Day 10 - Wales Coast - Abersoch - Welsh signs and flag

Some Welsh road signs...and the Cymru flag. Y Ddraig Goch, as it called in Welsh, is probably the oldest national flag still in use. Its first official record of use was in 830, but was most likely introduced much earlier by Romans during their occupation of Britain.


Anyone want some WYAU SYTH OR NYTH for breakfast?


The dragon's rocking.


The Welsh flag...

Day 10 - Wales Coast - Abersoch - The heartland of the Welsh

North Wales is accepted as the heartland of Welsh identity, and more people speak Welsh (or Cymraeg, as locals prefer) as their first language here than anywhere else. The name Wales is the English version of the real name in Welsh, which is Cymru (pronounced "kumree"). Cymru means "the land of the comrades".

I left Harlech, and drove North West to Abersoch on the Llyn Peninsula...By now you're probably wondering how to say all these Welsh names. I don't know either, but here's a good website that explains it. The language has 28 letters, but no J, K, Q, V, X or Z (although these are "borrowed" from English).

I thought I'd upload a BBC Wales radio news report, as well as a Welsh song...have a listen. (If anyone knows the artist, please let me know!) The language grabs me, and I found myself listening to it a lot, even though I don't understand a word.

It's a beguiling sound, ancient and proud and romantic. We all know that French and Italian sounds romantic to Anglo Saxons, but Welsh is unique. Glyn Roberts from Castle Cottage in Harlech tells me how his English-speaking daughters went to a Welsh speaking school, and are fluent in the language. More than that though, they are almost fluent in French, but they've learnt it through Welsh!

I hope the Cymru culture thrives. Janet Havard from Anchor Guest House in Broad Haven told me of her Welsh friend who was forbidden in 1969 to speak Welsh at shcool! Although things are obviously way more diplomatic today, I guess there will always be a threat to the minority of Welsh speakers, as there is to all minority cultures around the world.



This is an audio file of a Welsh song on BBC Radio - click play to listen.


BBC Welsh Radio news report...sounds great, eventhough I have no idea what they're saying.

Day 9 - Wales Coast - Harlech & Snowdonia - Random fact of the day

Random fact of the day: Mount Snowdon is Britain's highest mountain outside of Scotland, at 1085 metres. The first recorded climbed was in 1639 by a botanist Thomas Johnston.

Interestingly (to me!), Mount Snowdon is almost exactly the same height as my favourite mountain - Table Mountain in my home town of Cape Town, South Africa. The mountain gods must have created them together, and the gods must have been in a really good mood, because both mountains are beautiful...Just goes to show that mountains don't have to be the highest to be the most photogenic!


Mount Snowdon...there are various walking routes to the top, but if you're feeling lazy, rather take the Snowdon Railway, which will take you all the way up to the summit, where a new visitor centre has recently been completed.

Day 9 - Wales Coast - Harlech - A castle and cottage fit for a king...

From Dolgellau, I drove to Harlech, famous for its World Heritage Site castle. And the views change again...for the better, if that's possible. (This trip is making me search hard for adjectives...must bring out that old Thesaurus of mine.)

Harlech sits high up on a hill, a town of 1000 people with a small main street. The castle dominates in the centre, where it looks west and north over a vast plain of low green hills, rising into the watercolour mountains of Snowdonia. And in the middle of these is the geometrically perfect triangle of Mount Snowdon itself. But it doesn't stop there. To the west, the town drops off steeply to Harlech Beach, 4 miles long, and St Davids Championship Golf Course, a links course, that blends well into the environment.

I am staying at Castle Cottage Harlech, and the views of Snowdon from the lounge bar will keep you from your meal. Except that the restaurant is award winning, and my starter (grilled goats cheese, avocado and pine nuts on beetroot carpaccio with pesto dressing), and my main (roasted loin of lamb and confit shoulder, served on bubble and squeak with buttered carrots and a red wine shallot sauce) quickly got me out of my chair in the lounge and into the dining area.

Castle Cottage's tag line is "restaurant with rooms", and this hints at the passion of owners Glyn and Jacqueline Roberts. The restaurant is the fulcrum around which this highly professional, yet welcoming, establishment turns. It is a family-run, luxury, five star restaurant, in a restored 17th century inn. The rooms, though, provide the double whammy. They are easily the most comfortable and sophisticated I've experienced on this trip, as well as among the slickest I've stayed in over several years of travel journalism.

From the outside, the austere stone work blends in with the rest of town, and you can easily walk past Castle Cottage without realising the potential dining and accommodation experience inside.

And something else makes it really easy to visit...although it would be number 1 on many visitors' lists of places to stay in Wales, and is definitely a "special" spot, it doesn't have the attendant formalities. I walked in with my dirty shorts and hiking boots, initially worried about pitching up at a smart spot looking like I did. But as I walked in, Glyn greeted me before I could greet him. "You must be the South African!" he said. "Only South Africans walk around in shorts all day!" I felt welcome straight away.

