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England 2013As we have been to France and Belgium twice this year we decided to have a few short breaks in the good old UK. Lorraine has purchased a new camera so we decided to try it out in the New Forest as it is only 1½ hours from us. We set off on a Friday after work and arrived at Matley Wood around 6.30pm. It was an idyllac evening so after some essential refreshments (G&T and R&C) we took some photos of the sun setting and decided to have a good walk around the area next day.
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The sunset we enjoyed whilst sipping the Gin & Tonic and Rum & Coke. |  |
A little ford for the anilmals to cross the stream. |
| Three of the New Forest ponies. |  |
An old tree stump that was fascinating from all angles |  |
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A typical view of the heathland of the New Forest. |  |
A butterfly (Red Admiral?) sunning itself. |
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It was a very relaxing weekend, just what we needed, so we have decided to come down here more often for short breaks.
At the end of August we went off to Westpoint Arena near Exeter for a Church Together meeting. We were exceptionally lucky with the weather as it only rained a couple of times whereas, back home, they had some really heavy downpours.
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| It was like a city of tents with the odd motorhome and caravan in amongst them. |  |
A cloud formation very seldom seen. I believe it was the occluded front coming across us. |  |
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The worship group at the Arena which were very good. |  |
Lorraine's birthday cake, a little surprise for her and delicious it was too. |
Wales 2013During the last week in September we decided to have a look at Wales as Lorraine had never been there. We thought Pembrokeshire, with it's rugged coastline and lovely beaches, would be a good starting point. Due to the Severn Bridge being rather busy we didn't arrive in Tenby until late afternoon in lots of cloud and mist. The owner of the campsite said there was a beautiful view of the sea from our spot if and when the mist dispersed. It never did!! The following day we had a quick look at Tenby but couldn't find anywhere to park so made our way to Barafundle Bay and from there onto Angle for the night. There was a carpark at Stackpole Quay with a little cafe and a National Trust shop and Barafundle Bay was roughly 20 minutes walk from the carpark. A very pretty little spot with an "interesting" approach road in a motorhome!!
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| It's a beautiful bay with very few people on it. There's a steep descent through the arch down to the beach. |  |
There was a group of people in sea kayaks working their way around the coast to come ashore at Stackpole Quay. |  |
We set off from Stackpole and headed for Angle to spend the night. A few vehicles overnighted in the Carpark next to the beach.
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The beach at Angle at low tide. |  |
The waves breaking at Broadhaven which had quite a large expanse of beach and was a pretty little town. |
We stopped for lunch in St David's and had a look at the cathedral. If you want to take pictures of the inside you have to pay £2.
| Some of the rock formations at Broadhaven. |  |
St David's cathedral, very ornate with a superb wooden ceiling. |  |
We left Broadhaven and worked our way up the coast towards Newgale.
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Lifeguards training at Nolton Haven for surf rescue. |  |
The beach at Nolton Haven. |
We took the rather narrow coast road from Nolton Haven towards Newgale.
| There were lots of surfers here, |  |
This was a beautiful beach with a cracking campsite next to it and a pub about 50mts away. What more could one ask for! |  |
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Surfers enjoying the sun as it goes down. |  |
The diehards catching the waves in the in last of the sun. |
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This was the most enjoyable stopover with lots of places to explore when the tide was out so we stayed for 2 days and really chilled out. Definitely a place to return to. |
| The views along this beach were stunning, these photos don't do it justice. |  |
This was a fascinating formation, I wonder how this was created. |  |
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There were so many different aspects to this beach. |  |
A flock of seagulls enjoying the surf.
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We then moved on up to Whitesands a place I had read about being one of the best surfers beaches.
| Whitesands beach which had an interesting promontary at one end. |  |
The next beach along. |  |
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A baby seal and it's mother. |  |
A look of bliss from the mother.
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The following day we left to head northwards to have a wander through Snowdonia. We stopped in Dolgellau for a wander around.
| Fishguard. |  |
Church at Dolgellau. |  |
The stained glass windows in this church were superb as you can see. It was one of the best kept churches we have ever been in.
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This is definitely a town worth a visit with lots of bakers, tea-rooms and other interesting shops. Try the home made Welsh Cakes.
We moved on up through Snowdonia.
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One of the lakes north of Bedgellert on the way to Capel Curig. |  |
The hard way to the top of Snowdon along the knife edge ridge named Crib Goch. This is approached by following the Pyg track which leads up from a car park not far from the Pen-Y-Gwryd hotel.
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| Looking back along the ridge, it was hairy!! These 2 pictures were taken a few years previously when I did this ascent of Snowdon with my daughter Olivia. |  |
The station at the picturesque village of Betws-Y-Coed where we had a good look around. |  |
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The sun rising on our last morning at Glan-Ceirw campsite. |
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This was a very enjoyable and relaxing week and we were exceptionally lucky with the weather as it only drizzled on 2 occassions. For me the most enjoyable stopover was Newgale which I really did love with the cliff top walks and the numerous bays around the site to explore. For Lorraine, she wants to return to Snowdonia to see more of it's rugged beauty so, no doubt, we shall be back. |
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