Bryn Berwyn and the Ceredigion coastal path

If it's May this must be my Welsh walking week. I'm not half way through the year yet and I'm suffering from walk lag - staggering around not altogether sure where I am - a bit like jet-lag but without the volcanic ash. In truth this week was booked as an extended family holiday with my cousins from around the globe as a repeat of one we did two years ago, staying in the same house on the mid Wales coast at Tresaith, just north of Cardigan. This year there are 3 cousins, assorted spouses, children and grand-children - 17 of us in all - so lots of walking companions for the week.

Our home for the week - Bryn Berwyn

The beach at Tresaith.

Sunday : A walk from the house to Llangrannog  further up the coast  and back ( approx 8 miles )

A lovely sunny day - with only the Californian contingent feeling the cold!

Impressive coastal scenery on the way there and quiet country lanes on the way back

The first of the week's many ice-creams as we valiantly try and work our way through all the flavours

Monday : A 20 minute drive to our nearest town of Cardigan to do a bit of shopping, search out some internet connections, then a walk back along the coast to Tresaith ( 11 miles)

Favourite shop of the week - Yum Yum sweetie shop. Jars and Jars and Jars to die for. Sweetie heaven

Sunny again, but with a cold wind. The walk followed the estuary and Poppit sands out of Cardigan but then took us inland for a long way before rejoining the coast at Mwnt Bay

Johnny gained a friend who walked with us as far as Mwnt.

Cousin Mike from Palo Alto, California - this was just a stroll in the park for him - he's an ultra-marathon man and is in training for his next 100 mile run in a few weeks time.

This will probably be our only sighting of marine life this week - one more than was spotted on the whole coastline of the Isle of Man. We were due to meet up with some of the others in Aberporth mid afternoon, but the cold wind had put paid to paddling and sand-castles and by the time we got there the beach was deserted and even more tragically - the pub was shut. Geoff was spotted on a bench like a solitary Dylan Thomas figure and together we walked back the last mile and a half to the house.

Earl Thomas and the Kings of Rhythm

I have just had the most wonderful evening out -  at the unlikely venue of Penrith's  Leisure centre, one-time scene of my dismal attempts at badminton, bowling, swimming and aerobics - but tonight transformed into a pumping music venue featuring the San Diego genius of Earl Thomas and the Kings of Rhythm.

For tonight only we had our own Otis and Ike - blues, rock, soul and funk - a world class act in Penrith, sandwiched between gigs at The Sage, the BBC,  one of  only 8 venues in the UK, and I was lucky enough to be there. Many thanks boys - you made an old lady very happy - and congratulations to Eden Arts - how are you going to top that one!

More info @ http://www.earlthomasmusic.com/

Rant of the Day - Medicine for the soul

Cumbria Institute of the Arts has a long history in Carlisle which began with the establishment of a ‘Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts’ in October 1822 with the purpose of encouraging young artists. Over the intervening years it has metamorphosed many times -  The Academy of Arts in 1823 - The Carlisle School of Art in 1854, and in 1950 it was renamed as the Carlisle College of Art that in turn became   Cumbria College of Art and Design, then Cumbria Institute of the Arts. The Institute was the only specialist institute of the arts in the North-West of England and one of only a small number of such institutions in the country. It's present reincarnation is as part of the University of Cumbria.

Over my 20 + years in Cumbria I have studied there on various courses, been an artist practioner on a AA2A placement, taken part as a "stakeholder" in various consultations, bought supplies at the art shop, used its printing facilities, attended performances and diploma shows, met and mentored students through my involvement with Potfest and had numerous drinks and lunches in its canteen - but my over-riding passion for the place was for its wonderful arts library. As an inspirational place to further new directions it was second to none. I'd start with the bare bones of an idea maybe seeded by browsing the contemporary craft magazines from around the globe, then research it through the sculpture shelves, the ceramics section, take it up through the textile magazines, develop it through browsing the just published section - a whole delight of artistic exploration was there to be delved into. Sadly no longer.........apparently over summer it was closed down and all its contents moved - no staff or student consultation - to another campus in the centre of Carlisle

