Merry Christmas

Just off a footpath near the house is this tree which get decorated every year, and usually it doesn't get vandalised.   A nice touch and hopefully appreciated  by those who pass by.

This will be the last post before Christmas so here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Waterfalls, Wikipedia, etc

Having not posted for a while and as the snow has started outside I thought I'd put something together. Because its not a common occurrence, generally the UK is hopeless at coping with snow, and we just grind to a halt. I expect as its Sunday it will lead to some panic buying in the supermarkets.

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These waterfall pictures were taken on a ride to Porth 

and are on the bike trail going through a park.

Whilst I was in Porth I wandered around and found these old back of the houses lanes.

 You can see from the cobbles that they were designed probably in the 19th C for horse and cart traffic.  Guessing from the style of houses, I doubt if they would have been used much for deliveries, more probably for the night soil men to collect, before modern drainage was installed.  

The reason for the ride up to Porth was because the previous week I had been to a local history talk about the legendary runner Guto Nyth Bran and wanted to visit his birthplace [see flag].

I couldn't get to the house as the lane leading to it was a private road, and judging from the signage they didn't want people wandering up it.  Still there's another public road so I'll visit it another day.

I use Wikipedia a lot, both for the Blog and also general use, crosswords etc, and they annually ask for a contribution towards their running costs, which I donate to.  Apparently only a small proportion of users do so, and to loose this facility would be a great loss.

So hopefully I can encourage more users to donate a small amount.   

Concorde

I've always had a fascination for Concorde so when the Concorde Museum opened in Bristol I went.

 This is Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, the last to be built.

Museum Picture

The museum is located on the historic Filton Airfield.  Planes have been built in Bristol since 1910 and its been a huge employer in the area.


One of the old Control Towers. 

For the initial opening they had some of the pilots there to answer questions, this was Capt. Colin Morris.

Web Picture

Bristol has a history of air craft building and planes named after it.

They also built vehicles here 

together with the famous Bristol car, whose shape wouldn't look out of place today.

Its well worth a visit and your ticket lasts for a year.

Glastonbury weekend

Last weekend was the clubs weekend ride around Glastonbury and as some were camping I decided to take the camper.  When I went to fill up with fuel on Thursday ready for the off on Friday, and as I started to leave the garage the engine management light came on and stayed on.  Looking at the manual it told me to take it to a main dealer for checking and not to drive far.  So thats what I did and it took them three days to sort it out.  There are too many electrical sensors in todays vehicles.
So the camper wasn't an option for the weekend and I booked into a B&B and drove down in the car.

Today Glastonbury is famous for its festival, but it's been a site for pilgrimages since the middle ages visiting the Abbey and the Tor.  Some believe that the chapel there was built by Joseph of Arimathea when he came there after the crucifixion of Christ bringing with him the Holy Grail.  Others believe that it is connected to King Arthur.  But whatever you believe there is evidence to show that the site has been inhabited since the Neolithic times. 

Nowadays it is a unique place and I've never come across a town like it in the UK.

The Tor

Stunning views of the Somerset Levels from the Tor.

It has a huge selection of weird and wonderful shops 

[picture by club member]

The monument in the centre is a popular meeting point.

There were 17 on the weekend and our rides included one to Burnham on Sea

The Sunday ride was to Cheddar Gorge  with a lunch stop in Wells.

[Web picture]

As you can see we were blessed by wonderful weather for the whole weekend.

]picture by club member]

In Wells there was a food festival just the ticket for hungry cyclists

I think this mural sums up the ethos of our club as the company, rides and weather were good.

 [picture by club member]

Cycling through history

We are lucky in our cycle club to have a local historian, so on Sunday he led a ride and gave us a talk about places we stopped at.

One was Dunraven Castle which originally looked like the picture below.

 Web picture.

However because it had fallen into disrepair and the cost of either rebuilding or maintaining it was too great, it was demolished!!!! and only the outline of it remains.

Hopefully this would not have been allowed to happen today as surely some use could have been made of it especially with its unique position and stunning views.

This was the gatehouse on the drive leading to the castle.

Another stop was St Donats castle.  This medieval castle which overlooks the Bristol Channel is now a school, Atlantic College and an arts centre.

It was once owned by William Hurst the newspaper owner and publisher, who renovated it with artifacts taken from other old properties.However when times got hard he sold it in the 1960's.  Whilst he owned it it was famous for parties attended by the jet set of the day, Charlie Chaplin, other film stars and reportedly a young JF Kennedy.  Some arrived by yacht and moored in the channel.

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The final stop was in Llantwit Major and St Llanilltuds church.  There has been a church here for 16 centuries.

The present church has been renovated from the picture below and all the old artifacts have been included.

Web picture

The old Celtic crosses have been preserved and housed within the church.

Even though is was a rainy day the ride and the company were good. Unfortunately I didn't record all of the route but the relevant part is on the Strava side panel.