Mr C surprised me with an impromptu visit to Hodnet Hall Gardens, a place I planned to visit (alone) the previous week but having tested positive for Covid I chose to stop at home to keep my bugs to myself.

We had lunch before walking round the gardens and grounds on one of the last open days for this season. The weather wasn’t entirely kind to us with a lone black cloud deciding to shed its watery load at just the wrong moment. The randomness of that cloud added to the enjoyment of our visit.

Thank You Mr C

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.

The weather forecast for the weekend wasn’t very inspiring so we picked what looked the best day (Monday) for a day out to Blenheim Palace. Despite it being the bank holiday we had no problems with traffic and arrived at Blenheim having made good time. The weather was kind to us, although it was cloudy at times. We enjoyed the formal gardens, the palace and the walk through the arboretum past the grand cascade before running out of time. In addition to the Palace tour we were able to visit the private apartments where by chance we were lucky enough to see the Butler at work, starting to set up the dining table.

Despite it being the bank holiday it wasn’t overly busy, perhaps due to the grounds being so big. It seems we were lucky to have chosen the Monday as I overheard one of the house guides say that they had seen 5000 people through the doors on Saturday!!

We had our day tickets converted to a yearly pass which means we can go back later in the year to see the other things that we missed.

The journey back was as pleasant as the outward journey. We did however encounter problems finding somewhere to eat. Everywhere had stopped serving and we ended up with our third option which was really a last resort.

After such a busy day yesterday I have spent today relaxing at home with some reading and a little bit of gardening. After such a lovely weekend I was saddened when a neighbour called round this evening to inform us that after the recent fallen branch ‘my oak tree’ has been sentenced with a severe trimming of branches. If I had known earlier today I would have taken some photographs when it was looking particularly beautiful in the early evening sunshine.