"The suggestion proposed that an expansion of accommodation for practitioner courses should take place at Brampton Road, in the space which was previously occupied by the library. A relocation of the library to close proximity to other learning facilities was deemed to be the best solution, given all the circumstances.
Because of the urgency in securing agreement from senior management colleagues and implementing decisions and arranging to have the necessary work carried out before students return this month it has been necessary for senior managers to make executive decisions in relation to the library
Library stock from Brampton Road has now been moved to Fusehill Street and the reserve store at Milbourne Street. The most popular 20% of stock used by faculty students is available in the new Arts library at Fusehill Street and will be available to students on a seven days a week basis. The reserve stock at Milbourne Street is available for browsing on four days each week and arrangements are in place for fast ordering and delivery to an LISS pick-up location for reserve stock.

Charles Mitchell, Dean of the Faculty of the Arts, said: "We realise the importance of having a good library which is accessible for all our students. By relocating the Brampton Road library to the centre of Carlisle, we believe the student experience will be enhanced. "

Believe all you want Charles - but deep down you should be ashamed, very ashamed of presiding over the dismantling of one of the best inspirational art collections in the north-west.
"The true university these days is a collection of books."  - Thomas Carlyle

"Make thy books thy companions. Let thy cases and shelves be thy pleasure grounds and gardens." - Judah ibn-Tibbon (12th century)

"It is, however, not to the museum, or the lecture-room, or the drawing-school, but to the library, that we must go for the completion of our humanity. It is books that bear from age to age the intellectual wealth of the world. "- Owen Meredith, English poet and statesman, 1831-91

"Medicine for the soul." - - Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes

"Drinking up 20% of your medicine probably isn't as effective as having access to 100% of it" - Christine Cox

The Way of the Gull - Day 7 - Laxey to Douglas - 9.5 miles

The weather feels like it's due for a change, we're on main roads for a fair distance today, and the most populated part of the island looms - we fortify ourselves with gargantuan Full English breakfasts and by 9-15 we are ready to face our final stage.

Word of the Day - "gull-esterol" - the ingesting of excessive amounts of full english breakfasts to fuel ramblage. After said breakfast, the dietary cholesterol is absorbed from the intestine and stored in the liver where it is pickled in the alcohol resident there and rendered safe. 

Flower tub in Laxey

We leave Laxey by the main road as the tide is full in and the alternative route is impassable. We pass by Garwick Bay, and Baldrine, up over Clay Head ( should definitely have got a picture of that signpost ) and into the Ballannette Conservation Wetlands area

We took a slight detour further on to visit the Old Kirk Lonan - the church by the shore - dedicated to St Onan, or Adamnan, an Irish saint who was the Abbot of Iona in 679. The walls date back to the 12th century but the site is a lot older ( dating back to the 5th century ) - wonderfully tranquil.

After another road section we then take a track down to Port Groudle where Brian wanted to show us Seal Rocks - the site of a derelict Victorian extravaganza where tourists were transported in to see sealions, polar bears and bear cubs ( reputedly fed on freshly baked bread and treacle )

I'm not normally a fan of walking on railway lines but Brian assured us that, now restored,  it's only operational on Wednesday evenings and weekends.

The sea-lions pool

A walkway was constructed over the chasm ( now long gone ) which gave access to the polar bear cave

( far right behind the concrete wall ) -  I  think we nearly saw a polar bear - but maybe it was just a

gull-impse of something else. While we're on the subject of animals I have to mention that I was promised basking sharks and Manx cats - neither of which have materialised. After the excitement of animal husbandry, Victorian style, we dropped down into the bay, only then to have to flog up the other side towards the main road again. The path wandered back to the cliff top just before Onchan and once more we were level with the gulls as they swooped and dived  around us, as we made our way slightly precariously past the ends of people's gardens perched on the cliff edge. Rounding the corner at Onchan, the whole of Douglas Bay opened up in front of us and we were welcomed in by the Manx equivalent of the Hollywood sign :

Liz and Douglas

After the best cup of coffee all week we left Geoff and Brian to catch the tram back to Laxey and retrieve the cars and Liz and I set off to walk round the bay.

To demonstrate we'd gone full circle I felt the need to go right back up to our start point, and at the far end of town I asked directions from a passer-by as the best way back up to Marine Drive:

"Across the bridge and up the steps" she said ....

