Adventures in the Forest

My previous airbnb host kindly offered to take me to my next port of call, just a few miles up the road -  Time for Glamping in the Forest of Dean.

The woman who runs the glamping also plays music for live circle dancing in Ross-on-Wye, and is involved in an annual festival called Super Spirit.  Held in August in the forest near here, there is circle dancing to live music, mornings and evenings.  Hmmmm, maybe next year.....

 The bell tent was spacious, 5m diamenter, 2m high around the edge and much higher in the centre, with a central pole.  Set in its own little circular grove with hedgerows and standing stones around the perimeter - birdsong abounds.

I had a comfy bed, coffee table, rocking chair, camping gas cooker and a gas heater.  All very cosy.  But perhaps next time I will 'glamp' in the summer.  The nights are still cold, so I slept with a couple of layers of clothing, scarf and crocheted beret, as well as the doona and blanket, and still woke in the morning with a cold nose.

On my first full day I set of to hike through the forest to Symonds Yat Rock, a high lookout over the Wye valley and river below, and understandably the site of an Iron Age Hill Fort.

In the distance I could see the birds of prey circling.  They nest in the cliff faces nearby.

From the rock, I walked down the very steep path to the valley and along the river to Symonds Yat itself, a tiny village with a few houses and an old pub.  I had a lovely pub lunch at the Saracens Head, with desert, and even managed to sit out on the terrace to eat it. 

View from the pub. The Hand Ferry was for people and push bikes to get across the river to the other part of the village.  There was an overhead cable and the guy who operated the ferry had a rope looped over the cable and he pulled the barge along by hand.

Should I get a taxi back or walk up the big hill?  But it was less than an hour's walk back, so I decided I was up for the challenge and at 3pm headed along a different path home.   As long as I kept going uphill I was sure I would be on track.  HA!!  There are so many tracks, and I didn't have a map.  By 5pm I had the feeling I might be starting to go in circles.  The very cloudy day offered no sign of the sun to help me with directions.  I had reached the top of a hill, but the path continued with neither sight nor sound of the road I expected to come out on.  

I met a family of wild boar - with tiny babies.  Fortunately they just grunted at me and trotted off in to the undergrowth.  I was beginning to wonder if I would be spending the night like Hansel and Gretel, with piles of dry leaves for a blanket.  I knew I had plenty of daylight left, so on I trundled. 

At last I heard some cars and came out on a road, but which one.  Not familiar at all.  I was WAY off track, a couple of villages away from where I expected to be.  So I got some directions and began the long hike back along the roads, as I wasn't game to head back in to the forest at that stage.  I finally arrived home at 6pm, a little footsore and very relieved.  

The second day the cloud cleared and the sun came out.  A beautiful day.  But I had enough adventures for now, so spent the day in camp, sitting in my garden, enjoying the birds, and reading yet another Liane Moriarty book on my kindle.  I LOVE my kindle and am going to be so disappointed when I have devoured all of Liane Moriarty's books.  I find her style and her stories very addictive.

So Sunday took me on to Ross On Wye (via taxi) for one night's airbnb, ready to pick up my hire car for the next stage of my trip.  I was glad to be out of the tent as they have forecast a cold snap with possible snow.  Brrrr.

Easter Dancing with June Watts and onward

I spent Easter dancing in Wales with June Watts.  Our accommodation was in the guest house, Michaelgarth, owned by Ty Mawr convent.  There were 11 of us, including June and Esbjorn, - the maximum this place can hold.  It was reminiscent of our old Milmeray weekends.  The smaller numbers meant I could get to know everyone.  I even learnt all their names!!  We all sat around one long table for our meals, and shared the washing up.
June first came here 30 years ago, and runs an annual Easter weekend here.  The theme for this weekend was "Imagine".  We mostly danced indoors but did get to do a few dances out on the lawn.

