Wales Tales.

We've packed a lot into our time at Penrhyndeudraeth so far. Got an extra night hols really as we decided to do an overnight in Shropshire, about half way, on Thursday night. We stayed at The Fox in Much Wenlock which was very nice. An excellent dinner of pork chop in cider sauce for me and halloumi salad of Tara with a couple of pints of  the excellent Wainwrights ale then a stroll around the village. Fortified after a very good full English in the morning & we were off, via a stop off at Tesco for provisions, then unfortunately the nearer we got to North Wales the worse the weather became. Bugger!
Ella & Julian had arrived about an hour before us & Gary & Ellie a couple of hours after us, poor Olly & Lauras train ended up being delayed an hour and a half so it was nearly 11pm before we got them to the farm owned by Julians sister MC & her husband Chris, both of whom could not have made us all more welcome. Thus endeth day one.
First full day saw Self, Gary, Ellie, Olly & Laura up early to go up to the National White Water Rafting Centre near Bala for a 'taster' session on the white water! To say it was fun is an understatement! Our instructor, Paddy got us kitted out in wet suit, boots, helmet & life jacket  and after a few simple instructions for us to follow when on the water we loaded our raft onto a trailer & were ferried up to the top of the river for our first run. Wow! Exhilarating and huge fun. We got soaked of course and followed instructions such as  'Get down!' meaning  slide off the side of the raft into the seat well very quickly for the really fast & furious bits. Got to the bottom all too quickly but got our raft back on the trailer  & off for our second run. The photos here taken by the centre  speak for themselves!

   Back to the ranch after that for tea and scones, cream and jam. Tara & Ella feeling pretty beaten up after the trip up so they decided to have a relaxed day. With the others only being here a couple of days  wanted to pack in as much as possible so Julian kindly dropped me, Gary & Olly in Beddgelert   (pronounced Bethgelert) for a walk back to base, about 8 miles. Yea Gods I thought G&O were trying to bloody kill me! The ascent of the hill, called Mynydd Sygyn (300m) on our outward trip was via a scramble not a path. I had to scale boulders half as big as me again and again. I can honestly say I hated every step of the first hour (in which we'd travelled 1 mile, mostly in an upwards direction) however the views from the top were spectacular. We made our way down past some old copper mine workings to Nantmor, unfortunately time was against us ( we'd only got 4 miles) as we were going out to dinner that evening so Julian again very kindly came out to get us. Dinner at a pub  in Beddgelert finished a very full day. I slept well!

 Weather started abit karzi today, off we went to Criccieth Castle in the morning. Not a lot to see as castles go so we weren't there all that long, back to the ranch for pizzas etc for lunch then the time to get Olly & Laura back to Bangor station came round all to quickly. Saw them off & on my return to the farm I went for a walk on my own, just up the hills behind the cottage.
Monday was started  with a fry up. A simple task you'll agree though it seemed to take a age to cook. Ella & Julian had brought various food items that would have gone off before they got home including  an egg. Un oeuf. I thought I'd use this egg and attempted to crack it into the frying pan. I'm careful doing this as so easily I break the yolk but this egg did not want to crack, tried again abit harder and then harder still only to discover it was a hard boiled egg! Bugger! Who brings one hard boiled egg on holiday!?    
It was Gary & Ellie's last day here so along with me & Julian we headed off on another walk behind the cottage towards Coed Llyn Garnedd. Weather was very good and got better all day. Passed  a derelict mill on route and also eagle eyed Ellie spotted a slow worm basking in the sunshine the return route coming past the Ffestiniog  railway.
Walk finished we bade goodbye to Gary & Ellie so just the four of us left now. Went to Portmeiron later which was expensive to get into and not an awful lot to see really though I was interested to see where the 1960's series 'The Prisoner' was filmed. Back to base.
Chris told us a little of the history of the cottage  we're staying in. The original  Ffestiniog railway brought slate down from the mountains  on a gravity worked rail system but the trucks had to be taken back up the mountain. they were pulled by horses. Our cottage  was once stables as this was a staging point to change horses  for the ascent. 

Our home for the week.

Portmieron

Patrick Mcgoohan  star of 'The Prisoner.'

Slow worm that Ellie spotted.

    

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Detectorists.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Detectorists.: Ever watched Detectorists? Treat yourself if you haven't,it's great. You have to understand where I'm coming from I suppose for...

Detectorists.

