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| Caerleon Ampitheatre |
Friday. We drove from Oxford to Blaenevon in the South Wales Valleys, where the Big Pit coal mine is. We revisited Caerleon first, since it was on the way.
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| Faith Suited Up |
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| Gladiators? |
The last mine in South Wales closed in 2006. This one closed much earlier, perhaps in the 70’s. Dad, Ben, Amelia, and Lizzie went on the mine tour, going down 300 feet (meters?) in a cage elevator with helmets and headlights on, and carbon monoxide filters for emergency use. The site is staffed by numerous ex-miners, all very friendly and with strong accents. We went through passages that made Dad lean double, but did not make Ben stoop at all. We saw the subterranean stables, for 72 horses. They were used as late as 1970 for hauling.
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| Ben Suiting Up at Big Pit |
On leaving, we went to the car for raisin croissants and to see if the others were there. Then we returned, and found the others at the Gallery, where there was a good movie and simulation of mining.
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| A View from Tan House Farm |
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| A Bedroom |
We didn’t have time to go to the steelworks, so we went on to Tan House Farm. There, Mrs. Powell gave Mama and Dad coffee and cake. Dad drove down to Ewys Harold for fish and chips with Ben and Faith, and got cod, haddock, cod roe, a steak and onion pie (for Lizzie mainly), mushy peas, deepfried mushrooms, baked beans, and battered sausage.
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| Fish and Chips |
Saturday. We had a grand breakfast, the mushrooms, jam, stewed dried fruits, and bacon (ham) being the highlights. We then drove all the way to Cardigan Bay for a lunch in Abaerleon (?) on the A482. We ate lunch at the Harbormaster Hotel, Mom, Ben,Lily, and Amelia around one table and Dad, LIzzie, and Faith some distance away. We had crevettes (sea crayfish), crab risotto, mussels, fish, chips, and crisps. Then we went down to the beach, one made up of rounded rocks. It was raining lightly. We found limpets, mussels, and different kinds of snails. Coming back, we stopped for honey-made ice cream.
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| Cliddau |
Our next destination was the ancestral farms near Cribyn. We found Rhydyfr farm, still marked with the Jones name, and Cliddau, next door, where we guess that the Williams’s lived.The hills are low around there, but the land is still mostly used for sheep grazing.
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| Rhydyfr |
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| Rhydyfr Jones Sign |
From there, we had intended to go to some Roman and Victorian gold mines, but they closed at 5 and we had run out of time, so we went to Carreg Cennen castle instead. Everyone but Lillie and Mama started walking up the castle hill (Faith being in a baby backpack). Amelia and Lizzie carried food, Amelia in a heavy backpack.It was extremely windy, but not very cold. The castle was most impressive on its rocky crag, with amazing views. After walking around some, we settled in the most sheltered room for a supper of bread, cheese, and crisps.Then we walked into the castle courtyard and saw Mama and Lillie, who had come up after all and had been calling for us for a long time. We couldn’t hear them because of the wind.
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| Carreg Cennen |
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| Carreg Cennen |
Mom and Lillie had found the celebrated castle cave, used since the Stone Age. We all went down the long corridor running next to the rock on the side of the castle. At the bottome stairs, where Dad had to pull out his backpack flashlight, Mama and Lillie stopped and the rest went down. First, Ben, Lizzie, and Amelia went down the cave passageway while Dad stayed with Faith in the backpack in the entrance room. Then Lizzie came back to stay with Faith while Dad explored further with the rest. Mom had wanted to leave quickly, since we were going to be past closing time of 6:30, so the explorers had to stop even though the cave passage had not gotten any smaller and was still going down. It seems there are more little caves that we might explore if we go back some day. Everyone walked back to the car. Ben was wearing Dad’s gloves, and we tried to get Faith to keep her hands in her sleeves, even though she did not complain of the cold. We got back to Tan House Farm around 9:15. All the children were asleep, but Amelia and Lizzie managed to get upstairs walking, and Lizie even changed into pajamas.
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| Carreg Cennen |
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| Dad Carrying Faith |
“Which Castle is the Best in Wales?”
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| Carreg Cennen |
…
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| Carreg Cennen Cave |
Sunday. We had another good breakfast, and long talks with the Powells about farming and childrearing.Ben and Lizzie played checkers. Amelia, Elizabeth, Faith, Dad, and the dog Mack went to Dore Abbey. Some tourists from Wales were there too. The grass was wet, and everyone’s feet got wet. We drove to Cheddar Gorge, eating ham and bread in the car on the way. At the Gorge, we parked in the furthest pay lot. We walked a long way, went to the pound store, and Dad, Amelia, Liz, and Ben walked up to the observation tower. On rejoing the others, we had supper at a fish and chips shop. Dad had hake, Mama cod. Dad bought a Somerset cider across the street, and a cheddar that was cave-aged. He left before the others and walked up to get the car. The others got ice cream and donuts. We drove up the Gorge and saw lots of mountain goats. Earlier, Amelia had found a goat jawbone with teeth.
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| A Camouflaged Goat |
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| Goat Closeup |
We drove back through downtown Bristol– the M5, M32, M4 and A34.
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| Goat Jawbone |
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