Walk: Monmouthire & Brecon Canal

The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal

We like a country walk, although my better half prefers a flat perambulation, or at worst a gentle incline which can be a somewhat troublesome problem living in Wales. I've been trying to get her up Pen y Fan since we first met some 30 years ago, but she's steadfastly managed to avoid that so far.

Yesterday, rather than return to one of our usual and more local haunts we decided to change up and head to Brecon and walk along the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal for a couple of miles. The weather in Barry was a bit meh at least for the morning, but our various weather apps, and Wales's own weather guru Derek the Weather promised sunshine further north in Brecon.

Driving up the A470 towards Brecon didn't instil great confidence in the forecast as low grey cloud and occasional drizzle was in evidence most of the way. However as we passed Pen y Fan a couple of blue sky patches were becoming visible, although the tops of the Beacons were still clouded over.

We arrived at the car park adjacent to Theatre Brycheiniog at the Brecon canal basin for a very reasonable £2.90 for up to four hours - incidentally, I once saw David "Bumble" Lloyd, the former cricketer, Umpire, England cricket coach and Sky Sports commentator in his show at the theatre - now he's got some tales to tell!

Getting our boots on, the skies were still decidedly grey with a spot of drizzle threatening, but within minutes it had passed and we started off.

Our starting point - Brecon Basin

The Brecon basin is one end of the roughly 35 mile navigable canal, that runs first east and then south towards Newport, although much of the previous canal from Pontymoile Basilisks at Pontypool is now either non navigable or has been filled in.

Helpful bench if you've forgotten your map!

Initially, the towpath runs through the outskirts of eastern Brecon with the town on your left beyond the canal and flied stretching to the Beacons and Pen y Fan on the right with the river Usk running alongside but below the canal. As you reach the outskirts of the town you pass the Army's Infantry Battle School - it was quite on the way out, but on our return leg they were practising (at least I hope they were practising), and the sound of gunfire/artillery was VERY loud!

The canal right from the start was crystal clear - usually canals are quite silty, and having been an avid fisherman in my earlier days whenever I see water of any kind, I'm always thinking fish. Bizarrely though on our almost 5 mile there and back walk, despite constantly looking I didn't see a single fish in the canal. They must be there as there were plenty of Merthyr & District Angling Club signs, but not even a stickleback did I see.

There's only one lock on this section, and that was towards the end of our outward destination, so the well maintained towpath was adequately flat for Anne. We took our time ambling along, stopping for coffee (brought with us - no coffee or snack options available on the canalside once you start) and passed or were passed by a few dog walkers, other walkers and an occasional cyclist.

Brynich Aqueduct over the Usk
from the bridge by Brynich Lock

We paused briefly at Brynich Lock just before the canal rounds a bend and then passes above the river Usk on the Brynich aqueduct, some 25-30ft above the river. Just beyond here, you cross a bridge as the towpath changes to the left hand side of the canal, but backtracking towards the aqueduct were a few strategically placed benches and picnic tables that made for a perfect picnic stop.

Brynich Lock

Brynich Aqueduct

By now the sun had broken through in patches, and felt quite warm on our backs making for a pleasant picnic stop.

Having been fed and watered we meandered back along the tranquil canal - or it was tranquil until the Infantry started up! The clouds were on the move and we were now able to see the tops of Pen y Fan and Cribyn from the towpath.

Cribyn (left) Pen y Fan from the towpath
River Usk foreground

All in all we had a lovely few hours out and it's a walk we might certainly do more of - we've walked some of the canal a little further along near Talybont on Usk.

Our visit was pretty much turn up and see how we go, but for those who need a little more detail ahead of a trip out here there's a handy guide on just this walk available here.

On the Brynich Aqueduct looking back toward the bridge at Brynich Lock

Twitter: @Statto1927 

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False dawn

Days like this are deceiving, especially for the occasional gardener. Christmas has come and gone. The winter solstice has passed and the days are (still relatively inperceptibly) drawing out. Looking around the garden there are stirrings of the new season. Daffodils are poking through the soil, snowdrops are out (at least in my garden). After what seems like weeks of rain we’ve had a couple of dry days, and today the sun is shining brightly, enough to warm your back a bit, and there’s barely a cloud in the sky. 

It all makes you want to proclaim that summer (or at the very least spring) is on the way, break out the shorts and flip flops (unless you’re one of those hardy fools that wears them all year anyway) and get out in the garden planting stuff and planning for those long lazy summer days. 

But it’s only January 20th. Things can and will turn in an instant for weeks if not months yet. It’s no time to be complacent. Patience is a virtue and the sensible option. There are things that can be done. Clearing and tidying some of the autumn/winter raggedy leavings. Don’t rush it, but enjoy the sun and dry days whilst we have them. 

Twitter: @Statto1927 

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Stile Cup 2022 - Dumped out in Round 1

A few days ago I posted about the 2022 Stile Cup, a Twitter based "competition" where users can submit a photo of a favourite stile, and then entries are randomly drawn against each other in groups of four and voted on, until there's a winner. I first came across this last year, and decided on a last minute whim to enter this year, even though I didn't have a particularly good photo to submit.

