2 Comments CherryPie on Sep 17th 2018
Laughter is an instant vacation.
Milton Berle
6 Comments CherryPie on Sep 16th 2018
Mr C woke up at 7.17, precisely two minutes after the alarm was due to go off! When we opened the curtains sunshine blazed through the windows and the Malvern hills were layered in soft mist. Breakfast was freshly cooked to order and lived up to our expectations.
We settled our bill and, before departing took a walk around the hotel’s garden which was delightful in the sunshine. We had hoped to visit the nearby Grade I listed St. Leonard’s Church to see the frescoes. However when we arrived the church was closed and there was no indication of opening times. So we headed off in the direction of Croome where the Shutterchance meetup was taking place later in the day.
On the way, we stopped off at a viewpoint showing the positions of the the armies during the battle of Worcester. Trees were obscuring some of the locations making them difficult to see. We got to Croome early so we took a slight detour down country lanes to Defford before returning.
At Croome our first port of call was a drink in the cafe before venturing into the grounds. The sunny weather showed off the grounds in a favourable light unlike our previous visit when it poured down. The field in front of the house contained several large hay bales which enhanced the scene.
We returned to the cafe for lunch and to find some of the Shutterchancers had arrived so we joined them for a chat until the rest of the group arrived. We all headed off into the grounds, cameras at the ready.
At the house we were able to join one of the attic guided tours which was very interesting because the attic is being used to store items until the property’s various rooms are sufficiently restored to be able to display them. We were shown paintings of former owners and residents of the house and given a brief history about them. Some of the rooms also held restored and partially restored furniture.
In one of the rooms the guide pointed out some markings on the floor that had mostly been covered over with shelving (for now) partially protecting them. The guide advised that this was the place where exorcisms took place when the hall was the headquarters for The International Society for Krishna Consciousness in the late 70s and early 80s.
After the tour, we made our way back to the cafe where everyone was congregating to celebrate a 70th birthday. Yes, there was cake and very colourful it was too. All too soon it was time for us to begin our journey home.
10 Comments CherryPie on Sep 15th 2018
We set off on our travels, late morning, taking my car out for a spin for a change. Our destination was Malvern where we were stopping overnight ahead of meetup with photography friends.
We had intended to have lunch in The Firs, Elgar’s birthplace however we spotted a sign to a village cafe and took the slight detour. We found the cafe to be a quaint delight, it was a burger bar with a chalet attached to its side. The weather was glorious so we opted to sit outside on one of the conveniently placed picnic benches to eat our freshly made sandwich along with a cup of tea.
The Firs has only recently been taken over by the National Trust and is a work in progress. The house was interesting and we listened to a talk about the mystery of ‘the …..’, but it is not a place I would rush back to. We had afternoon tea and shared a piece of lemon courgette cake which was tasty.
When we arrived at The Cotford Hotel in Malvern, we were informed that we had been given a complimentary upgrade to the ‘Bishops Room’. This was a lovely surprise because it was the room we had wanted to stay in but which wasn’t available when we booked.
We took our cases to the room before having a relaxing drink in the Piano Lounge (in my case I chose Rose wine). We then returned to the room to freshen up before dining in the hotel’s restaurant, L’amuse Bouche. The food was as good as I remembered it from the previous occasion we dined there.
One of our fellow diners (connected with the local boarding school) and his guests were rather loud and effusive, in their conversation which made it difficult to think and stifled the conversation of the other diners, but overall it was a pleasant experience. In the garden there is relaxing cascade of water tinkling down the waterfall adding to the ambience of the restaurant.
14 Comments CherryPie on Sep 13th 2018
The Elan Valley is a place of childhood memories. As a family we visited often at the end of the school holidays just as the trees were turning to shades of autumn. It has been on our wish list (Mr C and I) as a place to visit for over 20 years. On the occasion of Mr C’s birthday this year we finally made the trip.
On our arrival, we found that the cafe in the valley was closed for refurbishment so we had to venture back to the nearest town, Rhayader, for lunch. Mr C chose the cafe and as we entered I wondered why we weren’t going into the pretty tea shop we had noticed as we drove through the town. I didn’t say anything; it was his birthday.