Ever watched Detectorists? Treat yourself if you haven't,it's great. You have to understand where I'm coming from I suppose for me to say that it's great. There's little between the amateur archaeology that I enjoy and detecting, in my humble opinion that is.
The characters that Mackenzie Crook has created are brilliant, he really has caught the quite daft and the quite serious types that do this sort of thing, as well as the out and out looney.
It's one of those quiet programmes, a suppose a sit-com, that creeps up on you, you don't realise how accurate and how funny he is until after the show, for me of course after a dig. Toby Jones is first class in whatever he is in ( did you see his portrayal of Alfred Hitchcock  in 'The Girl' and he was also the voice of Dobby in Harry Potter that surprised me), he plays Lance, bit of a know-all still mooning after his ex-wife who left him for some waste of space & opened a mystic shop. Crooks character is Andy ( definitely has commitment issues Tara said) in a series of gentle misunderstandings his long term girlfriend Becky (Rachel Stirling) thinks he's having an affair with a young student Sophie (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), he isn't & is too dumb to see what's happening. High spot of series one? The mad farmer Larry Bishop (David Sterne) on who's land they have been digging where there may be a Saxon burial,spends most of the series calling his imaginary dogs, in almost the last scene he calls them to see off some rogue ('You're the bad chaps') detectorists only to have two real and very loud dogs come hurtling round the corner. Made me smile.
Series two see's Lance eventually find gold but it doesn't turn out as well as he thought it would. His find is caged in a museum & he has to ask permission to see it. The laugh out loud bit for me ( and you'll instantly see why) is when Lance digs up a find & begins to get excited- 'it's a brooch, think it's silver oh there's something written in Latin, S-ST, Sta....Status...............Quo!') Marvellous stuff. Pleased to say I've just seen that series three is being recorded, can't wait!
I can only say the Mackenzie Crook must have spent some time with either a detectorists club or an archaeology society, just love the way he has found the loons, the misfits, the utterly absorbed, the frustrated professionals, the gifted amateurs and the generally daft buggers that get involved in this kind of hobby. And I'm proud to say I'm one of them.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of........Fathers Day

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of........Fathers Day: Had a Fathers Day text from Alec when I got up which was nice, and the start of a really good day. We popped over to see Julian  and gave h...

The joy of........Fathers Day

Had a Fathers Day text from Alec when I got up which was nice, and the start of a really good day. We popped over to see Julian  and gave him his Fathers day stuff and came back home.Oliver & Gary wanted to take me out for some lunch and combine it with bit of a walk, the weather is glorious so that's what we did.
Walked from home up to the Downs then along past the café bit the towards the Tree Cathedral, a nice shady path took us down the route & taking a left before you get that far and you come out near the Old Hunters Lodge in Whipsnade which was our destination.
Gary got the beers in, 'Chief  Jester' for himself, a  beer from Farr Brewery from Wheathampstead  so it hadn't travelled that far, 'Strongbow cloudy apple cider' for Oliver and a very acceptable pint of 'Tawny Owl' by Cotleigh Brewery from Somerset. 3.8% that positively sizzled as I drank it, as did the boy's drinks, were we hot by the time we arrived! Really good walk though, we took a table in the garden in as such shade as we could find and chatted and yarned. Eventually took menus to see what was what, I was Mr Predictable and had fish & chips, both boys had chilli. All cooked really well and absolutely delicious. I was feeling very spoilt as neither Gary or Oliver would let me put my hand in my pocket to get them a beer. Still very hot & I took shoes & socks off, I eventually was allowed to  buy the beers so went to the bar without shoes or socks, paid a 'visit' first, the cool tiles on the floor were lovely on the feet, however when I told Gary & Olly they just guffawed as to what I might have walked through! It really wasn't like that! Anyway, much to my delight Tawny Owl had been replaced with Tring Brewery's  'Ridgeway' 4%, a nice mid brown colour with that hoppyness I like. We got talking about the Ridgeway long distance footpath, still one I'd like to do. Gary reckoned on 30 miles in a day! I don't think so but could probably do more than the 10 miles a day I first thought, I'd really love to do it but it wouldn't be cheap & not something Tara would want to do. Well, afternoon turned into evening and Ellie very kindly picked us up & delivered Olly & me home. It had been a fantastic day and I felt very spoilt. We'll have to do it again! 


   

An idiots guide to an Idiot: A pleasant stroll.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: A pleasant stroll.: A nice warm day so Tara I took our current doggie guests, Ruby & Monty,for a stroll. We went to Ashridge  which was very crowded, didn...

A pleasant stroll.

A nice warm day so Tara I took our current doggie guests, Ruby & Monty,for a stroll.
We went to Ashridge  which was very crowded, didn't think we'd even get parked though eventually  got a spot. The good thing is wherever you go, generally you don't have to wonder too far from the cars to lose most people as so many seem to stick near their cars.
We walked across the field behind the café and remembered just how many times we'd been here with the boys when they were younger, then just kept heading down the hill to Aldbury and then over to the church as I wanted to see what was there regarding World War One. I'm a volunteer researcher for 'Herts at War.' It's a group who are researching into the men of Hertfordshire who were killed in World War One. You are given a village or town to research start with their war memorial and you're off! As I have access to Ancestry.com  it is possible to track the men alittle more with details of their parents and family, where they lived etc though my starting place is always the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site. This lists every single British and Commonwealth war grave of both world wars & in most cases has a little further information to give you a nudge in the right direction for more details. Twenty six young men from Aldbury were killed and buried where they fell so I will find out what I can then it's uploaded to a website called 'Herts at War' for all to see. The  group have just been awarded a lottery grant this has been funding a very good series of lectures about WW1 at the University of Hertfordshire, it's very interesting, but I digress. The church had a memorial  and also houses the tomb of Sir Richard Whittingham (died 1471) and his wife, a grand tomb it is too, originally at the abbey in Ashridge it was moved in 1575. It's a lovely little church and luckily for us a lovely little pub isn't too far from it! The Greyhound had a selection of three Badger Brewery Beers  and I had Tanglefoot.4.9% of refreshing tangy quality beer, Tara had a pint of bitter shandy, I think they used Tanglefoot in that as well, anyway it was a nice interlude in our walk.  After, I took the dogs back up hill this time  to the car, it didn't take too long as I cut off part of the path by taking a steeper but more direct root........that's just the way I roll. A good afternoon.

Old git drinking beer outside a pub.

Memsahib & dogs on walk down to Aldbury.

Great War Memorial to the 26 young men of the village who were killed.

Rather grant tomb of Sir Richard Whittingham and his good lady.

Ditto.

Memsahib & dogs in Aldbury.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of......Election Night.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of......Election Night.: Once 10pm chimes on Election Night in many ways politics takes a back seat, for a few hours anyway, & I love it! I watched the BBC off...

The joy of......Election Night.

Once 10pm chimes on Election Night in many ways politics takes a back seat, for a few hours anyway, & I love it!
I watched the BBC offering of experts and pundits and former MP's etc etc. There was the obligatory mad professor, he was from the University of Strathclyde and deciphered the Ipsos-Mori Exit poll,( that was pretty accurate in the event) all gearing up for a long night and all looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. You do see them all coming unravelled at the seams slightly by the wee small hours which is always amusing. Headed by David Dimbleby the first thing that happens is which constituency will declare first. It's usually a race between constituencies in Newcastle and Sunderland, this time Newcastle Central  were first in at just after 11pm. It was a hold for Labour, no surprises but the race & tear of getting in first was great! One down 249 to go!
It is of course slow to start but as the evening gets into its stride the inevitable political heavyweights are served up on a platter after defeats. Those cast into oblivion tonight have been Nick Clegg former Lib/Dem leader, Alex Salmond former Scottish Nationalist Leader & the Scots Nationalist second in command. The look on these poor sods faces is a picture. I know I sound like I'm down at the front knitting while Aristo's get their swedes chopped off ,not so,but tonight is a great leveler. The Home Secretary only just hung onto her seat  after a recount. She won by 346 votes only!
One of the best most uplifting speeches after defeat was some years ago by Michael Portillo, then Defence Secretary I think.
 He was  humble and full of praise for all his opponents for battle well fought. Magnanimous in  defeat I suppose, unlike his political ally David Mellor who's speech just moaned and belittled the other candidates. A git if ever there was one.
About 2am our constituency of South West Bedfordshire declared, a Tory hold, again no surprise, Andrew Sealous's vote was 32k (4.3% up on the 2015 election) was nearly double that of his nearest rival Labour with 18k (13.5% up on the 2015 election). The Libs, Greens & Christian Peoples Party ( The Judean Peoples Front!?) were also ran's.
I said I enjoy this night because it's not about politics, of course it is really but it is very much secondary to how the whole process of our voting system works and how the 68 million or so votes are delivered to each constituency. It also makes a nice change from all the political comments particularly those appearing on FaceBook. Now I love FB but I've come within a hairs breadth of knocking it on the head as I'm fed up with all the political comment. In my humble opinion FB is just not the place for politics, I'm not bothered what political colour people are I don't want their views, I want to here the good stuff they've done, places they've been and friends they've met up with & of course a rabbit with a pancake on its head! Talk politics on political forums.
 The night carried on with sustenance from cheese & biscuits with a glass of Port & I was ready for the slog into the small hours of the morning. I wanted to wait up for Harrow East to be declared as that is the constituency that my parents lived in and Dad always stayed up to watch the night unfold as well. He would stay up until Harrow was announced ( it was three constituencies then, now its two) and at 3.39am the result came in,it was a hold for the Tory's but with a greatly reduced majority ( about 2k). The political landscape was becoming clear by now, it's going to be a hung parliament, the Tories scoring an own goal by calling the election as their majority has been reduced so now it's down to deals with the smaller parties. I decided to call it a night now, it was just getting light. It was a great night..........I could be doing this again in afew months if deals aren't forthcoming at Westminster!

