Well the rainbow the night before did not symbolize fine weather and we set forth on our drive through the mountains of Wales in a fine drizzle, which increased as we travelled. Every now and again the clouds would lift and we would see breathtaking scenery before it closed in again. Ah well, I guess you can’t have it all your own way!
We went to Portmeiron but it was looking drab and rundown (could have been the rain) and they wanted an entrance fee, so we gave it a miss and headed for Barmouth Bay. It is obviously a pretty seaside resort but steady rain didn’t show it at its best and we ended up picnicking in the car.
We passed Harlech Castle. ‘Men of Harlech’ is a song and military march which is traditionally said to describe events during the seven-year siege of Harlech Castle between 1461 and 1468 and is widely used as a regimental march, especially by British Army and Commonwealth regiments.
At last we arrived in the little town of Llanwrtyd Wells to stay the night at Shirley and Norm’s B&B. Plasnewydd Bed and Breakfast has been run as a B&B for three generations and was very warm and welcoming with a good fire and good advice on restaurants.
The next day the rain had eased and we saw some wonderful countryside driving through the Brecon Beacons National Park.
The country changed as we neared the coal mining area and the town of Blaenavon and home of the National Coal Museum.
We went on the underground tour, which takes you down 90 meters in a cage and around a section of the original underground workings. Before we left we were kitted out in the same equipment the miners wore – helmet, cap lamp, belt, battery and ‘self rescuer’ (portable oxygen source ). Mine regulations state that no batteries of any description can be taken down a mine so everyone on the tour was denuded of their cameras, phones, watches etc. Talk about the electronic age – they passed round a big bag, it took about 10 minutes to collect them all and there must have been thousands of dollars worth!
The tour takes about 50 minutes and our guide was a former coal miner, whose father and grandfather had also worked down the mines, so was a wealth of knowledge. We saw the coalfaces, engine houses and stables where the men and horses used to work.
Our guide described what it was like before the industry was regulated and the miners were paid with a token, which could only be redeemed at the company store. Children as young as six worked the doors in pitch-blackness, opening them when they heard a trolley coming and closing them behind it. He had us all turn off our torches so you could experience the total blackness where you can’t see your hand even when you hold it right up to your face. Quite a sobering experience. It is one thing to read about it and quite another to stand there in the damp, cold, dark and listen to the stories.
It was an excellent museum with a number of historic buildings with interesting exhibits. Set into the hillside above the colliery, the mining galleries house simulated underground workings and a multi-media presentation telling the story of how the Welsh mining industry evolved, which is very cleverly done.
We came out of the pit into (almost) sunshine and drove on down to Taunton, crossing the Severn Inlet on the suspension bridge and through some lovely country to our next stop, Hartwood House. David and Rosemary welcomed us with wine and biscuits and we strolled around their garden, which was due to be opened the next day in the Open Garden Scheme.
They used to run garden tours and are extremely keen gardeners so were very informative as to where to go and what to see. Their garden is delightful and full of interesting plants and trees. The house is fabulous and we spent some time in front of the wood fire in the living room chatting to David before going up to our extremely comfortable room . We went to bed very glad we were going to be spending two nights there.