Anyway, the long and short of it can be seen in the screenshot above, where despite a last minute rush on voting, I came 4th of four in my group, missing out on third spot by a whisker. Ah well, never mind, beaten by a better stile (bottom right), and there's always next year. I now have 12 months to find an impressive stile for the 2023 comp, although to be fair there are some stonking entries in this year's competition, and with (so far) 28 groups in round 1, there's plenty to choose from, from the traditional plank type, stones stepped or slabbed (like mine) to some really quirky ones

You can still vote for your favourite. Follow @LakeStiles on twitter or search for #StileCup2022

Twitter: @Statto1927 

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Tinnitus

Rather irritatingly, for the first time in my life I appear to have developed some form of tinnitus. It manifests as a low humming or droning noise. At first I though it was a vehicle outside on the street idling, or even a distant propeller driven plane, but it's not. It's a constant, low frequency hum, although it's not evident first thing in the morning after I've been lying down all night, but does come on with an hour or two of getting up.

I've only noticed it over the last three or four weeks, and I can't think of anything that might have triggered this. I haven't been to any noisy places or gigs and I rarely wear earphones to listen to music, and I wouldn't in any case have the volume lovely loud.

To be fair, my hearing has been getting worse for years. I'm certainly not deaf (although my family might disagree), but my hearing is definitely not as good as it could be. I last had it tested 4 or 5 years ago, and was told it was fine - but this was in a proper quiet room where you wear headphones and have to identify when you can hear certain frequencies - I managed them all. But that was a test scenario. My biggest issues come when I'm somewhere with other ambient, and especially low grades white noise going on around me - a pub for example, where I can find it really difficult to hear someone even if they're standing next to me.

There are of course a couple of other possibilities for this onset.

1. I've had a rotten cold for a couple of weeks (although I think this started before the cold came on - and before you ask, it's not (or extremely unlikely to be) Covid. I've done several lateral flows and had a PCR test all of which have been negative. It could have bunged up my inner ear and be a contributing factor.
2. It could be "The Hum". Apparently Bristol is a UK hotspot for The Hum, and we're not that far away as the crow flies. Before I got this, I'd have dismissed this as crackpot, but now......?
3. A side effect of the Covid vaccine. The British Tinnitus Association indicate that although there have been some reports of tinnitus onset after a Covid vaccine, the numbers are such that such a side effect would be classed as "rare". Equally there have been some reports that existing tinnitus sufferers have said the condition has become worse following a vaccine. Of course that doesn't mean that the vaccine has caused this for me. I'm triple jabbed (all Pfizer) with my first shot in December 2020, my second in late January 2020 and last shot being in October last year, and this didn't materialise until just before Christmas at the earliest as far as I can recall. Not that the risk of tinnitus (or indeed any other side effect) would have stopped me getting the vaccine now or in the future. It's the correct and obvious thing to do to get us out of this horrible pandemic.
4. Perhaps, and linked to the above point maybe it's because I'm now 5G receptive after having the vaccine? (That's a joke by the way).

Probably the sensible thing to do is to get my hearing tested again. Meanwhile for the moment it looks like I'm going to have to get used to this low frequency humming in my head.

Twitter: @Statto1927 

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How much Stile do you have?

Slab stile, St Lythan's Church, near Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan

If you use Twitter, it's very easy to be drawn into the depths of despair reading the widespread crap you find on that platform, or knowing that anything someone posts seems to draw one of two responses. Either people agree 100% with you, or people 100% disagree with you often in the most unpleasant way. Whatever the subject (and Brexit and Covid are the two prime examples) or whether blue is black and white is gold Twitter can be disheartening place to be sometimes. But then every now and then you come across some gems that you'd never have come across if you hadn't been trawling the bird. And what could be more gently entertaining than finding out about a competition to find everyone's* favourite stile?

(*everyone that voted that is!)

I first came across this because I'm an avid follower of Quintin Lake on Twitter. He's an architectural photographer who also loves walking and photographing his journeys. A couple of years ago  he walked and photographed the entire coastline of Britain on a humungous project he called The Perimeter. This was fascinating enough on its own, and he's still publishing his photo blog on this mammoth undertaking, but one by-product of this was a post he put on Twitter last year concerning the "Stile Cup" which (unsurprisingly) I'd never heard of before. That's a beauty of Twitter - you'll occasionally come across a post linking to people or things that you'd never have done so in the normal course of things, and it can open up a whole new world. And so it was here. There is a Twitter user named @LakeStiles who posts all sorts of photos of stiles and gates (bear with me, I'm a country boy at heart). This Twitter user also runs an annual "Stile Cup", where other Twitter users can send in images of interesting stiles, which are then voted on in groups of four by followers until an ultimate Stile Cup Winner is found.

Well, Quintin Lake submitted the photo below, which after a very hard fought contest, became the winner of the 2021 Stile Cup.

