Van Time!

We’ve been getting to grips with the new van and exploring south Wales … again! Wales has more castles per square mile than any other country in Europe. There used to be over 600 and Caldicot is one of the 100 castles that are left (in one form or another!). So this trip has been a fascinating mix of stunning landscapes, dramatic scenery and gobsmacking history. The huge advantage of this vehicle has been its compact size making it easier to manoeuvre, and even reverse, when necessary, on the narrow twisting roads that many of these castles are on. 

In addition to the castles, there were over 760 Iron Age hill forts. We finally made it to Castell Henllys. It’s in Pembrokeshire (a favourite family camping destination) and I think we first spotted it when it was under reconstruction 30 years ago! It’s lovely to see how natural materials were used to create such huge organic structures that sit so beautifully in the landscape.

We walked to another iron age fort above Cwmcarn Forest which gave stunning views across the Bristol Channel. It was quite windy and Storm Dave appeared that night with winds gusting up to 50mph, it would certainly have rocked the boat, but I was getting seasick in the van. You can always tell when there’s been gale force winds on a campsite by the number of tents that you find in the campsite skip the following morning!

Another treat was a revisit to St Govan’s Chapel, originally home to a 5th or 6th-century hermit, St. Govan (or Covan), who reportedly settled here after escaping Irish pirates. There’s a rumour that the 52 steps descending to the chapel change in number, with locals claiming a different count when going down versus coming back up-you’d need to test this out for yourself as I didn’t hear about it until we were back at the top and I wasn’t going back down!!

We explored Cardiff, the “City of Arcades” with seven glass roofed alleyways of shops, cafes, and bars that run like arteries through the city centre. It should also be called the city of castles as it has three within its boundaries. Cardiff Castle is the largest, and is stunning to look at. The Gothic Revival style rebuild from the 19th Century incorporates elements of the original four Roman forts and 11th century Norman motte and bailey. This creates what seems, at least from the outside, to be an Austrian styled masterpiece with a roman barracks theme park vibe, a little over the top but still impressive.!

Cardiff Bay held another surprise for us, it was the departure point for the ill-fated team on the expedition steam ship, Terra Nova. In 1910, this ship took Scott and his team to Antarctica to claim the South Pole, only for them to discover that the Norwegians had beaten them to it. Sadly they were caught in a snow storm and perished on their way back. Before leaving for the Antarctic, Scott declared Cardiff to be the ship’s home port following the huge generosity of the Welsh people. They supplied funds, 100 tons of steam coal, 300 tons of Patent fuel blocks and a huge Welsh flag that Scott struck into the ice on St David’s Day in 1911. There’s a sad irony that Scott’s memorial has been positioned next to the Norwegian Church (c1866) that overlooks the bay and, it gets worse. Nearby are sculptures celebrating the works of Cardiff born author Roald Dahl who was named by his Norwegian parents after the polar explorer Roald Amundsen who beat Captain Scott to the South Pole. This was the Dahl’s family place of worship and Roald was christened there in 1916.

We stayed on a campsite at Penbryn and Ian did a couple of coast path walks. The local Church of St Michael is on one of the headlands and known for its link to the saying “having the riot act read to you”, this happened in 1889 when local farmers were in uproar at the cost of the tithes (local church taxes), the 1714 Act of Parliament was read to them, and if they hadn’t dispersed the Act allowed them to be charged with criminal behaviour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No visit to a coast known for fossils would be complete for me without a bit of fossil hunting. So Ian indulged me with a trip to the beach at Llantwit Major (the cafe has particularly good ice creams). It wasn’t the most successful trip but I was quite pleased with my finds, the Devil’s Toenails (molluscs) were left for someone else to find, but the rather large and heavy “pebble” came away with me to find a new home.