Brecon Beacons and Beyond - August 2020
Brecon Beacons & Beyond
August 2020
We had been planning our trip for a couple of weeks, a short tour of Cumbria, well specifically The Lake District, however, we had become a little concerned with the amount of tourists descending on the area, so decided to go to Wales.
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| The River Usk |
Thursday 20th August
We are getting a little laid back with our trips out in the van, we hadn’t planned to leave early as we wanted to see Luc off to work and Charlotte off on her trip up to Burnley, Burnley I hear you ask, theres another story.
We left home at about 10am, the plan if you can call it a plan was to take a steady drive out to Brecon in Powys, we have passed through many, many times but not stopped, all was going well until we got to Burford where signs on the main A456 said road closed ahead, now me being me carried on to find, well yes, the road was closed, we had to turn around and head back to Tenbury and take the back road to Leominster.
We made it to Brecon at about 12.00pm and made our way to the Cathedral, I always thought only a city had one but no the town of Brecon has a cathedral, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist.
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| The Cathedral Church Of St. John the Evangelist |
We walked through the church grounds to find a lovely walk though the woods and back along the river Usk to return to thr van but not before taking a look in the Cathedral which, perhaps, not on the grand a scale compared with others was a very pleasant and worth the trip.
We had a quick drink then went a short tour of the valley that follows the Brecon canal to Tallybont then back tracked to Llangors Lake for another stroll and then a bite to eat.
Time was getting on now so decided to return to Brecon where there were a couple of council car parks you can use as an aire, the one we found was overlooking the river, we had tea then after writing up the diary we played scrabble before bed.
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| A Welsh 'Aire' |
Friday 21st August
Woke after a night of torrential rain, gale force winds, thunder and lightning, in fact everything was thrown at us. The river was about two foot higher than when we went to bed.
We had our usual camping breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomatoes and fried bread. Our plan for the day was to take a driving tour through the Brecon Beacons National Park to take in the beauty of the mountains but with the low cloud views would be limited, still we would give it a go, the clouds started to lift but the wind got worse, we drove to the tops of summits, into valleys and up snake like Black Mountains pass, the scenery was breath taking and well worth the drive. We unexpectedly came across a Welsh distillery, Penderyn, although we could not get a tour due to covid -19 but we did get a little tipple.
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| Penderyn Distillery |
It was mid afternoon before knew it and the nightmare of getting a pitch for the night started, phoned five or six sites which either didn’t answer or when they did were full, we eventually found Brynhyfryd Farm but at £22 was expensive, beggars can’t be choosers.
We were pitched by 4.30pm with a G&T, wind still howling a gale but at least the rain had turned to drizzle.
Saturday 22nd August
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| Skrinkle Haven Campsite |
Arrived just after 7.00pm, Adele finish prepping tea, I took Izzy for her walk, then a quick G&T as tea cooked.
Tomorrow we must find a site for the next couple of days.
Sunday 23rd August
Woke at 7.00am after a good nights sleep, the site was very quite, after washing we had breakfast then cleared away. The site owner who we had only spoken to last night was no where to be seen, we called but went to answer phone.
We got the books out to find another site, we were not going to be caught out this time after yesterdays fiasco, we called a couple of sites with no answer, then contacted Middle Hill Farm at Manorbier, they has a pitch for tonight, great, in fact they had space for the next five nights so decided to book them so not to have this nightly problem.
We were just finishing packing up and the owner popped in, a lovely friendly gentleman who was very chatty, wanted to know where we had been, going and came from, when we told him from Worcestershire he knew Kiddy and Worcester quite well as he played cricket in the area many times over the years especially Tembury Wells. After our chat we moved just down the road to Carew Castle for a walk around the grounds and tidal moat, we had thought we might get a cup tea and cake from the castle resturant but it was closed due to covid.
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| Carew Castle |
The walk was lovely in the sunshine, we returned back to the van and had tea there before moving on to Manorbier beach, the main car park and the field were rammed with cars and campervans, we were just about to leave when a van pulled out and we pulled the benni in.
