Betws y Coed

Posted on October 2, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Betws y Coed, Blogging, Landscape, Photos, Station, Train station, Village, WalesLeave a comment

We stopped off at the village of Betws y Coed on our trip through the hills and mountains of Wales. It’s at the junction of the A470 and the A5. The village has numerous shops and is always busy with tourists. There is an environmental feel to the shops that line the front of the train station, with images of gorillas encouraging visitors to the village to support and donate to charities that are working to stop them being hunted to extinction.

After lunch in a cafe with recycled lampshades made from discarded plastic, we had a look at the station. My hubby went off to the model shop and museum over the railway bridge on the other side of the train track. My sister and I went to browse the shops.

Finally back on the road. More photos to follow.

High on a hill

Posted on August 4, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Environment, Great Orme, Homelessness, Life, Llandudno, Mountain, North Wales, Travel, Wales, Weather2 Comments

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I think I need a longer holiday. One whole day by the sea plus travelling there and back makes for a tiring schedule. Maybe we should have taken the train to Llandudno. I will have to find out what the service is like. It is so muggy inland, I miss the cool sea breeze.

Up on the Great Orme mountain it was lovely. With views out over the sea and looking into a misty sky.

The town itself seems to be much improved since we visited about ten years ago. More things to do. We did bump into a homeless man selling the big issue magazine. He is trying to raise enough money to buy a motor home to live in. At least he has a job selling the magazine that he can help to support himself.

I have to think there but for the grace of God.

Dragons

Posted on August 1, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Anne McCaffrey, Art, Collectors, Dragons, Fantasy, Fire, Fire lizards, Models, Mountains, Mythology, Sci fi, Valleys, WalesLeave a comment

Found these three cuties in a shop in Llandudno. Well the red dragon is the symbol for Wales. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿. And the country is full of mountains and valleys where they could be lurking, strangely England’s patron Saint is St George, although he was Turkish as far as I know. By the way, Scotland has Nessie (the Loch Ness monster) that could be of dragon like proportions. I’m not sure about Northern Ireland, perhaps they have their own myth. Although snakes never made it to Ireland and dragons seem to be a distant relation to snakes and lizards.

Being mythological doesn’t mean they may never exist. Maybe a bit of gene slicing could bring about something similar to fire lizards described wonderfully by the fantasy and sci-fi author Anne McCaffrey. She is a splendid author and I would recommend her books. Hopefully though they would not include breathing fire!

A few sketches of Llandudno

Posted on August 1, 2019August 1, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Black and white drawings, Life, Llandudno, Mostyn gallery, Sketches, WalesLeave a comment

Orme head.

Other side of the bay.

Grand Hotel from Llandudno pier.

View from top of the Great Orme.

Back of the hotel.

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Sculptures Mostyn gallery.

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View through a doorway, Mostyn gallery.

That was a busy day!

Hotel View

Posted on July 31, 2019July 31, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged British summer holiday, Hotel View, Life, Llandudno, Long drive, Seaside, WalesLeave a comment

Well it’s not a sea view although it is pleasant. I can’t see it because I’m having a lie down after a long drive. Hotel seems nice and friendly, we will see what its like for noise later on. That’s one thing that bothers me in hotels, noisy neighbours. I think people should respect each other. That’s why we usually choose caravans. I also bring coffee and sweetener with me in case there isn’t enough. And I hate uht milk….

Memory of the sea

Posted on March 2, 2019March 2, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged A55 Road, Beach, Ozone, Rhyl, Rhyl air show, Rust, Sea, Seaside, Summer, Wales4 Comments

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Sunny day, top of the steps, Rhyl.

Over beyond this wall is my sea, the one I remember as a child, the one we visited on steam trains when I was very young.

Out beyond this wall the beach is flat and spreads far out. The sand is yellow and ochre. There are ridged ripples in the sand caused by the waves. Lines of groynes (posts with flat planks in between) hold back the waves and stop the long shore drift washing the sand away. New sea defences have been built to try and prevent flooding during storms. In summer planes fly over for Rhyl air show. Thousands of people arrive in mid summer like a migrating flock of starlings to see the show. Then disappear as quickly. Sometimes the days are wet and windy, other times the sun beats down and uv rays and ozone help burn your skin.

This old lamp post was once lit with gas. Now it’s rusting in the salt air. It looks like it was highly decorated in years gone by. Rhyl itself sometimes feels like time is leaving it behind. There are attempts to restore its faded glory though. If you want to see the sea its worth a visit. Just follow the A55 road North West of Chester and on into Wales.

Drawing outside

Posted on February 7, 2019February 7, 2019 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Cartridge paper, Coloured pencil, Drawings, Dylan Thomas, Laugharne, Pendine Sands, Sketches, South West Wales, Tenby, Wales2 Comments

Here are coloured pencil drawings I did a few years ago. They are views of church rock at Tenby, Tenby beaches, Tenby Harbour, Laugharne Castle and the boathouse at Laugharne where Dylan Thomas lived.

Tenby and Laugharne are both in the county of Pembrokeshire in South Western Wales. It is a beautiful place. Its known as little England in Wales. It is also the location of Pendine sands. A long flat beach in the Laugharne estuary where several land speed records have been achieved..

Clouds in Wales

Posted on January 15, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ancestors, Family, Life, Memories, Mine, Poem, Poetry, Steel, WalesLeave a comment

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Bars of clouds ascend on high.

Coloured lights paint the sky

How I wish I could return,

to that land of woods and fern.

Mountains high

and valleys deep,

Singers from the Mines and Steel.

Workers with their hands and feet

Love their land through wake and sleep.

I can only look from far

Wishing always to be there.

Welsh by ancestors alone,

Looking cross the border land

Perhaps one day I will lie

Between the earth and cloud barred sky.

Manorbier castle

Posted on November 14, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Castle, Manorbier Castle, Painting, Tenby, Wales7 Comments

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This just popped up in my Facebook memories. A painting on canvas I did of Manorbier Castle in South West Wales (near Tenby). There was a guardhouse near the entrance and a shop and cafe There is a Chapel towards the side nearest the sea. The castle is surrounded by trees and if you follow the road down past it you eventually find a path that you can walk on that takes you out into a shallow bay. The rocks are very interesting with long thin bars of rock separated into long segments lying horizontally ( if I remember rightly) . On the left hand hill overlooking the bay you can see the castle and on the right hand hill, separated by a valley, is the church up in Manorbier village itself.

It’s a few years since we went and my memory is hazy, but my partner remembers Gerald of Wales lived at the castle. I think it’s one of the few privately owned castles in Wales and I’m pretty sure someone lives in apartments inside the battlements.. Its definitely worth a visit, there are lovely gardens there. The only thing is try and go on a dry day as some if the steps are a bit slippery in the rain.

Llandegla fishery

Posted on August 26, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Drawing, Fish, Fishing, Life, Llandegla, Sketching, Trout, Wales2 Comments

Up in the hills between Ruthin and Wrexham in north wales is a little fishery called Llandegla. Its almost at the top of the hill before you get to the top then drop down into Wrexham, on the road, on the left hand side ( there is another fishery further down the road on a side road).

There’s a cafe and camp site for small caravans in the grounds of the fishery and the opportunity to catch fish if you want (Vegetarians look away now).

We had lunch there, hot smoked trout with new potatos and mixed leaf salad, which was delicious.

I kept up my habit of sketching, and did a few pictures, one of them I gave away because a boy there was interested in doing art.

So day trips continue, where will we go tomorrow?

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Wales