2nd to 5th
May 2011
Trip to Wales
We scooted off to Wales to see friends we’ve met in Africa who
coincidentally live only 12km apart!
Firstly a friend we met in Lusaka who lives at Grosmont near Abergevenny
in Wales then it was off to Walterstone which is on the English side of the
border to catch up with Botswana friends (now living there). We immediately fell in love with the beauty
and softness of the countryside. Every view was a photo opportunity, every road
was a squeeze between hedgerows and stone walls, and every village was full of
900 year old relics.
Highlights
· Seeing old friends and
new…we want to come back to see more of Wales!
Next time will be in the caravan ;)
· Browsing around the wonderful village called
Hay-on-Wye (in Welsh – “Y Gelli Gandryll”), which is
the second-hand book capital of the world with it’s 30 or more bookstores in a
population of only 1900!
· An afternoon hike on the Black Mountains to the border
on the top of the hill (known as Offa’s Dyke) which is the separation of Wales
& England – a bit of folklore here says that “it was
customary for the English to cut off the ears of every Welshman who was found
to the east of the dyke, and for the Welsh to hang every Englishman whom they
found to the west of it”.
· Visiting the many Priories, ruins, castles and
Churches, including Hereford Cathedral which houses the “Magnus Mappa” the
oldest world map in the UK.
· And then there was a visit to the “local” – The
Carpenters Arms, where Vera, who at 82, runs the pub. The evening was full of good humour and
cheek.