2021 Stile Cup Winner: Credit Quintin Lake

Having said above that it's "gently entertaining", I have to say the final run in of last year's competition (semi final and final in particular) got quite heated and tense as those who had submitted photos that made it that far used all manner of messaging to get people to vote for their photo albeit in a fun, (well I think it was fun) way.

This year I've submitted my own entry. The photo at the top of this post is a slab style stile (if you follow that) quite commonly found in these parts, this one adjacent to St Lythan's Church near Wenvoe in the Vale of Glamorgan. I don't expect to make it past round one of the 2022 Stile Cup which kicks of next week (search #StileCup2022 on Twitter), but at least I've made an effort to enter.

If you've got an interesting photo of a stile, you've got a couple more days left to enter. Just DM @LakeStiles with your entry.

Anyway, my overall point here is that there's some great and interesting stuff on Twitter if you look hard enough (accepting that "great" and "interesting" are very subjective!). We might clamber over standard wooden stiles on our walks about the place without giving it a second thought, but there are some fascinating alternatives out there if only you open your eyes. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it beats the hell out of trawling the mess, misinformation, trolling and detritus that is Covid or Brexit Twitter.

Twitter: @Statto1927 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/people/simon_hiscocks/ 

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2021 in photos

As we hit 2022 I thought it would be fun to post a photo I've taken from each of the last 12 months. These are far and away from my best shots of the year, and most if not all were either taken using or uploaded to my iPhone rather than using my "proper" cameras, but they tell a story.

January 2021

We didn't see much snow last year - this was about as good as it got, and the car not going anywhere as we were all in lockdown!

February 2021

Still in lockdown, so getting out and about largely meant walking from home. On this walk in late February in the local area, the daffodils were in full bloom.

March 2021

Lockdown is easing, but we still go for regular local walks anyway lockdown or not. It's fascinating what you can miss that's right under your nose. These stones along the coast path near Sully have nods to all sorts of "local" stuff.

April 2021

April saw us on a family walk in north Cardiff starting from one of the most iconic buildings of the area, Castell Coch. Worth a visit, even if you just park up and walk in the local woods as we did.

May 2021

In May we eventually managed to get away for our first proper break for many months on a stay in North Wales, near Caernarfon. Here's a shot of the famous Italianate village, Portmeirion, built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis with the Snowdon range in the background.

June 2021

June sees us able to start enjoying our new patio & pergola - we'd been planning to have this done for years, and finally got around to it in late spring (or rather we got someone in to do it for us!). Cheating rather, there are two photos here for June with the before and after photos speaking for themselves.

July 2021

A long time friend, Pete Colley, passed away earlier in the year from cancer. I'd known Pete for nearly 30 years, primarily through cricket and skittling. Pete was one of those people who was a true legend in "The Village" (Dinas Powys), know by or to nearly everyone. Together with his family, the cricket club held a memorial match to remember him and raise funds for Marie Curie Wales. It was of course, fabulously attended, and we all raised a glass, or rather several to our good friend. 

Another "doubler" for you.

August 2021

August, and the Covid restrictions have eased sufficiently to allow people to go on holiday. We enjoyed our annual extended family holiday in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, some camping, some in caravans and some (us) in a holiday cottage. Not sure how many there were altogether - getting on for 20! Very relaxing, quite chilled and lots of walking around the beautiful coast path. This shot is of Solva (left) and the Gwadn valley (right), with one of my favourite places in the world to sit and wonder, the Gribyn centre.

September 2021

We stay in Pembrokeshire for September's photo, although this was taken a few weeks after our family holiday, as Mrs H and I enjoyed a sneaky short break to Milford Haven. The weather was actually better than in August, and it was really warm, with shorts and t shirts all the way as we had a lovely relaxing couple of days. This photo is of the stunning Barafundle Bay.

Narrowly missing out this month were photos of a trip to Margam Park, and a visit to the RHS Malvern Autumn show with friends on the day the petrol crisis really started to bite.

October 2021

There were many contenders for October's photo. Local walks around Barry, Cardiff Bay and Dyffryn Gardens, another short break to Bournemouth and more, but it goes to my favourite shot of the year, sunset at Barry Island, looking down the Bristol Channel as a container ship makes its way to Avonmouth. This is a low res version, you can see a better shot and many of my other photos on my Flickr feed.

November 2021

Again, many contenders for this month's shot, but the winner is a family group shot. We try to get away in the autumn with a big family group, but obviously Covid has scuppered the last couple of years. We managed it this year and went to North Devon, near Ilfracombe. Lots of walks, cake and beer.

December 2021

Ah.....there you all were expecting a Christmassy photo for December, but it's not. Playing golf (or trying to) is something I've been enjoying since retiring. I play at the Vale Resort in the Vale of Glamorgan. To prove the sun does actually shine in December sometimes, here's a couple of my regular playing partners about to hit into the 18th green on the Lakes course. It's a good job I got some golf balls for Christmas, as there are quite a few of mine in that lake....

I hope you enjoyed these photos. You can follow and see more on any of the feeds below.

Twitter: @Statto1927 

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