Some walks in Britain

Regular readers will know I've been away in Britain with my sister, burying my mother (see two posts back) and visiting with relatives.

(Click on any photo to enlarge.)

Even so, a man has to eat, sleep, and exercise, and the places where I was at were fine for country walks, so that's what I did when I wasn't with my sister or relatives.

Here are the pictures I took.

I stayed in the small market town of Cowbridge, in the Vale of Glamorgan, which is a service center close to my sister's house, with a good hotel, The Bear, a former coaching inn and recommended.

The first walk is an early morning wander around the town's trails and historic sites.

There's an eleventh century castle, much remodeled in Tudor times. What you see here is Tudor.

I really liked this small tarmac footpath crossing this small sheep field. It seemd eminently practical to have just a small ribbon of surfaced pathway so folk could use the shortcut without getting muddy feet or wearing out the field.


The town used to be walled, and there remains a remnant or two of the old fortifications.

Then there's the "Physic Garden," a medieval walled garden kept up by volunteers. These are trellised apple trees.

This late rose was still blooming in the courtyard at The Bear.

Then it was off to Sgeffield, where I visited Wire Mill Dam, Ivy Cottages where my family used to live, and hiked up Porter Clough to the edge of the moors.

My sister and I hope to get a memorial bench like the one shown for our parents and maternal grandparents.

Finally, there's the view from Symonds Yat, a beauty spot easily accessible from the M40 connector between South Wales and the Midlands.

I liked the tiny white dots of the sheep below.

The lumber being harvested is Eastern Hemlock and Western Red Cedar, which I thought was ironic. I went all the way to Britain to find a woodsman harvesting American trees at a British Forestry Commission reserve.