Tag Archives: south east wales

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 , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A New Year, portents, traditions and looking forward

Posted on January 5, 2013 by BarryH

I’ve never been impressed by the hype of the ‘New Year’, never regarded it as a portent or a time to make ephemeral resolutions to change bad habits, never felt the urge to stand around with arms crossed, holding hands … Continue reading →

Posted in Grumpy Old Men, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , | Leave a comment

Hibernation time and images of cold weather

Posted on December 12, 2012 by BarryH

Late nights have been more frequent recently.  Four times in the last week I have been up until 03.00 and this has started to impact on the time I get up.  My boast that I get up at 07.30 whatever … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Pontypool, Wales, Winter | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

November Daily Blog 25: Wet in the wetlands

Posted on November 25, 2012 by BarryH

Another very wet and muddy footpath again today.  This time I guess it was only to be expected as I went down to the coast and the Newport (Gwent) Wetlands Nature Reserve.  The mountain behind the house was clagged in … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Grey Britain | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

November Daily Blog 17: waterfalls, footpaths and shepherds

Posted on November 17, 2012 by BarryH

On Friday night grey and gloom was forecast for Saturday morning clearing to sunshine in the afternoon.  So I planned a return visit to ‘Waterfall Country’ further west in the Brecon Beacons National Park.  Despite the forecast I opened the … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Mountains, Wales | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

November Daily Blog 11: sky, clouds, mountains.

Posted on November 11, 2012 by BarryH

It was the end of the afternoon before I went out for a walk on Sunday.  I had waved the family off, leaving after a late lunch, been sidetracked by having a chat with neighbours taking advantage of sunshine to … Continue reading →

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Greece: getting ready

Posted on August 19, 2012 by BarryH

In less than a week I’ll be back in Greece.  I can’t wait to leave the grey skies behind. Still desperately trying to sort the garden out before I go I finally managed to rescue the potatoes from the sodden … Continue reading →

Posted in extreme gardening, Greece, Grey Britain, Monmouthshire, Pontypool | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Posted on April 10, 2012 by BarryH

Taking another trip up to Abergavenny (almost) I decided to celebrate Easter Monday by walking up the ridge towards Abergavenny again but this time dropping off the east side about half way along to have bean soup in the Goose … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Pontypool | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Out of the Winter and out of the freezer

Posted on February 20, 2012 by BarryH

Winter came to an end around here 10 days ago.  During the previous week I had been wandering around the ridge-tops of South East Wales most days to take full advantage of the snow and ice. As noted in my … Continue reading →

Posted in extreme gardening, Grey Britain, Pontypool, Winter | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment