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| Rhossili Bay with The Worm's Head in the distance - taken from the Wales Coast Path |
Oh. Oh. OH! *
What a crazily busy couple of weeks it's been. We've been all over the place, tripping up to Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire one weekend, and trawling over to Wales the next.
In fact we visited it almost by accident, having decided to take a look at nearby Aylesbury on the way to spend the weekend with our friends Roy and Tracey - they live not far from Luton.
Aylesbury, dear reader, is awful.
After having paid £1 for a heritage walk map from the local council offices, we set off to discover any historic architectural pearls in this chav-laden town. Sadly, they were not to be found and we gave up after about 45 minutes.
I Googled 'places to visit near Aylesbury' and Waddesdon popped up, so off we went.
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| *Swoon* - how's about that ivy trained into a diamond pattern? |
Holy mother of Rothschild.
This place is impressive.
Waddesdon was built in the style of a 16th century French château by that most affluent of banking families, and it remained in their possession until just after the Second World War when it was bequeathed to The National Trust. The Rothschild Foundation continues to manage the estate and provides most of the funding for its upkeep.
Waddesdon has been used in numerous films and television shows, including Downton Abbey.
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| The Proserpina Fountain at the rear of Waddesdon Manor |
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| One of the sloping twin staircase towers at the front of the house |
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| The parterre garden, at the rear of the house |
The park and garden are divine, with breathtaking views views of Oxfordshire, the Chilterns Hills, and the Vale of Aylesbury. We spent a couple of hours exploring but did not have time to visit the house, for which you are advised to pre-book anyway. So we'll save that up for another time.
Onwards to Roy and Tracey's to enjoy a superb banquet of curries and Indian side-dishes, all made by Roy's fair hand - the best Indian we've had in ages.
Next morning the four of us headed over to another National Trust property, Stowe, which was about an hour's drive away. It was a glorious day and we wandered the grounds happily, marvelling at the surprising lack of people. Where were they? Recovering from a heavy Friday night? Hauling their cookies to the beach? Whatever the reason, it was pleasant not to be battling the usual crowds.
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| Stowe School |
Yes, folks - this is a school. For the privilege of sending young Tarquin or Arabella to this bastion of the British ruling class, you will pay approximately £8,500 per term (for day students). That modest sum will, amongst other things, obtain for your offspring access to the Olympic standard athletics track, opened by Lord Coe, and the equestrian centre with its cross-country course designed by Captain Mark Phillips.
The school has not been without scandal - apparently in 2016 (and I remember this being on the news) - a Daily Telegraph investigator posing as a parent of a Russian pupil was told by the then school registrar that whilst pupils would always be expected to pass the entrance exam, it would help secure a place if a borderline child's parents were able to donate "about £100,000 or something like that."
Yikes. Bet they weren't happy about that little revelation.
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| Looking towards The Gothic Temple, from The Palladian Bridge |
Stowe's grounds are well populated with follies, bridges and temples, which makes the walking interesting and the photo opportunities numerous. Add a cerulean blue sky and excellent company, and you have a formula for a brilliant day.
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| The Gothic Temple |
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| How I loved these magnificent spun copper urns! |
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| Daisies blowin' in the breeze |
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| Kevin admiring the interior of the Palladian Bridge |
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| One of a pair of Medici lions that adorn the main entrance to Stowe House |
Despite having virtuously indulged in gentle exercise for some hours, the four of us were suitably restrained when we at last stopped for a quick pub lunch in the nearby village of Chackmore - this was in anticipation of our planned dinner that evening. Some hours later, we were happy to have saved our appetites.
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| Thatched cottage in the village of Chackmore, just outside Stowe's walls |
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| *Bliss* - separate vegan menu at The Alford Arms! |
The Alford Arms is what's known as a gastropub - meaning its focus is on excellent food, rather than on drinks with a traditional style menu. The regular menu was interesting enough, and then Tracey noticed something propped up on the bar which was the source of great excitement for me - a separate full vegan menu!
To me, it's the mark of a truly quality establishment to provide such options, and as regular readers of this blog will know, I often bemoan the limited range of vegetarian food offered at pubs - it's all based on cheese. There is rarely a vegan option, which I usually prefer.
I'm happy to report that the service, atmosphere and meal were all excellent - despite an unfortunate error with my main course which meant I had to wait for a replacement. Looking at it positively, however, I got to taste two of the vegan main course dishes - win! I also had quite possibly the best double espresso I've ever been served in the UK (and again, regular readers will know of my constant disappointment in that area).
This was not a cheap dining experience, but the cost of my main course was automatically deducted from the bill because of the error, and I wouldn't let that issue deter me from returning - which we hope to do, next time we visit Roy and Tracey.
And so, on to Wales the following weekend.
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| Crossing the Severn Bridge |
Kevin was participating in a 153 km cycling event on Sunday morning and as it's some time since I visited the land of the leek, I decided to go along. I wasn't sure how much I'd find to do in the vicinity of Port Talbot and Swansea, but I was willing to take a chance.
