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We have seen many parts of Pembrokeshire but one place we have not see are the mountains.  Yes, the mountains!  The Preseli Mountains to be precise.  This great range runs 21km east-west reaching elevations of 563m.  And the intrepid Darrel and Eve offered to take us there and climb us to its highest peaks.  But we had a few stops along the way... We called into the pretty town of Solva.  Another good location for drying out the boat.  If the weather is behaving itself when Susan is here, it may just be a fun thing to do.  Solva at low tide - the building up river (in the distance, middle of photo) is the recommended pub It was then off to the Melin Tregwnt Mill to look at their traditional weaving and partake in a traditional Welsh lunch - Lamb Cawl. This is hearty stew traditionally made with whatever vegetables were on hand and paired with bread and a huge chunk of Welsh Cheddar.  Just the sort of fortifying meal we needed prior to our sum...

We generally refrain from commenting on politics.  We have amazing friends on both sides of the political divide and one of the joys of being Canadian /Australian is we do not identify ourselves with the political ideology we support.   But we live in interesting times. A time when our BFF has turned on us, is threatening us and is not being a good friend at all.  It is not the country as a whole, just a select and powerful few who are being nasty.  To our dear and wonderful American friends, we love you and we always will. Threats of tariffs and annexation, we know, are not coming from you.   But we do need to push back and say Elbows Up Canada !*  *Elbows Up is a defensive "ice" hockey term.   And please remember that Blogger posts your comment as anonymous if you don't have an account, so please sign off with your name so we know who you are!

While we are still in the UK, we decided a visit with  Carol and Tim was in order!  We rented a car for the weekend and set off under glorious sunny skies towards Newent in Gloucestershire, about a three-hour drive.  Except, we got a bit distracted and it took us over six hours! Our rental car - ideal for two adults and two below-the-hip double amputees And just what was there to distract us, you ask?  Well, meandering laneways, viewpoints and castles.  Lots of castles!  Most we simply drove by and had a look from the outside (see our post Welsh Castles ), but when we arrived at Tretower Court and Castle, we decided it was worth checking out more closely. And being able to use our English Heritage membership was a win. Not just a ruin, but a "fitted out" castle this time!  What will we find?!? All the signage is in both national languages The layout of the Tretower Court and Castle You visit Tretower in reverse-cronological order (newes...

When Eve and Darrel suggested a day out touring around SE Pembrokeshire, we jumped at the chance, confident they would take us to places we would not find ourselves.  We appreciate them sharing their love of the region with us, telling us stories, teaching us how to pronounce place names (Dinbych-y-pysgod, yikes, we'll stick with Tenby) and generally being jolly, good fun to hang out with. Our tour of South-East Pembrokeshire started with the visit to Saint Govan's Chapel.  This chapel is built into the limestone cliffs and dates from somewhere around the 5th century.  Legend has it that St Govan was enjoying an amble in the country when he was ruthlessly pursued by a gang of bloodthirsty pirates. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park website provides the rest of the story.   The Chapel tucked down the cliff Miraculously as he was running away from these pirates, a cleft opened up in the cliff above him and he was able to tuck inside it and hide. It was such a s...

And that's a lots of castles.  To give you an idea just how little Wales is,  Victoria is 11 times and Alberta is 32 times its size! Wales is the land of castles.  It is said that there are over 600 castles in this tiny land.  Why there are so many is likely a combination of conflict and geography - from the Norman Invasion in the 11th century to all the shenanigans against the English that went on for 300 years or so to the squabbling between the warring Welsh principalities.  Welsh geography is such that a castle could be built at a strategic location to defend a mountain or valley, while being supplied from the sea, making it less likely that an enemy could lay siege on your castle. Add to this the technology of the time that made castles a fine defence tool so they popped up everywhere being built of earth and wood and with the fancier ones built from stone.  We saw one or two in our travels - and these are only the ones we managed to photograph!...