"In your hands, the birth of a new day... " (Limahl)

28 February 2007

Cider Mill & Canal


On Sunday (after Countryfile!) we went up to one of our favourite spots - around the Brecon, Monmouth and Abergavenny Canal between Gilwern and Crickhowell.

First of all, we stopped at Nantyffin Cider Mill
for lunch. The food was excellent. I had a plate of mussels for starters, though I wish I'd had something more original than the Sunday roast for mains.



K's risotto dish was far more spectacular...






A view of the canal, looking north. It was nice to have a walk unspoiled by geocaching!





A narrowboat at its private moorings near Gilwern.

24 February 2007

Conference Fringe

8 x traditional geocaches...


The Twins


Great Orme Summit


Cornerstone View


Dawn Recon 1


Great Orme Headland


Dawn Recon 2


The Flying Michelin


Crocodile Hill (Tortoiseshell's 50th Find!)



Helgoland travelbug

Ostensibly in Llandudno for the pre-election Labour Wales conference, Llandudno also offered a chance of no less than 8 geocaches and an opportunity for me to log my 50th find. So it was up to the Great Orme - a limestone peninsula jutting northwestwards out of Llandudno - for the real business of the weekend. After a steep climb up I was rewarded with a pleasant, flat walk on the coastal footpaths.


Pic 1: The playing field...

Most of the caches made use of the many piles of stones which characterise the Great Orme, which was previously an important site of mining and quarrying. The two "Dawn Recon" caches were in fact hidden on former quarry sites.

There were two exceptions. "Great Orme Summit" was well hidden by a clod of earth, and "The Flying Michelin" was hidden on the edge of a graveyard!

I whittled off the first four caches easily enough, on the eastern side of the Orme. I then made the mistake of dropping steeply down the western side to get "Great Orme headland" and "Dawn Recon 2." I polished these two caches easily enough, brining me to 6 aches within about 2 hours. But then I was faced with a long, steep trek back up the western face of the Orme to get back to the two remaining caches on the eastern side - which I could have done earlier if I'd known the place better.

Pic 2: Puzzled sheep

Anyway, I hauled my wauy back up to the top, near to the monstrous carbuncle of the summit complex. Tired, I took a picture of some puzzled sheep.

I then retraced my way back to the eastern side, down to the graveyard where the Flying Michelin cache was hidden.

I had started in the light of day at 3pm. But my circuitous route now meant that my 8th and final cache would be found at 6pm, in the impending gloom.

The pressure was on as I was now on 49 cache finds for my caching career. There then followed an almighty scramble across trail and heathland to find the spot where the 'Crocodile Hill' cache was located. I eventually found the heavy ammo box and scribbled in the logbook that this was indeed my 50th find!

Pic. 3 Gravestone to commemorate "The Flying Michelin", nickname of a pioneering Welsh female motorcyclist.

The cache was hidden about 50ft from here. Note the impending gloom.

I now faced a scramble back across the Orme in darkness to get back to the relative safety of my B&B. At several stages I cursed my utter disorganisation. The thought that helped sustain me through mud, bracken and brambles was the thought that "I'm sure Maalie has been in worse scrapes than this!". Eventually got back tired and hungry - but happy with my 50th cache find - at around 7pm. Then went back to another meeting and wrapped up my work for the weekend!


22 February 2007

Spillers


Woke up around 12.30am and went downstairs to do the dishes. As is customary in these situations, I tuned in to Janice Long on Radio 2. Back in the 1980s I didn't have much time for Janice Long and her brand of independent music. However, as time has moved on, I find her style friendly and fun, and completely unaffected. In some ways, I prefer her even to the venerable Terry Wogan.

On tonight's show, Janice Long featured a live session by a group called The Secret Show. I'd never heard of them before but they are a very entertaining south Wales-based country influenced band. They seem friendly, too.

During her intervew with the group, Janice Long mentioned the fate of Cardiff's Spillers Records, reputedly the oldest independent music shop in the world. I've never been a regular at Spillers, though I did buy some bluegrass records in the early 2000s which helped me on my way to being a bluegrass fan. I couldn't have brought these records in any other shop in Cardiff.

I now pass Spillers regularly, also the building developments which have brought the Hayes area of Cardiff to a standstill. A combination of factors, including the new development, threatens Spillers' existence as a going concern.

