The old and the new

Tha name of the old Philharmonic Hall lives on as The Philharmonic bar.

Old Adverts

Lori in her blog had a picture of an old advert and asked if anyone else had some. Well here's one which is opposite our local newsagent. The old shop has now been converted into two small appartments, but luckily the sign remains.

Apologises if you have seen this already, as I have a feeling I may have posted it ages ago in an older blog.

Old pictures

In a second hand shop in Chepstow on Saturday I came across a bundle of old pictures, here are some.

My guess is they were taken on a family holday in the 1950's, possibly somewhere on the south west coast.

What do you think is the story behind them?

A patriotic tug.

This is on the Avon going up to Bristol Docks. The tug follows the boat in case it runs aground on the sandbanks. This one flying the Welsh flag, accompanied the Balmoral a few weeks ago.

Have a good weekend.

Salad Nicoise

One of my favourites, and no, its not all for me!

Match Day

Crowds of Welsh and Australian fans on their way to the Millenium stadium and enjoying the September sunshine.

The atmosphere was great but the result not so.

Doing any washing this weekend?

Must get the clothes washed and ready for next week.

Just to prove it

Some peolpe were thought to be crazy,

but others had a certificate to prove it.

If you enlarge it you will see that poor Caroline was classed as a pauper lunatic.

Just the 3 of us ???

A family that eats together...................................!!

Cosy or what?

No......they didn't eat here.

This was in a museum of rural life and originally came from a farm in Somerset.

Autumn fruits

Elderberries and haws.

Elderberries make fantastic wine. Folklore says that you should ask the tree first before picking the fruit. The Elder also supposedly has connections to witches. The haws really are just winter food for the birds, I dont know of any other use for them. Do you ?

Glastonbury Tor

A beautiful day to climb the Tor and enjoy the views of the Somerset levels. Its only about one and a half hours drive from Cardiff and its 35 years since I last visited.

Click the links to read more.

Some pictures of the inside of the 16th. C. church at St Fagans.

Whats in your travel bag?

No.....dont tell me.

The reason why I took this was because whilst camping the toothpaste flipped its lid and oozed out all over . So I had to wash all the junk in there and then when it was drying, thought it would make an interesting picture.

My bag is more of a survival kit than anything else. Why I have a comb in there now is crazy.

Moon rising over The Salthouse.

Port Eynon is the most southerly point on Gower and is thought to be named after an Eleventh Century Welsh Prince, Eynon. It is believed that he built Port Eynon castle which has disappeared over the years. Once there was a booming trade in Oyster fishing (the remains of the Oyster Pools and the old harbour wall can be seen at low tide), limestone quarrying, lobstering and crabbing, but as with many little ports also came reports of smuggling. At one stage, it is thought that eight excise men were stationed in the village alone.


At the far end of Port Eynon Bay stands the Eighteenth Century ruin of the old Salt House. Originally extracting salt from the sea, (the sea in Port Eynon has an especially high salinity) it is thought that the business was run as a cover for smuggled goods. Maybe this theory is not too far fetched when you consider that most of the local population of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries appeared to have been involved in smuggling. On one notable occasion, the goods were hidden in the church!

Extracted from the village website