Category Archives: Monmouthshire

Rising above the grey

Posted on December 5, 2020 by BarryH

Rather than ushering in the Mediterranean to the UK, climate change is bringing increasing greyness interspersed with ‘extreme weather events’. Gradual descent into winter in November used to be marked by a week of hard frosts, sometimes with temperatures lower … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Health and humour, Hiking, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Weather, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, frost, Gwent, mist, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, Sunshine, Wales | 2 Comments

Locked-down in Wales

Posted on November 4, 2020 by BarryH

Since I arrived home from Greece in early September there have been various shades of lockdown. It would be more pleasant and safer to have stayed on Symi but unfortunately not to be. I would have been tempted to stay … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Grey Britain, Grumpy Old Men, Health and humour, Hiking, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Weather | Tagged acers, autumn, books, Brugmantsia, Covid-19, fruit and veg, gardens, Wales | 3 Comments

Happy New Year

Posted on December 31, 2017 by BarryH

2017 was not as eventful for me as 2016, my Annus Horribilis, which included a dislocated shoulder, diagnosis of a heart condition, Easter in a Greek hospital, skin cancer ….. and culminated in an 02.30 evacuation from a hotel fire … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Weather | Tagged Happy New Year, Monmouthshire-Brecon Canal, omens, sunrise, Wales | 4 Comments

Nisyros: Heritage Island

Posted on October 23, 2015 by BarryH

When I was young, summer holidays were a week at my grandparents’ in a small mining village in rural Carmarthenshire. I took every opportunity to escape the boredom of sitting around the house and walk the mile or so up … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Photography, Wales | Tagged barrel-arched building, Greece, heritage, history, Karpathos, Nifios, Nisyros, Olymbos, photography, Rural Carmarthenshire, Siones, St Fagan's National History Museum, subterranean church, Symi, thermal springs, Tilos, windmills | 5 Comments

Brecon Beacons: a frozen ridge-top walk

Posted on February 15, 2015 by BarryH

It has been grey and damp most days since I arrived home. But not all. A modest snowfall followed by a week of continuing low temperatures meant that when the sun was forecast to come out for a day I … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Photography, Pontypool, Wales, Weather | Tagged Abergavenny, Abergavenny and Brecon Canal, blue sky, brecon beacons, brecon beacons national park, climate change, snow, Wales | 4 Comments

Autumn gold in Old South Wales

Posted on December 1, 2014 by BarryH

You can’t live life looking to the past. After a few weeks under grey skies reminding myself of Symi summer sun it’s time to focus on the present and look to the future. The turning point was when yet another … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Nature, Wales | Tagged Abergavenny-Brecon Canal, Autumn gold, brecon beacons national park, Folly Tower, Holly, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, Scarlet Hood fungi, sunset, Wales | 2 Comments

Symi: hidden from view

Posted on May 30, 2014 by BarryH

At the end of my stay in Greece last year I spent a couple of weeks on Symi and on the last day there visited a cave with a friend which she remembered having been to some 20 years previously. … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Nature, Wildlife | Tagged Agios Theologos monastery, Bettws Newydd, calcite curtains, cave exploration, caves, Greece, hochlakos mosaic, iconastis, Oertenzi lizard, Painted Dragon lizard, Roukouniotis monastery, St Auddan's church, stalactites, Starred agama, Symi, Symi cave | Leave a comment

Spring in Wales and Greece

Posted on March 26, 2014 by BarryH

Sunday afternoon, 23 March and the sun was shining. The sun has only put in the occasional appearance recently. Heavy showers in the morning had cleared and blue sky beckoned. One of the great benefits of living at the edge … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Nature, Pontypool, Spring, Wales, Winter | Tagged Abergavenny and Brecon Canal, brecon beacons national park, Greece, Hydra, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, Pontypool RFC, Saronics, snow, spring flowers, Symi, Wales | 4 Comments

New Year’s Day: Just a walking in the rain ………….

Posted on January 2, 2014 by BarryH

Wednesday was the wettest day of the year. Admittedly it was the first day of the year so not a lot to compare it with but if many of the remaining 364 days match up to the amount of rainfall … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales, Winter | Tagged floods, Goose and Cuckoo, horizontal rain, Monmouthshire, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, rain, Wales | 5 Comments

A walk to the pub

Posted on November 17, 2013 by BarryH

“What time do you call this?” Predictable response, given that I had arranged with friends to meet up for a pub lunch at 12.00 and arrived at 13.45. The thing is, I had decided to walk. My ‘local’ is thirty … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Nature, Pontypool, Wales | Tagged Abergavenny, arson, brecon beacons national park, Foxhunter car park, fungi, Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, Mynydd Garn Wen, paragliding, peat soil, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, pub lunch, The Blorenge, The Skirrid, The Sugar Loaf, Wales | Leave a comment