Michaelgarth guest accommodation.  Esbjorn did all the catering.  He also danced with us, video'd the dancing, put on the music, and still found time to do some of his weaving.  He is currently making a jacket.  A man of many talents!

 One of the dancers, Liz, took me for a walk one afternoon to see the bluebell woods she had discovered. They were stunning, with swathes of bluebells in all directions.  Lucky for me she leads country walking groups, so knew all about map reading and Right Of Way footpaths across farmers' fields. A whole new world of walking.   I learnt enough from her, about signs and maps, to go on a bit of a ramble on my own when I got to my next port of call.

Liz and her trusty map.

On Easter Monday we went over to the convent to dance in the chapel with the some of the nuns, and a couple of visitors who had been there over Easter.  One nun was 93, but still trotted around with us. There were two younger nuns, with such joyful, beaming faces it was impossible to guess their age. They all had a great sense of humour.   When June said we were going to do the dance "Magpie" and pretend to be magpies, they looked down at their habits and declared they didn't have to pretend, they already were magpies.

     One of the nuns lighting the candle for our dancing centre in the chapel.  And Ty Mawr Convent.

After the circle dance weekend, Carol, another of the dancers, gave me a lift to Staunton and my next b&b.  She gave me a bit of a tour of some local sights along the way.  Luckily I showed her the directions to where I was going before we got too far.  She was taking me to Staunton-on-Wye, which was many, many miles further on from Staunton (not on Wye) which was my destination.

Me with Carol's dog B, at Grosmont castle.  B was so well behaved she was allowed to attend the circle dance weekend.                                      The Normans constructed the original castle of wood, and it was rebuilt in stone in the 13th century.

I love the story of the font at this very old church in Skenfrith

 The Kymin, built around 1794 so the local gentlemen's picnic club had somewhere to go even in bad weather.  The kitchen was downstairs and banqueting hall upstairs.

In the 1790's Britain was at war with France. A tour down the Wye Valley was a fashionable alternative to the European Grand Tour and the Kymin was a popular spot.
Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton breakfasted together here in 1802.

 

 There are 360 degree views from the Kymin, Looking down across Monmouth in this direction.

I could walk to this spot from my b&b

Offas Dyke footpath

Nosey neighbours, making sure I kept to the Right of Way across the farmer's field

The Green Green Grass of Wales

The sun did indeed follow me to Wales.
The birds are singing and spring has most
definitely sprung.

The tight buds that were around a month ago have opened up and are glorious.

.  

 Monmouth. This is said to be Britain's only surviving medieval bridge  The gateway itself was once fortified, being a strategic river 
crossing.

Later on a roof was added over the turrets, when it was used as a house for a while.








Monmouth is a sleepy little town.  The teenagers looked rather bored, apart from those taking advantage of kayaking and adventuring on the river.

I sat near an elderly lady on the bus. She was reading a paperback entitled "Summer Nights at The Moonlight Hotel"   She looked very contented, wherever it was she had been transported to.

                                                                           

 A potted history of Monmouth was cleverly depicted near the bridge, on a raised circular slab inlaid with ceramic sections, telling the story in words and pictures -  from the Iron Age settlements nearby, to becoming the small celtic kingdom of Archenfield long before the Norman Conquest, to the birthplace of Henry of Monmouth (later to become Henry V), to C S Rolls co-founder of Rolls Royce who was born here and died age 32 in a flying competition.    Monmouth also once had a ship-building industry (until one sank as soon as it was launched) and thriving sheep markets.  The very hard local puddingstone was quarried to make mill stones.  All this and much, much more was depicted in this one very well designed display.

I stayed in a lovely airbnb in Monmouth for 2 nights. My hosts had generously driven half an hour to pick me up in Chepstow as my train didn't arrive in time to get the last bus on a Sunday.  When I left them, they even said to ring them if I got stuck if the local bus didn't turn up - a not uncommon event I believe.  They went out of their way to make sure I had all I needed.  A very pleasant change from my poor experience with bnb in Newcastle which was very cheap but not at all cheerful.
From Monmouth I took the bus (yes it turned up) on to Penallt - more lovely hosts and another pretty house, pictured here front and back.