The BBC logo for the election.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Norfolk

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Norfolk: Here we go again another trek to Norwich & surrounding areas. Business OK but no one is having a party, or at least if there is I haven...

Norfolk

Here we go again another trek to Norwich & surrounding areas. Business OK but no one is having a party, or at least if there is I haven't found them, even a couple of regulars didn't need anything.
Tonights stopover was bit of a disappointment as well, a pub near the centre of Norwich, all quite adequate but lacking alittle something. Bizarrely the wardrobe in my room was in the bathroom, and the wallpaper was scenes of London, just what you'd expect I Norwich! Not a huge choice of different food, alot of pizzas, burgers with afew 'pub classics' though the burger I settled on (pictured) was home made and well cooked, the brekky in the morning was also very good. Horror of horrors no real ale on hand pumps! Did have bottled beers though, Hobgoblin & Adnams Ghost ship.

A very filling dinner!

Went for a wonder & popped into a pub near the station (The Complete Angler?) and had a very fine pint of Lacons Falcon Ale. Brewed in Great Yarmouth it wasn't far from home. Pottered back, watched Springwatch & had an early night. Nuff said.
  

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dig The Third.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dig The Third.: Back to Shillington again this weekend for a dig in an orchard of a former farm house, on the outskirts of the village really at  Hanscombe...

Dig The Third.

Back to Shillington again this weekend for a dig in an orchard of a former farm house, on the outskirts of the village really at  Hanscombe End.
The digging here  was so much easier, we were off the clay and onto a more sandy, gritty soil we were able to sieve it all unlike our previous three digs, though unfortunately no tea or coffee from Mrs Lopsided the owner, but she did have a great little dog  who was always pleased to see us!
 Got cracking with the excavation the usual rules apply of a 1m square test pit. This is also plotted from the edges of the house or any other solid structure to enable anyone for future reference to find exactly where we had dug.
Have to say finds were abit thin on the ground, just afew bits & pieces in the way of pot sherds. Modern (Victorian in this case I think) and Medieval. Hit pay dirt at 0.60cm when I uncovered a large bone, about 30cm long it was probably an ox or cow bone. A large animal and no mistake. It's hard work digging and it was a hot day but I don't mind saying all my aches disappeared when this find started to appear. I trowelled carefully around it, also used finer tools that Kevin had, tidied up the pit and let Derek record ( photo, plan and notes) then I went back in and took the bone out. Part of the condyle facets broke away on lifting but in the main it was intact. An exciting find! Difficult to date though the suggestion would be sometime of the Medieval period  as all the pottery, such as it was, was of this era.
Called it a day then and adjured to the Musgrave Arms for the traditional 'post dig analysis,' the guest beer this time was Nobby's 'Claridges Crystal.' 3.6% a very light coloured beer with that perfect refreshing citrus twang to it. A brilliant pint of loveliness to end a great day's archaeology.
Day two was relatively short as the context beneath the bone find started to show signs of the natural  undisturbed chalk.
Nigel now digging, the deeper it gets the better for him! We're allowed to dig to 1.2m only, you'd need to be shoring up to go deeper though few test pits do.....unless Nigel is digging! Looking more and more like natural  about half of the final context was excavated taking us to about 1m deep. The finds had now completely dried up, the last being small pieces of bone from just below the large bone.
The joy of backfilling then commenced, the most tedious part of the operation in my humble opinion, the ease and relative speed of digging in this soil bit us back as there was alot of dirt to get back into the pit. Old Thumper and Old Thumper II were employed (see 'Dig the Second' blog) to their full. Lunch then Musgrave Arms again ..........just to consolidate what we'd found you understand then homewards. Another great weekend.  