Check out Britain's other World Heritage Sites, and see what else Harlech has in store for you.



Harlech Castle...dating from the late 1200s.



My room at Castle Cottage Harlech...

Day 9 - Wales Coast - Harlech - The mountains of Snowdonia start...and cows get happy

So north I go. Driving along the coast from Broad Haven, through St Davids, where there is an imposing cathedral, well known locally as an important pilgrimage for Christians.

I stopped in Aberystwyth for lunch. It felt run-down and maybe in need of some tourist money.

Heading north further still, I got to Machynlleth (not sure how you pronounce that!) . Here the mountains smack right into your vision. It's a quick change of scene. And Dolgellau is the town that's right in the middle of the southern areas of Snowdonia National Park.

Further in, you notice plenty of happy cows and sheep grazing lazily. But the cows in these parts are not just happy, they positively overdosing on good vibes. For the first time in my life, I saw cows lying down on their sides, fast asleep in the afternoon sun. In South Africa, cows are pretty much everywhere outside of the cities, and I've ever seen this...I didn't know cows could do that! There must be something in the grass in these parts...(it does look tasty, even to a homo sapiens like me! If I had to eat grass, I'd eat Snowdonia grass.)

Day 8 - Wales Coast - Broad Haven - My first day on holiday...

I drove north up the coast of Wales from Rhossili to Broad Haven, a small holiday village to the north west of Milford Haven, which has the second deepest natural harbour in the world. There's also a massive oil refinery in the area, but don't let that put you off, because the coast is predictably attractive.

This trip isn't really a holiday - I am moving every day to a new spot, and don't really have time to sit and enjoy the views for longer than a few minutes, before finding the next spot. But after an hour in Broad Haven, I felt - for the first time on this trip - like I was on holiday. (Don't feel sorry for me though....I'd do this every day for a long time to come! It's a massive privilege to travel through new lands, meet locals, understand new cultures...)

I arrived at Anchor Guest House, right on the expansive beach, and the first thing owner Janet Havard said to me was: "I've been reading your blog, and you've done way too much travelling in way too little time. Put your bags down and just chill!"

So I did as I was told, and as it was sunny, I went straight tothe beach for a swim (The water wasn't cold, nor that warm...just in between.) I sat down and just watched the beach scene, without doing anything.

Broad Haven reminds me of one or two beach towns outside Cape Town, in South Africa, where I come from. They're simple, not glamorous, stripped of any pretension, and the sort of place where you can go out for dinner in your costume, flip flops and sand in your hair. In other words, a real beach holiday.

Anchor Guest House is the same...you feel like you're on holiday in your own beach holiday home. It's simple. Bathrooms are small but clean. Bedrooms are not decorated. There's no fuss. The result is you don't feel scared to be untidy, and throw your clothes on the floor, just like I would at home, and worry if someone looked inside. It hosts a lot of walkers from Germany, Holland and the rest of Europe, who do the beautiful coastal walks in the area. And surfers too...they probably enjoy the easy going way Anchor is managed.

There're one or two basic restaurants, but head to Druidstone, about two miles to the north of Broad Haven. A completely different dining experience! It's a big old house in 20 acres of wild land, owned by the Bell family, who have opened it all up to guests for meals and for a drink in the bar and patio that looks out over the coast. Everyone is part of the family when you go there. Art of all kinds hangs on the walls, hard core locals mix with regular visitors. The meals, though, are very tasty, and service is good. So they haven't compromised the visitor experience by letting guests hang out in their home. Go there, because you'll meet locals, and they'll make you feel welcome...it's an authentic insight into how people live around here.

Round the corner from Anchor Guest House is Haven Sports, a surfing store that rents our water sports gear. Richard Heys will point you in the direction of one of many of the good surf spots in the area.

Broad Haven beach is wide, long and has small waves for beginners. Newgale, a bit further north is bigger in wave size, reaching 6 to 8 foot in autumn. And further south at Fresh Water West, 10 foot waves are predictable in big swell.

To the north of Broad Haven, is St Davids, a town with a cathedral of the same name...a classic, fairytale cathedral, that is an important pilgrimage site for Christians in the area. It is beautiful, but I am quickly starting to become immune to all these architectural gems, because there are so damn many of them. (I've been spoilt by St Catherines, St Govan's etc)

But something did catch my eye near St Davids. I didn't go there, but I saw a pamphlet for sheepdog demonstrations at Pembrokeshire Sheepdogs. Apparently, you can see border collies giving demonstrations on how they herd sheep, and how they are trained. Awesome. Go there for me, will you? (I have a border collie called Jasper back in South Africa!!).



The view from Anchor Guest House onto Broad Haven beach...roll out of bed onto the sand. Click on the image for a full screen version.


Anchor Guest House...