This was the view from my bedroom window, out across the river valley.     Nothing to be heard except the birdsong. As this place was a bit out of the way, they cooked evening meals for me too.  So I felt very spoilt.   Both in this bnb and the one in Monmouth I have had my own lounge area and my own bathroom.  So plenty of space.           From the very steep field at the rear of the house I could walk down to the river and along the river bank

 The sheep here don't know how lucky they are with their lush green pastures.  If only their Aussie cousins knew what it was like on the other side, they might be just a little jealous.

The bluebells are flowering in the woods.  They always remind me of my mum.  In her younger days, bluebell woodlands were one of her favourite subjects to paint.

Making another short hop on Friday to the convent where June Watts is running her Easter dancing weekend.

On With The Dance

Wydale Hall has been home for the last few days. Dancing with a group of 24 lovely people.  Lilly Sell and Rose Cross were leading the weekend.  We had circle dancing morning and evening, In between there were walks, Qigong, Indian head massage and plenty of good food.
What more is there to say.  Definitely feeling like The Duchess of Dance-a-lot.

Wydale Hall

View from the living room

One of the living rooms

We dance in the room on the far right of the picture

The view from the terrace

beautiful dry stone walls in the garden

From Wydale, I went to Newcastle for 2 nights in a rather average airbnb.  But the one day of dancing with Nawal and Dee was very enjoyable.  About 28 of us danced in an excellent octagonal hall with plenty of space.   The dances were all traditional from around Turkey, and the teachers told us some of the history of the peoples and places of that area. Interesting to know that the founding religion of Turkey was Shamanism.
Off on the train to Wales tomorrow.  I hope all this sunshine follows me there.

I enjoyed their sense of humour at Newcastle train station where it was free to spend a penny, unlike some places where inflation means you now spend up to 40p for the privilege.

Wending My Way Northwards

I’ve had a lovely time with cousins, and their adult childrens’ families.  It has been such a treat to re-connect with family, and meet the younger generation for the first time.

Onward to my cousins in Nottingham.  We went to Lincoln for a day, visiting the grand cathedral with its Lincoln Imp, and the castle where we saw one of the original Magna Carta documents and I learned a bit about King John and Henry III.  And I found out about misericords in the cathedral - ornately carved ledges where the clergy could rest their bottoms whilst looking like they were standing up during long services. The old cobbled streets and olde worlde tea shops were delightful.

spot the imp

a msericord

Lincoln

Heading north again – to another family stopover near Leeds, via Sherwood Forest.

Met Robin Hood along the way

a mighty oak in Sherwood Forest. 

North Yorkshire scenery

Spent a day at Fountains Abbey. Even in ruins it is very impressive. If you can spot the people in this picture, it will give you an idea of the scale.  The first monks moved to this site in 1132 in search of a simpler, more devout life than they had in York.  They were nicknamed the ‘white monks’ because of the woolen habits that they wore.  With the help of the laybrothers the abbey grew wealthy. By the mid 1200s it had become one of the leading producers and exporters of wool.  The abbey was brought to a close by Henry VIII, during the dissolution of the monasteries.

weeping willow in the abbey grounds

more amazing architecture at Fountains Abbey

So then it was time to say goodbye to family for now and head to Scarborough.  My b&b is in the house on the quay, 2^nd from the left – 3 storey house with red roof, built as a fisherman’s home around 1720

View across the harbour, from my bedroom window at dusk, watching the small fishing boats returning with the day’s catch

Scarborough is an odd mix - a pretty harbour, fishing boats and old houses, but with an overly-generous splattering of fish and chips cafes, sticks of sugary seaside rock, amusement arcades and tacky souvenirs.  Only visiting for one night, then off to dance.

It must be at least 13 degrees. Let's go to the beach and paddle and make sandcastles