21 February 2007

Send in the clowns?



Swansea City 0





Scunthorpe United 2




I had brought tickets for this one a few weeks ago, as a birthday present for Tom. And so, with boyish enthusiasm coursing through my veins (and gene pool), I sneaked away early at 4.30. Alas, the early omens were not good. On the bus to the station I got in a flap, not knowing where my various bits and pieces were in my pockets. My lack of organisation at this vital juncture caused bad omen #1.

I dropped the "stadium whistle" travelbug I was carrying. But it was only after I'd left the bus that I realised I'd dropped my bunch of keys - arrrgh!!! Bad omen #2 occured as I brought mny train tickets from an automatic dispenser. On boarding the train I realised that I'd only taken the outbound portion, and would thus require to buy a new single on my return from Swansea. Arrrgh!

Bad omen #3 occurred as a train broke down at Neath, causing us to be held at Port Talbot for 15 mins. I suppose If the worse had come to the worst I could have called Tom out to pick me up from PT.

On arrival at Swansea, I needed replenishment. And so I proceeded to one of my haunts from the quondam days - Sizzles cafe, across the road from the station. Unlike Trumps, Sizzles DO do eggs, and so I had sausage, egg and beans for my pre-match meal.

Then I ambled out of the town centre towards the Liberty stadium, which is now located on the periphery of town. It's about 25mins walk from the station. During my walk, I noticed how quiet it seemed to be compared with other times I've made the walk. This was a precursor to another disappointing attendance - just over 10,000 which really isn't good enough for an important game against the top table side, Scunthorpe, at a time when the Swans are in flux after the departure of Kenny Jackett. I had expected a bumper crowd of 15,000+ for what might be Kevin Nugent's only game in charge as caretaker manager.


Stadium Whistle Travelbug


Before the game started, I wanted to get a piece of geocaching business out of the way. I've held on to Squirt's stadium whistle travelbug since the Cardiff midwinter social event cache. The object of Squirt's travelbug is to see as many football stadiums as possible.

I'm very pleased of this photo taken outside the Liberty stadium. It shows the whistle, the travel bug tag and the Swansea City club crest all very clearly. Not bad for 1.3 megapixels! And to think TCA once chided me for daring to go with a camera containing anything less than 3 megapixels!

Scunthorpe were involved in the first game I ever went to see, at Peterborough in 1982. Unfortunately this tussle against the 'Irons' was not going to be such a happy occasion.

As a football fan, I've always been very reluctant to criticise my own teams when they are playing. I have never booed any of my teams, no matter how badly they are playing. However, such was the ineptitude of this performance that me and Tom left a few minutes early so that Tom could catch his park and ride. I believe this is the first time I've left a match early of my own accord.

My hairdresser says that she believes in "Karma - what goes around comes around". Well, it seems that my Swansea City karma has come round to belt me in the face. Gone are the halcyon days of 2003-04 when me and Tom were treated to a succession of 3 and 4 goal matches, and the great FA Cup giant-killing comeback v Preston. This season I've gone 5 times, and here are the woeful stats...

Played: 5
Won: 0 (!)
Drawn: 3
Lost: 2
Goals for: 1
Goals against: 4




19 February 2007

Trumps Cafe

A quick nod in the direction of Trumps coffee shop in Cardiff Bay. A nice traditional cafe with friendly (if somewhat reactionary) proprietor. Have visited Trumps around half a dozen times, twice in the last week.

They are unable to serve eggs with anything due to the lack of a permanent hotplate. Otherwise, it has become my established cafe when circumstances dictate that only a cafe will do...

Swansea West bug grab

"Giggling goblin" travelbug


"Take me home, Jack" travelbug


After a sojurn down to Burry Port, me and K stopped at Swansea West services. Given that it was a Sunday, I was aware that there may be some goodies in store after the weekend, when caching is busiest. Sure enough, two travelbugs of U.S. origin were found. Giggling Goblin is from Oregon.

More interestingly, "Take me home Jack" is a Jack Daniels bottle opener attached to a Travelbug tag. Its mission is to get to a ccache located at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Well, Tennessee may be asking a bit much, but it may make it to Llandudno next weekend...

