Tag Archives: Wales

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

Greece, Nisyros: Heritage Island

Posted on February 26, 2020 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, History, Landscape, Mountains | Tagged agricultural terraces, agriculture, ancient settlements, Carmarthenshire, farming, Greece, Greek history, location and morphology, Mandraki, Nisyros, Paleocastro, Panagia Spiliani, salty butter, settlement, settlement location, settlement morphology, St Fagans, Wales, Welsh Folk Museum, writing | 3 Comments

Say it with flowers

Posted on May 19, 2019 by BarryH

Sadly, I have been revisited by the misfiring which struck at Easter 2016 (see). It has now been sorted and I’m firing on all cylinders again. But it prevented my return to Greece for Easter this year ….. and then … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Spring, Wales, Weather, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged aquilegia, autumn leaves, collar dove, crocus, Flora, fruit, gooseberries, Pontypool, prickly pear cactus, snow, spring flowers, tulips, Wales, wild garlic | 1 Comment

All change

Posted on December 15, 2018 by BarryH

Back from Greece. Very soon off to the Canadian Rockies. But before I go, a sample of the brilliant autumn in the UK this year. As a planner by temperament as well as former profession, about 15 years ago I … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, extreme gardening, Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Wales | Tagged acers, autumn, autumn colour, gardening, maples, Pontypool, Wales | 2 Comments

From Symi to my back garden

Posted on August 21, 2018 by BarryH

I’ve been experimenting with the technology to record some of the treks I’ve been doing on Symi, using a combination of apps to record routes and then create a 3D ‘fly-over’ incorporating photos taken along the way. It’s not entirely … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Uncategorized, Wales, Weather, Wildlife | Tagged cabbage white butterflies, caterpillars, drought, Eyed Hawk-moth, gardening, goldfinch, Greece, Kokkimedes, monasteries, mountains, Nimborios, photography, Pontypool, rainbow, Stavros Polemou, Symi, Symi walks, trekking, Wales, wildlife, yucca | 7 Comments

Wales, Brecon Beacons National Park: spring into winter

Posted on April 6, 2018 by BarryH

I promised more images of winter before spring eventually arrives and I headed for Greece. My intention had been to post more photos of snow in the Canadian Rockies but once again plans were changed by events. The real effect … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Photography, Pontypool, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, climate change, global warming, Pontypool, snow, snowdrifts, spring, Wales, winter | 1 Comment

Pontypool, South Wales: ‘The Beast from the East’ meets Storm Emma

Posted on March 7, 2018 by BarryH

It doesn’t often happen but when it does it’s dramatic. And fun. In winter, cold weather comes to the UK from the continental land mass. It’s a cliché but nonetheless has an element of truth, that the Welsh Mountains are … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Pontypool, Wales, Weather, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, Meteorology, Pontypool, Pontypool Folly Tower, snow, snowdrifts, Southeast Wales, Storm Emma, The Beast from the East, Wales | Leave a comment

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

Symi: Rambling around the past

Posted on August 4, 2016 by BarryH

WARNING: make yourself comfortable and a cup of coffee before starting to read this. If there is anyone out there hooked on Barry’s Ramblings and having withdrawal symptoms, apologies! I have had people staying with me most of the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Photography, Wales | Tagged archaeology, architecture, cromlech, dolmen, Greece, Greek archaeology, Neoilithic, Nimborio, St David's, Symi, Toli, Wales | 3 Comments