Martin's Mag.

Unusual poster in this hippy/artistic/alternative area of Bath.

There are two motorway bridges over the River Severn, and one (the M48) has paths on either side for walkers and cyclists.

Sal, about half way.

Chepstow. The Bridge Over The River Wye.

Ancient petrol pumps in Aust on the English side of The Severn.

Took advantage of the good weather forecast and spent a couple of nights in Crickhowel, a nice little town on the River Usk. Fantastic scenery, good pub (The Bridge End Inn) and easy cycle ride along the Monmouth-Brecon canal and back. Met Wendy and Graham in their camper; safety in numbers.

Sisters.

Wendy, Sal and Graham on Crickhowell bridge over The Usk.

From bridge towards pub garden.

Tunnel on the Monmouth-Brecon canal. (See “light at end of tunnel”.)

Sheep by canal.

Paddle gear on lock.

Bench (and our bikes) on Monmouth-Brecon canal.

Lock on Monmouth-Brecon canal.

Lock on Monmouth-Brecon canal.

Arthur’s Stone. Neolithic burial chamber in the hills above Herefordshire’s Golden Valley.

Hay on Wye. Sal on Table.

When we moved into out present house, five years ago, most traces of the natural world had been removed from the garden via the use of decking and plastic sheeting. We were told by neighbours that the soil was not good due to the land’s previous use, some decades earlier, as an industrial (“brown field”) site. To which we said “Horse Dung!” And, many sacks of the stuff later, the garden’s looking good and producing quite a lot of vegetables. And we live to tell the tale.

Part of garden in 2009 (in black and white to emphasize urban brutalism).

Park Street, Bristol.

Bristol’s mayor George Ferguson has endorsed another “Special Sunday” in Bristol. “Park on Park Street” saw the steep road shut to traffic today, with stalls, music, food, etc. Bristol is becoming an increasingly fun place to live, and our new elected mayor is a great publicist for the city.

Looking up Park Street, Bristol, towards the University’s Wills’ Tower.

(Slightly defaced) graffiti by Banksy on Park Street.

One of the benefits of not working much any more is that we can go away at short notice when the weather forecast looks good. We took the newly-tarted-up Freda to the west coast of Wales and spent a few days cycling, walking, eating, drinking and gazing out to sea.

Caerfai Bay, Pembrokeshire.

Coast path.

French students at war memorial in the City of St David’s.

Checking the map outside Trefin, Pembrokeshire National Park.

The Harbour Pilot’s Office, Porthgain, Pembrokeshire National Park.

Porthgain, Pembrokeshire National Park.

The Sloop Inn, Porthgain. Brilliant, unpretentious pub.

St David’s Cathedral, during repair work.

Pembrokeshire Coast path.

You have been warned!

View from the Pembrokeshire coastal path.

Estuary at Solva.

Litchen-covered post at Solva.

Waterfall on beach by campsite at Caerfai Bay.

Beach by campsite at Caerfai Bay.

Snail on fence at Caerfai Bay beach.

Pembroke.

Camper by Pembroke Castle (with old bike rack).

Tenby. The Robbins’ holiday house, Sheerwater.

Cauldy Island ferry.

The Old Tenby Lifeboat Station, now converted to private accommodation.

Tenby street scene.

A few years ago we walked The Thames Path, from the Barrier in London to Lechlade in Gloucestershire. There are some photos here: wolffsys.co.uk/albums/thamesPath. We didn’t go further upstream, to the official source of the river, because we’d been told it was rather boring. We were young and naive then, though, and believed anything. Recently, we have been following the course of a disused canal, The Stroudwater, which connects Saul Junction, on the Gloucester-Sharpness Canal, to the River Thames. Today we made the final east-west link from Cricklade, in Wiltshire, to Lechlade, in Gloucestershire. 

We drove the camper to Lechlade, rode our bikes to Cricklade, then walked the ten or eleven miles back to Lechlade. Nice day, good weather. Slightly sore bottom.

Field of oilseed.

River Thames NE of Cricklade.

Sitting by the Thames at The Red Lion, Castle Eaton.

Relaxing dog at cottage near confluence of rivers Thames and Coln (and end of Stroudwater canal).

Our old camper has “had some work done”, as they say. Her top has been touched up and she’s been tightened a bit “down below”. The old girl’s looking good for her age!