Author Topic: Walking  (Read 820738 times)

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Offline Nemesis

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Re: Walking
« Reply #480 on: October 10, 2011, 09:45:57 am »
Hugo, the burger van was in that field yesterday afternoon into which I was manipulated as a spectator for the Cambrian Rally and asked to part with £5 for the privilege.  $booboo$

If that was for spectating and not for the burger you were lucky-- the tickets on the booking site were 5 times that amount.!
Looking at Mike's comment about the van--- I dread to think what the inside of it was like !
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know.

Offline Bri Roberts

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Re: Walking
« Reply #481 on: October 10, 2011, 10:21:35 am »
Nemesis, I think you are getting confused with the Wales GB Rally next month which will cost £25 per person including processing and booking fees as well as transportation.

Hugo, I did not indulge in a burger but I was certainly well and truly done although I only handed over £3.50 because that is all the money I had on me.

I assume the landowners are aware of all this commercialism.

Nevertheless, I had originally intended to park either at the summit or down by St Tudno’s Churchyard but, obviously, I did neither.

While driving up St Tudno’s Road, about half an hour before the first rally stage started, I was discouraged from driving up to the summit by a few red and white cones spanning the junction in the road leading up to the summit.

There were a couple of individuals in those yellow jackets pointing me down towards St Tudno’s Church with signs showing ‘spectators’ in the grass.

I did just that thinking they were being helpful by letting me know the summit car park was already full.

Upon approaching the twenty or so empty FREE parking places in the picnic area just before the church there were more individuals in those yellow jackets sending me to the left signposted ‘spectators’ because they also had red and white cones in the road.

By the time, I arrived at that field I was asked to pay £5.

I had little choice as I had several vehicles behind me and there was no room for me to turn around.

The young ladies also had no choice but to accept my £3.50.

I watched about half an hour of the special stage and decided to call it a day.

Watching from such a great height was no comparison to watching the Lombard RAC Rally at close quarters during the seventies.

BTW, I could not believe the number of babes in pushchairs in the area and the number of families with small kids making their way down the slippery hill to get closer to the action.

I even witnesses a couple of individuals crossing over Marine Drive to watch from behind the wall after the special stage had started.

Fortunately, I was able to get out of the field without getting stuck in the mud but there were still plenty of cars arriving to get into the official or unofficial car park.

Before coming of the Great Orme I was now able to drive up to the summit car park without any problem.

The summit car park was barely a quarter full and it only cost £1.10 to park for up to 2 hours !!

From memory, I did not notice the names of either ‘Cambrian Rally’ or ‘NWCC’ on any of those spectator direction signs.

Also, the individuals collecting the £5 entry fees had no ID badges and did not issue any paper receipts for the £5 parking fee.

For all I know they could have been anybody.

Before I came home I decided to watch the cars at the finishing line by the Cenotaph and probably enjoyed that more than my earlier experience up on the Great Orme.

There was a chap interviewing the drivers as they each arrived and he was very good at his job.





Offline Bri Roberts

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Re: Walking
« Reply #482 on: October 11, 2011, 06:44:49 pm »
Here is the car park charging £5 with the summit car park charging only £1.10 behind it.

Offline Yorkie

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Re: Walking
« Reply #483 on: October 11, 2011, 08:24:35 pm »
Just a bloody rip off!   Who gets the benefit of the cash?  The organisers, the farmer, the council?  Or do they divide it up in the pub after the event?  Or do Mostyn have their sticky little fingers in the pie? 

Once upon a time the land was owned by the People.     :rage:
Wise men have something to say.
Fools have to say something.
Cicero