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| The Orangery and Orangery Garden at Tredegar |
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| One of the national symbols of Wales, the red dragon |
We crossed the Severn Bridge with a few hours to kill before checking into our Air BnB accommodation, and decided to visit Tredegar House, a fairly recent acquisition of The National Trust. It was our rotten luck to find that the entire façade of the house was covered in scaffolding while it undergoes serious conservation work. Luckily, this property also has one of the most handsome stable buildings I've ever seen, so we weren't completely deprived of architectural joy.
We did a tour of the house - scaffolding notwithstanding - and as we heard all about its flamboyant former owner, once again I was astounded at the yawning moral chasm between myself and most other people, with regard to animals.
Our NT guide assured us of how much Viscount Tredegar 'loved animals' and proceeded to gleefully regale us with tales of exotic creatures kept in a totally inappropriate environment and abused in the name of entertainment. For example, a 'boxing' kangaroo that was regularly forced to spar with humans, including - in what must really be the ethical low tide mark - with a reigning boxing champion.
Laugh?! I never started.
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| The stables |
Flippant tales of animal abuse aside, we enjoyed our brief visit to Tredegar which had very pleasant grounds, and then there's the fact we were in Wales:
Wales = Welsh people = Welsh accents 💕
The delightful lilt of the Welsh manner of speaking has always appealed to me. It's right up there with my other favourites - the Geordie, West Country and certain Scottish accents.
It did take all my powers of self-control not to ask 'What's occurring?' * every time we had an interaction with the locals.
Having stretched our legs at Tredegar we drove on to our Air BnB accommodation, and after checking in we walked about 15 minutes to the edge of Swansea itself, to the restaurant I'd selected for dinner, based on reviews.
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| Kevin at the entrance to the wonderful restaurant we discovered in Swansea - welcome to Mosaic |
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| Kevin was very pleased to discover this Icelandic beer was on the menu |
Well, THANK YOU once again, TripAdvisor!
Despite its less-than-salubrious location (in a fairly seedy neighbourhood, down a side alley), this place was a find.
It was obvious from the moment we entered. We were greeted warmly and enthusiastically by one of the co-owners, and ushered into the largest of the three dining areas. Service was excellent and two-thirds of the tapas menu was gluten-free and / or vegetarian, or the dishes could be adapted to be so. The food was superb, and this restaurant is that rarest of establishments - ie one that understands diners want good background music that is loud enough to be heard but doesn't force them to shout when conversing.
All in all, one of best dining experiences ever in the UK. That was two in a row (after the fab dinner at The Alford Arms the previous weekend). We're on a roll!
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| Kevin about to tuck in - that flatbread was AMAZING |
So will this blog post ever end, I hear you ask?
Fear not - I have saved the best for last.
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| The glorious, sandy expanse of Rhossili Bay - devoid of people! |
So there I was on Sunday morning, with 6-7 hours to fill after dropping Kevin off at the race starting point in Port Talbot.
Having driven through both Port Talbot and Swansea the day before, I was not confident about keeping entertained for that length of time - particularly on a Sunday. I knew there was a National Trust reserve about an hour's drive south of Port Talbot, on the Gower Peninsula, and with no other ideas I decided to head down there.
Good decision, Maree.
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| Looking out to The Worm's Head |
The drive down was lovely, passing firstly through what I assumed must be the well-to-do parts of outer Swansea, and then following narrow, winding roads with hedgerows on either side. There were a couple of particularly pleasing forested areas - Welsh tunnels of green.
And then, there it was, spread out before me in all its glory - Gower. Colour me gobsmacked... I mean, who knew that Wales had such an amazing coastline?!
Lush! *
Well, probably quite a lot of people actually, given that in 1956 Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom to be designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
I arrived fairly early in the day and really had much of the place to myself for a couple of hours. I wandered out to the point where the island/rock formation The Worm's Head sits. The photo above is not very good, and doesn't do justice to its steep features with waves crashing onto it.
The weather was very changeable - sunny one minute, threatening to rain the next... and all the while quite windy. I returned to the visitor centre for an early bite to eat and then decided to do the hill climb up above Rhossili Bay. The photo at the beginning of this post was taken halfway up, looking back towards the headland and the tiny hamlet that sits at the end of the road out to Gower.
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| St Mary's - at the start of the hill climb up to The Beacon, part of the Welsh Coast Path |
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| I was lucky to come across a herd of horses whilst walking the path, including two freshly-minted foals... squeeeee! (I wasn't able to get a good shot of them - they were skittish and the herd was very protective of them) |
I spent quite a bit of time just drinking in the views from the top - what a sublimely beautiful area, and made all the more appealing due to the relatively small number of people exploring it. There were a few hardy souls braving the chilly waters on the beach below.
This area is regularly named as one of the most beautiful coastal areas in the UK, an accolade well justified.
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| My poor selfie skills in abundant evidence here! (taken at Waddesdon Manor) |
I wasn't having that, so we took the decision to leave the motorway and travel a very circuitous route back to Epsom. A journey that should only have taken us 3.5 hours ended up taking nearly six. Ah, the joys of UK road travel...
Until next time,
- Maree xo
* I'm hoping somebody picked up on the Gavin and Stacey references
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