Day 8 - Some more pics from before - Chesil Beach, and Worms Head near Rhossili

Chesil Beach, from a few days ago...17 miles long! (Click on image to full screen version)


Worm's Head to the left, and Rhossili Beach to the right, and the Worms Head Hotel looking over it all. This area was the first to be declared an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the UK. I just wish the sun was shining! Still, it was special. (Click on image to full screen version).

Day 8 - Some pics from before - Corfe Castle and St Catherine's Chapel near Abbotsbury

Here are some landscapes from earlier in my trip...the first is Corfe Castle near Bournemouth, the second is St Catherine's Chapel near Abbotsbury.


Click on the image for a full screen version...


Click on the image for a full screen version...

Day 8 - Wales - Gems of the coast...

From Rhossili, I drove up the west coast of Wales, through Llanelli, to the Pembrokeshire National Park. This is the only truly coastal National Park, and it protects a countryside that the locals are very proud of. Surging blue sea, coves with sandy beaches every few hundred metres, and undulating green coastal hills that at their edge fall twenty or thirty metres into the sea.

On my way I stopped at Barafundle Bay, another photogenic spot, with a rock arch just offshore. Then I headed to St Govan’s chapel, which might just beat St Catherine’s Chapel in Abbotsbury for being every girl’s favourite church for getting married. And it’s legendary origin is indicative of the Pembrokeshire coastline.

St Gobham was an Irish missionary who found his way across the Atlantic in the mid 500s. (Yes, 500...phew, that's 1500 years ago, or 1000 years before any white man got near my home country of South Africa!). His existence was for certain, but how there came to be a chapel at the bottom of a cliff, in front of pounding waves, is up for debate. Apparently, he was pursued by pirates to the edge of the cliff, where he looked down onto the rocks below, knowing that he’d die if he jumped off. Miraculously, the cliff face opened for him to walk down, and it closed around him, hiding him from the pirates up above. It was in this spot that St Gobham built his chapel. He died in 586, and his remains are thought to lie in the altar on the east side of the chapel.

Another fable which reflects the influence that this coast has on local folklore, is that of the Huntsman’s Leap, a huge vertical fissure in the cliffs, about 600 metres to the left of St Govan’s. In the 19th century, a horseman saw the crevice and had no choice but to urge his horse to jump over it. He and his horse did so successfully, but when he looked back and saw just how far they had jumped, the huntsman died of shock.

From St Govan’s I headed to Marloes Sands, another beautiful National Trust site. When I got there, it was high tide, and the “Sands” were covered in surging surf. Nevertheless, it was a powerful scene, something that makes one sit down and stare at for hours and hours, not knowing why - it’s maddeningly addictive. While looking for a good spot to take photos, I met Liz and Duncan, the summertime caretakers of the local youth hostel, and they invited me over for a cup of tea. The hostel is about five minutes from the beach and cliffs, and is well isolated. It is somewhere I’d like to go back to, and simply listen to the wind and sea, and watch the clouds and the surf. And at £13 a night for a dorm bed, I reckon I could do that for quite a while.

Unfortunately though, I’m having to move quickly from place to place. I only have 33 days to go all the way around the coast of Britain – it’s a strange experience moving quickly through these stunning landscapes. I wish I could have spent more time with Liz and Duncan. They really made me feel like I was on holiday.


St Govan's chapel on the way between Rhossili and Broad Haven...no words needed. Click on the image for a full screen version.

Day 7 - Wales - The people...

Heading into Wales, you can’t help notice the road signs that are written in both English and Welsh. There is a strong sense of identity. Turn on the radio, and skip through a few stations until you come to BBC Cymru, the Welsh station...even though you won’t understand a word, you’ll be entranced...it’s a language of fairytales. In fact, it reminds me of the Elves speak in Lord of the Rings.

The people are very friendly. There is the old man who pointed me in the right direction of Worm’s Head. There’s the other old man in the National Trust Car Park at Barafundle Bay who let me park for free, because I had no cash.

There’s the receptionist in the Dragon Hotel in Swansea who let me use their Internet without hesitation, but with a very big smile.

There’s Julian Short at the Worm's Head hotel on Rhossili Bay who seemed most happy to keep the bar open late for his guests, even though he’s had a year of late nights already.

There’s Liz and Duncan who manage the youth hostel at Marloes Sands, who invited me in for a cup of tea and a chat. And then there’s everyone else who I passed while walking along the coast, who smile like the sun’s going to shine forever. And the weather was good...after a few days of rain, the sun came out and saturated all the greens and blues. It is hard not to be extra friendly in a place like this.

And there are fewer tourists. It is now school holidays for six weeks, and while Cornwall was jammed with them already, the Welsh coast is comparatively quiet. It’s a somewhat wilder place, where villages are spread further apart, and are less commercial. The area seems less reliant on the tourist trade. Of course there are tourists, but they seem to be the independent travellers, not the tour bus kind or the city crowd. There are a lot of “walkers”, who simply enjoy walking. And it’s easier to bump into the locals at the pubs and restaurants.