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| Manorbier Beach |
We walked on the beach for a couple of hours, sun was out but windy, Izzy loved the beach springing around like a puppy rather than the old girl she is, we left the beach about 3.30pm to go the mile or so up the road to the camp site, Middle Hill Farm is a CCC cs with well cut grass and a nice view of the sea, our pitch was on a bit of a slope but we managed to get relatively flat. Adele went to pay, we had been quoted £12 per night as we didn’t want electricity but the owners only charged £10 which was a bit of a win.We sat out the rest of the afternoon with Adele prepping tea and me writing the diary looking out on a lovely view.
We had tea, a proper Sunday dinner, lamb chops, runner beans and potatoes with a couple of glasses of wine then after clearing we played scrabble.
Monday 24th August
An early start, over last nights scrabble game we decided to go to Wisemans Bridge but as it gets very busy we would need to be there early, so we left the site at 8.00am to make the short drive to Wisemans, when we got there it was very quiet, we reverse parked in one of the larger spaces, so we could have breakfast with the rear doors open, breakfast was lovely made all the better by having it overlooking the beach.
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| Wisemans Bridge |
After a coffee we took a walk along the coast path through the cliff tunnels to Saundersfoot, a very pleasant walk past Coppet Hall Beach, we walked to the harbour at which point it threw it down, we got soaked, then the sun came out.
We sat on a bench overlooking the boats in the harbour eating a crab sandwich. We finished our walk on the far side of the town on Glen Beach, its much quieter here with rock pools to explore.
We returned to the again along the cliff walk for a cup of tea in the van with the rear doors open.
Its getting late so returned to the site via buttylands to pick up fish & chips for tea with a glass of Brewdog clockwork tangerine IPA.
We completed the diary and read a while but were both a little tired so had an early night as we are expecting storm Francis with heavy rain and gales, might be a long night.
Tuesday 25th August
Oh what a night! Storm Francis hit with a vengeance, torrential rain and storm force 10 winds, the van was buffeted all night, we slept in until about 10.00am, still 65 - 70 mph wind but the rain had stopped.
We managed to get breakfast cooked, eating it was like being on a ferry mid channel in March, we thought at one point we were suffering from sea sickness, once we had cleared away we went to see if we could move pitches to one further up the field shielded by tall hedges.
Once moved it was much better, hopefully a better nights sleep, we will move back to our pitch with a view tomorrow if the forecast is right and the wind drops.
We had a coffee and read for a while, the sky had cleared and the sun started to shine, we took a walk through the fields below the site which took us directly into Manorbier village, then it was just a short stroll to the beach, it was difficult to stand up due to the wind which was also blowing the sand which felt like sandpaper rubbing on your face after watching the waves crash on the beach we wandered back to the site for a cup of tea and a read before supper, which tonight will be lamb kofta with vegetable couscous.
Its still howling a gale, a good job we moved pitches I think, we finished the night off with a tipple and a game of scrabble, let’s see how much sleep we get.
Wednesday 26th August
Now that was better, moving the van to behind the tall hedgerow gave us great protection, the van didn’t move at all but you could hear it howling.
We slept so well we didn’t wake until 8.15, the storm has passed, the skies were blue and the sun was out, after showering I took Izzy for a walk and returned to a proper van breakfast, we packed up and took the short ride into Tenby and parked up on the north beach car park, it was late morning and almost full, we parked at the top in the ‘extended vehicle’ parking and had to put a MoHo ticket on at £5 for four hours.
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| Tenby Harbour |
We took our regular walk down onto the north beach esplanade towards the harbour then to castle hill and sat overlooking St.Catherine’s Island and castle beach. We needed some French bread for tonight's tea, steak baguette so walked through the town to the supermarket, there were far to many people for our liking so returned to the van, had a quick drink then returned to Middle Hill Farm to spend the remainder of the afternoon reading in the sunshine, its still a little breezy but pleasant all the same.
We had an early tea, the BBQ was out cooking the steak, we had a glass of red wine to hand as we sat overlooking the bay, you really wouldn’t have thought how bad the weather has been over the last couple of days.
We cleared up and as it had go a bit chilly now played scrabble in the van until dark.
Thursday 27th August
Woke to rain, and lots of it, pounding the roof of the van like a troupe of Irish dancers doing river dance, we slept in a little, you couldn’t see the bay due to the low cloud, in fact you couldn’t see the end of the site. We had breakfast or more literally brunch and said that as the weather was so rough today we would pop into Pembroke to do a grocery shop and maybe get a chance to walk around the castle walk, the drive to Pembroke was awful the roads were flooded due to the amount of rain and water gushing of the fields, as it happened it was still raining after the shop so decided to take a ride out towards Neyland and Milford Haven.