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Walking
« Reply #484 on: October 26, 2011, 11:33:16 am »
Socs and I went for another walk up Conwy mountain yesterday to have a look at the recently discovered Ancient Mine (everything to do with Conwy thread) having located the mine I decided to have a good look round Caer Seion the Roman Fort situated at the top of the hill.  The surrounding area was quite interesting too.  I took a photo of what looked like a stone circle just behind the fort.  This time I did a little research and discovered it was the remains of a round house.  There are lots of sheltered trenches surrounding the fort too maybe people used to live here or maybe they were used for defence.  I find the mountains fascinating and there is always something new to see. Even the large Crows/Ravens enjoy the views.
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Walking
« Reply #485 on: October 26, 2011, 11:36:59 am »
Some more photos of Conwy Mountain.  A large nest site in the rocks pic 1.  Socs patiently waiting while I take photos, the view from the top and of course the wild ponies.  I only saw these two yesterday.
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Walking
« Reply #486 on: October 27, 2011, 09:18:37 pm »
I had made plans to call in my sister Jo's house yesterday and so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and take Socs for a walk up Marl Hall Woods.   Gez was brought up in Junction and he used to play in these woods as a lad with his mates, he'd told me of "Dead mans cave"  "The Nuns steps"  climbing up the steep rocks and how he was once shot with a 2.2 air rifle and fell out of a tree  :o but we'll say no more about that  :-X
Socs and I walked up through the trees and zig zagged along the various paths me throwing her ball as we went.  It's a really nice place and a lot bigger than I first thought.  The views from the top of the rocks are beautiful, we found Dead mans cave too it's like an open tunnel cut from the bedrock you have to wonder if it's natural or dug out in some way as at one point the rocks form perfect hiding holes with smooth sides and at the other end it looks like an entrance has been blocked by a large boulder.  I think the Nuns steps are the stone ones we saw last but I preferred the wooden steps at the other end of the woods.  It was time we were heading back over to Jo's house so we made our way down the stone steps and back to the reality of the very busy main road below.
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Walking
« Reply #487 on: October 27, 2011, 09:22:32 pm »
Some photos of Dead mans cave and the stone entrance at the foot of the Nuns steps.
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline hollins

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Re: Walking
« Reply #488 on: October 27, 2011, 09:30:59 pm »
Pendragon, your local adventures are so interesting. I think you should write a book of them. I like the photo of the crow enjoying the view.
 $thanx$

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Walking
« Reply #489 on: October 27, 2011, 10:46:26 pm »
Today I thought I'd go up to Llangelynin church after all from what I remember it's not that far from Conwy about 3miles I estimated............well I think we can quite safely say my estimations were monumentally flawed because the road just went on and on, twice I had to ask fellow walkers I met if I was on the right road as according to the app on my phone I had already walked 3.5 miles and the Church was nowhere in sight.  Finally as the road narrowed I recognised the steep track up to the church there was a sign that read Llangelynin Church 1mile  :o Your having a laugh I though I'll never make it.... 1 mile left and it was all up hill.  I hadn't come prepared at all I thought as I realised I had no sandwiches, I'd forgotten my bottle of water and my fold away portable stretcher was still on the kitchen table.  By this time I was no longer walking it was more a kinda vertical crawl you know the one, your still walking but your hands are on your knees willing your legs to carry your body, by now the app on my phone read 4.5 miles and still the hill climbed  I was knackered.  This was ridiculous I thought it's the same distance back home yet   >?>??
I found a wall and collapsed panting for breathe.  Llangelynin church is a very special place to me it's where we scattered my Nains ashes, she spent a lot of her childhood playing up and around the churchyard  it was one of her favourite places.  Sitting on the wall I remembered the day the entire family traveled up the narrow winding track to scatter Nains ashes, I laughed as I remembered my Dad driving his camper van up and this was no little VW camper van it was a full on wide as you like camper van honestly a gnat couldn't have maneuvered around it, all you could hear was his gears crunching and the engine screeching as he kangarood up the road  _))* Dad was getting more and more annoyed as one by one we started sniggering in the back which only drove him on determined he'd succeed to the top.  Apart from the poor beggars behind us the rest of the clan had reached the top and where now watching my poor frustrated Dad navigate the last bend.  I think the funniest part of the whole day though was when my Uncle Graham actually scattered Nains ashes, we decided to go round the side of the church to carry out the ceremony as it was a little windy on the day, my Uncles and Auties said a few words and Uncle Graham began to scatter........ exactly the same time as the wind picked up and so we all got a pebble dashing, as we looked at one another we had to laugh as Nain would have found it hilarious it was like a scene from Only fools and horses.  Ceremony over everyone rushed back to their cars determined not to be behind my Dad on the way back down  :laugh:
Well I'd had my rest now it was time to carry on up the never ending really steep hill.  On the way up we saw this Mine I have no idea what was extracted from it or how old it is but the sign outside it said dangerous and that was enough for me it was onwards and upwards.

Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Walking
« Reply #490 on: October 27, 2011, 11:45:03 pm »
Socs is a working dog and so she lives for her ball her eyes light up the minute she sees it and believe me she never gets tired of fetching it, as we reached the top the distance the ball traveled with each throw had drastically diminished along with my will to live, it was all I could do just to pick the ball up never mind throw it.  I swear it's only been 4 days and I have a right arm like Geoff Capes.  As we turned the corner towards the entrance to the church I could see a large party of walkers sat on the grave stones eating their sandwiches and drinking their water if you could have seen my face  :'( I had a look round the church, took some photos and sat reminiscing about  my Nain she was an amazing woman. It was time for the trek home as I left the church one of the party approached me and explained that a lady from the group had lost her camera on her way up to the church it was either lying on the path or she may had left it in a cafe called The Pancake House no more than a half hour before......he couldn't get a signal on his phone and so he asked if I was going back down the road toward the cafe.  To be honest I had every intention of returning home the same route I had arrived but the thought of a cafe half an hour away was too much to resist.  I took his mobile number and assured him I would ask at the cafe and keep my eyes peeled on my way down and if I found the camera I would phone him and I started off down the track in search of coffee, ham sandwiches and the toilet the day was looking up.
The road back down to the cafe was a nightmare it looked more like a river bed rough and slippy with big stones and puddles everywhere.  It soon dawned on me as I stumbled down the path with lead filled legs and a mouth like Gandhi's flip flop that the fella I'd spoken to was as bad as me with his estimates he said half an hour away I was 45 minutes in and I couldn't see a cafe  :rage: my phone was now reading just shy of 7 miles that's it I thought if I find his camera I'll stamp on it then  hoof it into a hedge for taking the mic, if he'd reached the church in half an hour from here then he must have legged it!! &shake&  Having asked for directions on the road twice I finally arrived at the Pancake house......that was without doubt the best coffee I've ever had and Socs lapped up a large bowl of water.

 
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Walking
« Reply #491 on: October 27, 2011, 11:50:06 pm »
Above is the weird little drawing on the church wall beside the font the big old church door, outside is  the Holy Well said to have cured sick children in past times.  Below is the inside of Llangelynin and a photo of the track down towards the cafe no more than a half hour away yeah right if your names Linford Christy it is!!
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Walking
« Reply #492 on: October 28, 2011, 12:16:06 am »
I checked the time it was now nearly 4 o clock definitely time to walk home I had no idea how far away Conwy was I just knew I felt much better having had a rest and a coffee.  It was infact just over 3 miles home.  On my way I happened to notice this sign which doesn't come across as a very polite one does it? I don't really understand what it means either can people literally just come and look round your house and garden then if it's listed?
Just before the old candle factory building on the Henryd road poking through the trees I saw a house up for sale called Plas Iolyn it was advertised as a gentlemens residence? set in 4 acre of land offers over £395k.  I had to take a look it was a huge derelict house.  I took some photos of the exterior.  I looked in through one of the windows into a huge room with a bar in one side and a magnificent old snooker table complete with all the balls this place was awesome.  There were two young lads playing in the garden and one explained it was  his Great Nains house but she was now in her nineties hence the sale.  There was a small court yard at the back with a water pump fixed to the wall.
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline Pendragon

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Re: Walking
« Reply #493 on: October 28, 2011, 12:23:53 am »
I'd love to have a look round the inside there was a really nice atmosphere to the place.  In one of the out buildings I saw this old tractor.  We made our way back down the drive and continued on past the old candle factory and back into Conwy nearly 5and a half hours and just shy of 11 miles later.  Exhausted but having had a good day.  Tomorrow I'll probably make it Georges shop and back  ;D
Only hindsight has 20/20 vision
Angiegram - A romantic notion derived from the more mundane truth.

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Offline snowcap

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Re: Walking
« Reply #494 on: October 28, 2011, 12:54:48 am »
i agree with hollins, you should serialize your adventures they make enjoyable reading.