18 February 2007

Penarth Prom

Penarth Prom (Multicache)


Had my eye on this one for a few weeks now. Had planned to do it during a weekday lunch break but me and K fancied a weekend stroll down to Penarth so we did it today instead. After the extended trauma of my first multicache find (Tiger Bay Toddle), this one was a pleasant amble, picking up three easy clues within a few minutes.

ACouple more minutes to work out the formula for the final co-ords, then after a stroll on the beach we turned back to find the final cache in the little park (in photo) across the road from the prom. The lesson of this one is to keep an eye out for easy multicaches in future. This was more of a doddle than several traditional caches I've found.

Don't drink and drive!

Don't drink and drive (Traditional cache)


I had found the general location of this cache on my way up through Llandovery early in the morning. However, was in too much of a rush to find it sensibly. The cache is located in a lay-by on a difficult bend heading eastbound out of Llandovery towards Brecon.

So, after a late night up in Aberystwyth, it was all quiet and pitch black when I arrived at the cache site at 1.30am, and the stars were shining beautifully. Turned out to be a good decision to find it at the dead of night. The cache is fairly awkward and I wouldn't fancy doing it in the glare of daytime traffic.

The name of the cache stems from the stone memorial to a horse and carriage which came to grief at this spot many moons ago. In effect, the UK's first ever don't drink and drive notice.

15 February 2007

Impromptu Abercachers meet and first Green jeep!!!






A pile of geocoins, including...

Green Jeep 4x4 travelbug!


Geodiamond geocoin


Maryland geocoin


Impromptu Abercachers meet held at an improbably late hour as I was headed southbound. I dumped with them all of the TB's and coins I was carrying. They had kindly provided me with a list of all their own coins and TBs for me to log, and let me rummage around to identify the various coins. Found a Maryland coin with its lovely state flag icon. I also like the geodiamond icon.

At the Cardiff event cache, one of the young "Brats" of the "Brat Pack" team had explained to me that the green 4x4 green jeep was a new and therefore rare travelbug, having only been released from the states last year. So was glad to pick this discovery up as well!

14 February 2007

Of gorse you can see the sea!

Of Gorse you can see the sea! (Traditional cache)


County Challenge Yorkshire Geocoin


After a comparatively diligent morning's work in "the Shed", lunch hour was approaching. Surely, enough time for a quick cache and dash...? Logged on to geocaching.com to find the nearest local caches.

I took my chance on a chance situated just south of Aberaeron, about 20 mins from where I was based at work. The incentive of a Yorkshire geocoin, and my knowledge of the local roads, were key factors. I banked on 20mins to get there, 20 mins to find the cache and 20 mins to get back.

Frustrated by slow drivers and temporary traffic lights, it took nearer 30mins to get there and 20 mins to find the cache on the coastal path. Delighted to salvage a Yorkshire geocoin, having narrowly missed out on one at Cardiff West services in the autumn.

Got back to work at 14:20, 20 minutes late. However, as is usually the case in my job - nobody noticed my absence. I could have flown to the moon and back and no-one would have been any the wiser...

Resevoir view

Resevoir View (Traditional Cache)


Micro Kroner Travelbug


A double-headed business trip to west Wales offered a chance to get my hands on some caches that had been on my watchlist for quite a while. First up, at 7am, was Resevoir view, in the heart of the Brecon Beacons between Merthyr and Brecon.

I had expected this cache to be near a layby on the main A470 road, so was surprised when I needed to turn off for a short detour onto the Hirwaun road.

The cache was not the most impressive - a fairly shoddy tupperware container not particularly well concealed under a large boulder. There is also some uncertainty about the co-ordinates for this one, as well. However, I found it without too much hassle and was glad to tick this one off for future reference in case some nice geocoin goodies turn up in this cache when I'm on future northbound trips.

8 February 2007

BBC Folk Awards

In recent years, I have become fascinated with bluegrass and country music, helped by regular doses of the Nick Barraclough and Bob Harris shows on BBC Radio 2.

However, my interest in southern bluegrass and country has possibly been at the expense of my passion for Folk on 2 which I listened a lot of as a teenager.

In the the last few weeks, I've been listening regularly to Mike Harding's Folk on 2 for the first time in several years. Spent much of last night listening to the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards last night. A couple of my favourites were nominated for awards. For example, veteran English fiddler Dave Swarbrick.