As we drove it started to brighten up a little by the time we got to Milford Haven the sun started to break, we had a cup of tea and malt loaf by the side of the marina, by the time we were ready for a walk it started spitting with rain again so decided to call it a day and return to Middle Hill Farm.
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| Middle Hill Farm CCC cs |
The site was very wet but managed to park up ok, once groceries were put away it was time for the diary and a G&T, we had tea, chicken curry with a glass of ale.
After tea it was time for Scrabble, who would be the champion tonight?
Friday 28th August
Woke early, well 7.00am and packed the van up so that we could go straight down to Manorbier beach we wanted to get one of the flat parking spaces over looking the bay so we could have breakfast with a view, and what a view, the sun was out the beach was empty and the sound of the waves was all we could hear, I took Izzy for her walk down on the beach, she wasn’t very keen as she dosn’t like the sound of the sea crashing on to the beach, as we got back to the van breakfast was served and you couldn’t have found anywhere better.
After breakfast was tidied away we sat in the sun reading and washing the surf before we knew it it was midday and we had done nothing, feeling rather guilty we went for a walk along the beach and up to the Church overlooking the bay, St. James the Great parish church bulit in the 12th century, in the 10 or so years we have been coming to Manorbier we have never been here even though every year we say we will. Unfortunately, it was closed due to corvid-19 but was worth coming up to see, perhaps it won’t take us 10 years to get to see inside.
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| St.James the Great Church |
We returned to site with a lamb dinner on the menu and a chance to get revenge in our scrabble competition as I lost last night.
Saturday 29th August.
After yesterdays early start we said we would do the same, we got down to the beach before 8.00am but as it was the bank holiday weekend there were more vehicles here than yesterday, nether the less we found a space for our beni, rear doors swung open I cooked breakfast, not quite up to Adeles standard for good all the same.
We were planning to do a section of the Pembrokeshire coastal path but as we were getting ready it started to rain, so had a coffee instead and read our booked, the weather cleared but changed our minds and walked into the village to have a cream tea, the cafe we normally use had different procedures for the new ‘norm’ and only had a small table on the roadside, this we took and after filling the track & trace forms we ordered our cream tea which was as good as ever, it felt a little like being at a pavement cafe in France with people walking by as we sat in the sunshine.
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| Manorbier Beach Cafe |
After our tea we walked back to the van but not before our last walk on the beach before returning home tomorrow, we walked the full length of the beach and sat for a while people watching, we couldn’t believe the difference in the water, for the last couple of days we have had waves crashing onto the beach with surf of over 5-6 foot but today it was like the proverbial mill pond - flat.
Back to the van and the site where after a beer and nibbles we had tea of home made paella and a bottle of rose, but to end the night its the champions league of scrabble…..who will be crowned the holiday champion?
Sunday 30th August.
We have found that our recent early starts are a great way to beat the crowds and easily find a parking space for the beni, so this morning we were again up bright and early and had hit the road by 8.00am but this morning we headed for Pembroke to visit the castle or more accurately, the castle walk, we found a great spot under the castle walls to park, I took Izzy for her morning walk whilst Adele got breakfast ready, our last full english of this trip, I noticed on the parking meter that it said that there was NO cooking allowed, another great parking restriction but hey ho it was too late, breakfast was served.
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| Pembroke Castle |
After tidying up we took the mile or so walk around Pembrokeshire Castle, water wraps around three sides of it which gave a lovely walk. We arrived back at the van having spent almost three hours here, it was really nice to see the area awake with people walking their dogs, going out for the morning papers and the local hire company setting up their stall to hire rowing boats on the moat.
We packed up and topped up with fuel before heading home, we made a detour on our normal journey at Llandovery and headed towards Buuith Wells, we stopped for a cuppa at Sugar Loaf Hill which had stunning views over the valley and would make a great stop over for the night if we were again in this area, the drive home was lovely, a really pleasant change from the route we normally take.
Roll on the next trip on our benivanadventures.
Fuel Cost: £ 87.65
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