We enjoyed sandwiches freshly made to order and there were some delicious cakes on offer although we chose not to indulge. After we left the cafe we went for a brief walk in the town and Mr C noticed the pretty tea shop and realised that we had eaten in a different place than he intended. Later in the day we found out that we had had a lucky lunchtime escape. The food and service was much better in the unassuming cafe where we had lunched.
After lunch we returned to the extremely windy Elan Valley to explore the various dams. I was reminded of a childhood memory of a family picnic on a Welsh hillside where it was so windy that our food blew off the plates!
I insisted that Mr C took a detour to see the Claerwen dam and reservoir. As a child I found the immense size of the damn breathtaking and due to the amounts of water a little scary too. Mr C was astounded by the dam in the same way that I was when I first saw it. The structure still amazes me to this day, as does the immense expanse of water behind the dam.
Next, as we drove from the valley towards the town of Rhayader we were treated to a wonderful sight; looking down on Red Kites gliding in flight rather than seeing them from below. It was amazing!
We stopped in Rhayader for a cup of tea in the pretty tea shop before we continued our journey homeward and found ourselves treated to another spectacle; I noticed a Hercules flying directly towards the car, at my eye level. Just as I started to point it out to Mr C, he jumped in his car seat as he noticed it for himself. In the blink of an eye the plane flew out of sight.
This incident reminded me of another childhood memory; a family picnic in the Elan Valley. My mum, dad, brother and I were sitting at a picnic bench underneath (i think) Pen-Y-Gareg. The water level was higher than on my recent visit so the water was cascading over the dam. The picnic had been unpacked and my dad (with his back to the dam) was pouring soup into a dish.
I pointed as I saw two planes emerging from just above the dam. The sound of them kicked in, causing my dad to jump and spill the hot soup. The view of the aircraft and their noise above the water was stunning!
Later in the day we enjoyed fine dining (chicken cordon bleu) on the patio as the sun went down.
24 Comments CherryPie on Sep 11th 2018
Ultimately we have just one moral duty:
to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.
Etty Hillesum
16 Comments CherryPie on Sep 9th 2018
The second location from my recent excursions is finally revealed.
Craig Goch
Craig Goch, the highest upstream of the series of dams in the Elan Valley, is often referred to as the ‘top dam’. It is located at a height of 1040 feet (317m) above sea level. As with all the dams, work started with the arrival of the railway line at the site. In the case of the top dam the line had the farthest to go and a rocky outcrop had to be blasted and dug through on the route to the site.**
Gareg Ddu
Garreg Ddu Dam in the lower Elan Valley serves a dual role. It is a low, completely submerged dam which plays a vital role in maintaining a constant supply of water to Birmingham. It also supports masonry pillars carrying the access roadway to the neighbouring valley of the River Claerwen.**
Pen-Y-Gareg Reservoir
Total capacity 1.320,000,000 gallons. Top area 124 acres. Top water level 945 feet above ordnance datum. Height of dam above river be 123 feet. Depth of foundations below river bed 17 feet. Length of weir 417 feet 6 inches. Thickness of dam at base 115 feet 4 inches. Estimated quantity of masonry 90,372 cubic yards.*
Caban Coch Reservoir
Total capacity 8,000,000,000 gallons. Top water level 822 feet above ordnance datum. Height of dam above river bed 122 feet. Length of the weir 566 feet. Thickness of dam at base 122 feet 6 inches. Estimated quantity of masonry 144,800 cubic yards.
Total area of watershed 45,562 acres.*
Claerwen Reservoir
This mass concrete dam, 240 feet maximum height from foundation to roadway level with facings of masonry and blue brick, was built between September 1946 and October 1952 and forms a reservoir over four miles long with a top water area of 650 acres at 1.210 feet above ordnance datum. The total weight of materials used was 700.00 tons including 43,800 tons of gritstone, 173,000 tons of pit sand, 65,000 tons of cement and 18,000 tons of masonry. *
*info from signboard next to the dam
** info from the Elan Valley website
18 Comments CherryPie on Sep 6th 2018