Several generations younger than "Swarb" is the Scottish Gaelic singer, Julie Fowlis - nominated for best musician (and whose website is now back on track).

From the Welsh perspective, it was interesting to note that not a single Welsh band or musician was nominated - though surely Fernhill can't be far off the mark judging by Mike Harding's praise for the group on a recent show.

However, perhaps the most significant moment of the evening for me was hearing a snippet from a singer whose voice was familiar from my first "folkie" phase back in 1990/91. Back then, in pre-google days, I had no way of checking out the names of musicians featured on the programme.

So, around 1991 I learned the song "Where the hell are we going to live" on the guitar, off a grainy tape of a Folk on 2 programme - but didn't have a clue who'd written it (other than that he sounded vaguely Geordie).

Until last night - when I heard the distinctive music again as Mike Harding announced that Vin Garbutt had been nominated for best live act. Further research shows that Garbutt is NOT a Geordie! He's from Middlesbrough. Apologies!

As my birthday approaches, TCA and others may be interested to learn that there's a special deal on Vin Garbutt's CDs (all 5 for £50) at his shop...

6 February 2007

Cache and dash

"Motorway Mayhem M4 J32" (traditional cache)


Woke up in the middle of the night. Car needed petrol so I took it to Tesco 24hr. Whilst at it, found this recently placed cache near the Coryton interchange. Hidden in familiar territory near to where I used to run on the Taff Trail. This is the second cache I have found that was hidden by "Write and Mane", a prolific geocaching team in my area.

5 February 2007

Anguish as lemon melt embargo continues


 Since the New Year, I have made a concious effort to ditch my habit for snacking on sweet foods (excluding weekends). This has involved taking in two Granny Smith apples to work every day, in place of chocs.

By and large, I have stuck to the rule of no chocolate durring work hours. I've only had two bars since Christmas, both of them AFTER work had finished.

However, in the last week, the Assembly refectory has stocked up with a new product which has got unmder my radar. Step forward the LEMON MELTS, which originate from a company in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. The biscuits are approved by the Soil Association.

They are sold in packs of 2 at the Assembly. I've had 3 packs (i.e. 6 biscuits) in the last week. Oh well - this will have to go down as my bit for sustainable, indigenous Scottish industry.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, lemon melts have been unavailable for several weeks now :-(

Cute Coot Geocoin "marooned" on Dartmoor

My "Cute Coot Geocoin" continues its intrepid existence on Dartmoor. It has now been placed - or should I say marooned - in the Watern Oke cache. This has both difficulty and terrain levels of 4/5. There seem to be lots of potential hiding places at the cache site, which has frustrated many geocachers here. According to one log on the cache website, an air ambulance had to be sent out to a geocacher who broke an ankle!!!

1 February 2007

Louise Setara

I was glad to hear that "Still Waters" by Louise Setara has been Radio 2's album of the week. Even more delighted to discover that "Love me still" is a cover version of a song co-written by Chaka Khan and my all-time favourite artist, Bruce Hornsby. I haven't brought Louise Setara's album yet but have put in for it for my birthday.


Julie Fowlis

Heard that Julie Fowlis is up for Radio 2's folk singer of the year award - having only recently won the BBC young folk musician of the year. Her album "as my heart is" was the first folk album I'd consciously brought in several years. Interestingly, her official site (just like the "blogtree" concept) has currently exceeded its bandwith limit at the moment - surely testament to her popularity. However I've found this biog. on a BBC site. Delighted to see she's a fellow Strathclyde University alumnus!

"Originally from North Uist in the Western Isles, Julie Fowlis has emerged as a talented solo performer of Gaelic song. She is perhaps better known as a member of the Gaelic/Scots 'supergroup' Dòchas, but over the past couple of years she has won awards for her solo efforts. In 2004 Julie won at the prestigious Pan-Celtic Sean-Nos singing competition and was also nominated in the Best Gaelic Singer category at the Scots Trad Music Awards.

Julie was originally an instrumentalist (she plays the small pipes, whistle and oboe) and studied Applied Music at Strathclyde University.

Last year, Julie released her debut solo album, mar a tha mo chridhe/as my heart is featuring songs from her native Uist. With funding from the Scottish Arts Council, Julie was able to research local songs in Uist and at the School of Scottish Studies."