Category Archives: Wales

Tilos: sea to sky and back again (3)

Posted on July 30, 2013 by BarryH

Gherondas, the third of the small peaks backing Livadia Bay which I set out to find a way to the top of, proved to be as interesting and distinctive as the other two, Thymadheri and Vounos Again the initial approach … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Wales | Tagged Agios Stephanos, Agrosikia castle, castles, Greece, Greek Islands, Livadia, Livadia Bay, ravens, rock, sunbeds, Thollos, Tilos, Welsh castles | Leave a comment

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

No wild walks in Greece: taking a positive view.

Posted on June 11, 2013 by BarryH

One of the inevitable consequences of spending the last three summers trekking in Greece has been that the garden has been neglected. It’s about ¼ acre, a lot to neglect. Many people living nearby have moved as they got … Continue reading →

Posted in Pontypool, Spring, Wales | Tagged acer glade, acers, aquilegia vulgaris, fruit, gardening, growing fruit, growing vegetables, iris, soft fruit, stone terraces, vegetable garden, vegetables, Welsh Poppy | Leave a 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

A Welsh Spring and clichés of violence

Posted on May 26, 2013 by BarryH

Back in Wales and spring has at last arrived. Before I left Arctic blasts whipped across the tops of the mountain ridges dumping snow and lowering temperatures so that buds stayed tight shut long past their usual seasonal opening time. … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Pontypool, Reflections, Spring, Wales | Tagged apples, bees, black currants, bluebells, brecon beacons national park, bud burst, cliches, coat of paint, environmental triggers, explosion, fruit production, leaves, oak, oak trees, Pontypool Folly Tower, riot of colour, spring, temperatures, trees, violence, Wales, winds, wire fencing | Leave a comment

Greece: on the edge

Posted on April 27, 2013 by BarryH

Apologies. The last week or so I have been rushing around like the proverbial, if biologically unidentified, blue arsed fly. Constantly under time pressure. The main reason for being in Grey Britain these days is to be with family and … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales | Tagged brecon beacons national park, gardening, gardens, Garn Wen, Greece, growing season, Mynydd Garn Wen, plants, triangulation pillars, trig point, trig points, vegetables, Wales, Welsh, welsh name | 1 Comment

Welsh Winter Walking: reflections on pioneering

Posted on April 5, 2013 by BarryH

Some years ago I was making tired but still rapid progress between High Spy and Catbells, the final leg of a non-stop 7-hour walk in the Lake District from Langdale to Keswick on the side of Derwent Water (for aficionados, … Continue reading →

Posted in Mountains, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, British Summer Time, Catbells, Coity Mountain, Exposure, first tracks, Garn Lakes, High Spy, Lake District, Maiden Moor, pioneering, snow, snow conditions, snow drifts, south wales coalfield | Leave a comment

Welsh Winter Walking: effects of Spring deferred

Posted on April 1, 2013 by BarryH

With overnight temperature yet again down to minus 4oC and afternoon highs still well short of double figures, the last day of March, Easter Sunday and, coincidentally, the first day of British Summer Time saw no real signs of Spring … Continue reading →

Posted in Mountains, Pontypool, Spring, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, Bristol Channel, Easter Sunday, midday sun, Mynydd Varteg, newborn lambs, snow, snow drifts, spring, winter, winter gloom, winter walking | 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