Category Archives: Grey Britain

Wales: wild wet walks

Posted on June 24, 2013 by BarryH

Sunday and I had to get out into the mountains. All week I had been concentrating on construction work in the garden, laying paths and humping rocks around for landscaping and I needed to stretch my legs, get to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales | Tagged Afon Lwyd, bad weather, brecon beacons national park, gulls, Ogof Draenen, Pont, Pontypool Folly Tower, rain, sink holes, skylarks, Wales, wind | 1 Comment

Wild walks in Greece on hold

Posted on June 2, 2013 by BarryH

My diary for Sunday 2 June reads “16.35 Aegean Airways flight A3603, arrive Athens 22.10”. But I won’t be on it. This was to be the start of a 2 month trip around mountains, gorges and waterfalls in the Peloponnese. … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Mountains, Reflections, Wales | Tagged Bible, Book of Proverbs, changed plans, Greece, Lake District, travelling by bus, Wales | 1 Comment

Easter in Greece: the joys of time travel

Posted on April 11, 2013 by BarryH

We had the last overnight frost Sunday-Monday but temperatures are still stuck in single figures. Wednesday evening we settled into a grey, wet weather pattern again. Dismal! Not surprising therefore that my thoughts are increasingly turning to the summer’s activities … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Health and humour, Reflections | Tagged 1752, Easter, GPS, Gregorian Calendar, Julian Calendar, Kalymnos, leap seconds, Leap years, time travel | Leave a comment

Welsh Winter Walking: Forward planning and contingencies

Posted on March 28, 2013 by BarryH

Sometimes things just don’t turn out as planned. Wednesday I had a day free of commitments so planned to take a bus up to the watershed between two of the South Wales valleys and walk back home via a couple … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, buses, contingency planning, forward planning, hiking, ice, icicles, Pontypool, snow, snow drifts, Wales, walking, winter walking | 1 Comment

Spring surprise

Posted on March 24, 2013 by BarryH

After dismal weather since I got back from Canada my plans for summer travels in Greece are starting to take shape. Flights booked and looking forward to Easter on Kalymnos, then another trip by bus and train from Athens around … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Mountains, Pontypool, Spring, Wales, Winter | Tagged daffodils, equinox, Pontypool Folly Tower, siskins, snow, snowing on the mountain, spring, trees, winter | 1 Comment

Grey Britain, Canada, Greece: a philosophy of travel

Posted on March 4, 2013 by BarryH

It is widely believed that in the UK when the weather is dominated by high pressure the sky is blue and the sun shines, luxuriatingly hot in the summer, icy cold and exhilarating in winter. It can be but is … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Greece, Grey Britain, Grumpy Old Men, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales | Tagged ash tree, banff canada, bus routes, buses, button holes, Canada, grandchildren, Greece, Greek Islands, Mani, south wales coalfield, travel writing | 1 Comment

Following the sun: from the M25 to the Trans Canada Highway

Posted on January 13, 2013 by BarryH

Quick shower at 05.00. Good strong cup of coffee. Last things stowed for travelling and just after 05.30 we were heading north up the A21 to join the M25 heading west in light rain and heavy road-spray, Gatwick-bound. Thanks to … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Grey Britain, Winter | Tagged A21, Calgary, Canada, Fish Creek, M25, sunset, Trans Canada Highway | 1 Comment

Go west young man, and do it without a list

Posted on January 9, 2013 by BarryH

I don’t make lists. To do so would be, from my warped perspective, to admit that my mind is failing. When I went to Greece for a long summer for the first time in 2010 I was urged to make … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Greece, Grey Britain, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, Calgary, Canada, Greece, lists, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, skiing, south east wales | 2 Comments

Rambling through 2012, a year in pictures: Part 1, Wales

Posted on December 30, 2012 by BarryH

At the end of a busy year it seems appropriate to look back and remember the places I went and the things I did during 2012. Far too much to cram into a blogable number of words so I decided … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Grey Britain, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales, Winter | Tagged American Gardens, Big Pit, brecon beacons national park, Cardiff, Cardiff Castle, Cricieth, hoar frost, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, Pontypool Park, snow, waterfalls | 1 Comment

Windows of opportunity and a mountain playground on the doorstep

Posted on December 27, 2012 by BarryH

We moved to our present house from Cardiff in 1975 in order to be closer to my work, thereby significantly reducing the daily each-way commute from 20 miles to 4, 45 minutes to 8. The reasoning was that out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, mountains, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, south east wales | Leave a comment