The team get started. Nigel, Kevin, Derek.

Our 'helper!'

Abit of find washing by Kevin.

Where this week's gig was.

The bone.

Bone in situ at 0.6m.

Tools of the trade.

Deepest we got, about 1m showing clearly the natural chalk.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Wrest Park Re enactment.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Wrest Park Re enactment.: Kas & Tara coffee break. German equipment. The Punjab Lancers. Wrest Park had an event going on this weekend that we t...

Wrest Park Re enactment.

Kas & Tara coffee break.

German equipment.

The Punjab Lancers.

Wrest Park had an event going on this weekend that we thought we'd  have a look at. Went there with Tara, Kas, Stan & Kevin, it was a historical reenactment event featuring both world wars. The enactors  were stationed throughout the grounds of course camouflaged  where possible. The German army encampment was interesting although we remarked to one of the re-enactors (he was an MP) that the flag flying over the guardroom although red with a white circle had a German cross rather than a swastika on it. He told us it was so no one could be 'offended' by it!  What nonsense! Everything else there was correct to the period and there was a swastika inside with displays, just a shame if people are going to be touchy about it!
They got out a German 2 pounder anti tank gun & a British howitzer from airborne forces & fired them in the main arena which was fun. Later  the magnificent Punjab Lancers from the Great War era  were tent pegging in the main arena, my Grandad would have known such regiments as the 1st Kings Dragoon Guards were brigaded with the 29th Lancers ( Deccan Horse) and  36th Jacobs Horse during his time in the cavalry.
Another Great War area showed how the medics would have worked and another portraying the Durham Light Infantry told us all about the Vickers Machine Gun and how it was used. All absolutely fascinating! The rain held off and we all decamped back home and we did a BBQ, did get some rain towards the end of my cooking it all, though I put an anorak on I noticed the rain was filling up my red wine glass! Not a flavour I favour but luckily was all but done cooking. A grand day out. ( smiles al la Wallace & Gromit)

DLI Private and Vickers machine Gun.

Medical kit

Great War medic.

Para howitzer.

German 2 pounder anti tank gun. 

Bang!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Doughboys.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Doughboys.: Nothing to do with Pilsbury and more to do with another excellent lecture by the Herts art War group researching men of Hertfordshire who  ...

Doughboys.

Nothing to do with Pilsbury and more to do with another excellent lecture by the Herts art War group researching men of Hertfordshire who  were killed and organising lectures and exhibitions. They've just got a big lottery grant so these free lectures can continue.Check out http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk/   to find out more.
Tonights was by Mike St Maur Sheil and called 'Fields of Battle - Lands of Peace' about the part the US played in World War One. Not why they joined but the actions they fought once they were involved. Being a photo journalist there was plenty of photos taken from the Western Front to illustrate his story.
The US has been criticised for the length of time it took to field an army once they'd declared war on Germany in April 1917, it was June 1918 before they was a coherent trained and ready for action US Army. Mike Maur Sheil makes an interesting comparison with the British arguing that their first really major offensive wasn't until July 1916 after declaring war in August 1914. On that basis the US were pretty quick. Alot of their equipment was supplied by Britain and France. He tells of many gallant actions such as the US Marine Corps at Belleau Wood and others, many were killed because the tactics used by General Pershing were the old tactics used in the opening of the war of solid ranks charging directly into machine guns. The British & French were beginning to learn that wasn't a good idea but the US learnt the hard way.
As the British soldiers were called Tommies  & the French Poilus so the US soldiers were known as Doughboys. This came form the Mexican Wars of the 1860's when the cavalry riding past the infantry saw they were covered in adobe dust from the countryside they were marching through, calling  them adobe boys which eventually got corrupted to  Doughboy. At least this is the generally accepted  theory according to our lecturer.  He told us of a strange paradox of the last US soldier killed on 11th November 1918. An over zealous officer wanted to take a village before the war ended so the charging troops , even though waved back by the Germans came on and were shot,  the last one being ironically a German immigrant. Many bodies of US troops were repatriated to America so there are only five US cemeteries in France and Flanders. Our lecturer told us that America in general doesn't really seem to know alot about World War One , there is no national memorial to it for instance and because of the repatriation of so many bodies going to all corners of America the high cost of battle was never really understood accept by those who were there of course.
 It was a really interesting lecture.  

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Weekend in London.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Weekend in London.: Flints from Crossrail Remains of a Victorian poe, also from Crossrail. Had a brilliant couple of nights away in London with Tara...