"...but it's a long walk "

That kept me smiling all the way back up there

Many thanks to my April walking companions: Brian, for his car logistic expertise, his maps and his GPS, to Liz for finding and booking us 2 really good B& B's ( Rowany Cottier at Port Erin, and the Heathers at Ramsey ) and for my long suffering husband - whose hips and knees will probably never be the same again.

The Way of the Gull - Day 6 - Ramsey to Laxey - 13 miles

..." an interesting mix of cliff and glen, meadow and lane ...the walking is rocky in places and demands care. The footpath makes and descends 1200 ft. in 3 visits to sea level from the coastal plateau. The gradients are so easy that they mostly pass unnoticed.."  -  my italics!

We started from the Queen's Pier in Ramsey -

one dilapidated structure in the midst of another 4!
A good coastal footpath contoured the hillside out of the town and on up to Maughold Head

The view from the top

Brian up on his plinth
The path then dropped down to Maughold village where, in the churchyard, there is an important collection of ancient stones - 44 pieces, crosses and slabs dating from the 6-12th centuries - and these we duly perused.

The next section was mainly on lanes for some time until we desended into the deep valley of Glen Cornaa - always looking out for the unmanned railway crossings of the Manx electric railway. Although the carriages with leather seats and tassels look quaint, and the open-sided wooden slat seats carriages look like something you'd find in the wilds of Bolivia transporting bowler-hatted women taking chickens to market, if you don't keep your wits about you, no doubt you'll be mown down mercilessly. Luckily you can hear one coming as they rattle rather a lot.

The beach at the end of the glen, Port Cornaa, was a timely snack stop before continuing along the road for the next section towards Dhoon Glen. The main advantage of the Manx electric railway is that it has small stations along the route and some of them have cafes. After struggling up a long hill, on finding this one open it seemed churlish not to offer them our trade.

Word of the day : gull-uttony - the incessant devouring of cakes at every conceivable opportunity.

Replete we staggered down the rest of the road into Laxey, with it's small interesting harbour and long sandy beach

We were just in time to catch the last tram back to Ramsey - a bone-rattling good ride .....if slightly cold ( as we'd opted for the tourist trap of the Bolivian carriages )

The Way of the Gull - Day 5 - Jurby Head to Ramsey - 15 miles

We started the day by a sewage station inland fron Jurby head. It was an omen. The tide was in and we were up on the soft sand and shingle. It was a case of head down and just stumble along. I passed the time on by seeing what I could find of interest on the high water mark. How sad am I?

After about an hour we could cut off inland and follow a track behind the dunes through the Cronk y Bing Nature Reserve - which leads us nicely into :
 The Book of the Day - "Gull-ible's Travels" - never believe what you read in the guide books
(the scale in the land of Brobdingnag is approx 12:1, judging from Gulliver estimating a man's step being 10 yards )

........" Here begins the Cronk y Bing Nature Resrve and it is possible to leave the sand and walk on a grassy shelf. Jump the stream at the outlet of the Lhen Trench, a man made drainage channel..."

Sorry - what was that again?...Jump the stream?
Am I missing something here? - my pole-vaulting stick maybe. This trench was over a foot deep, over ten feet wide and travelling at about 30 knots with a temperature of minus 25.

Actually the day did improve once our feet had thawed out. A short beach section then gave way to a wonderful heathland walk at the back of the dunes - just like walking on a luxurious carpet after the pebbly beach

and soon the Point of Ayre lighthouse came into view

After lunch, Twix on the rocks, we walked on a rough track at the back of the beach for a short while
before reverting to the beach.
 We think this is the remnants of part of an old pier - or part of Gullible's bed.

As the tide retreated, the going got easier as we ventured further down the beach

The weary plod homewards - Ramsey is just visible in the background

Where we've come from today. The lighthouse is way back beyond the far headland,

and our start point was at least 20 Brobdingnag jumps back from that

Wonderful sunset in Ramsey harbour, unfortunately not much appreciated at the time as we were staggering round the streets on a Sunday night looking for somewhere that was open and would feed us.... the Chinese meal was delicious.