughly chronological, so sorry Newport. My relationship with the City (really ?) has always been up and down, despite the array of budget hotels that draw me back again and again. In 2010 I took my Dad to watch… Continue reading NEWPORT REINTRODUCES SUNDAY CLOSING
SWANSEA – SKATEBOARDS, SPOONS (AGAIN) AND SUMMING-UP
I am now an expert on UK indoor skatepark exteriors, having taken my son Matt to nearly all the UK’s scruffy looking shacks. The best one is in Warrington, the one in Stockport is genuinely terrifying but at least there’s good pubs nearby. The discussion* about Swansea‘s revival tends to focus on the marina, but… Continue reading SWANSEA – SKATEBOARDS, SPOONS (AGAIN) AND SUMMING-UP
DRAUGHT BASS & JOE’S ICE CREAM IN THE MUMBLES
2015/16 season was the first for a while I failed to get a ticket for Swansea v City, which has always a good chance to get soaked in May and make a few more inroads into Glamorgan’s huge slice of the Beer Guide (93 entries !). While Matt competed at the scary looking skate park,… Continue reading DRAUGHT BASS & JOE’S ICE CREAM IN THE MUMBLES
DEEP SLADE DARK BY THE GOWER
We were on the home strait now, with a last Welsh stop in Gowerton on the edge of Swansea. Two minutes off the M4,unless you’ve got a tall campervan in which case it’s twenty minutes to avoid the railway bridge. The bikes came off the back for the first time Caernarfon but oddly only I… Continue reading DEEP SLADE DARK BY THE GOWER
CARMARTHEN CYFEILLION
Our last stop was in Carmarthen, given short shrift by the new “Rough Guide to Wales” so obviously a vital stop for us. Actually we stopped in Johnstown, right outside the Friends Arms. Mrs RM sent the boys ahead to buy laver bread, leaving the crisps and nuts for ourselves while we nipped in for a… Continue reading CARMARTHEN CYFEILLION
ABER ABER HEY
Our journey round tourist Wales progressed five miles inland to the farming village of Llanarth, whose immaculate caravan park was conveniently placed 2 miles from civilisation. Lovers of the Fens (seemingly anyone but me) would enjoy the calm. You could see the sea from one spot on top of the toilet block. The main activity of… Continue reading ABER ABER HEY
BARMOUTH
I’d had Barmouth recommended to me by a Welshman, though to be honest the dominant accent there is Black Country, with faggots and Eccles cakes being sold by blokes in Wolves shirts to Baggies fans. In the sun, mind. Away from the funfair, I thought it was a pretty wonderful seaside resort, with just enough… Continue reading BARMOUTH
retiredmartin 