Sunday – Leominster – The last few days are following a pattern. At dawn the sky is blue and virtually cloudless but by 8 o’clock the whole sky is covered in grey clouds. However Jackdaws and Wood Pigeons are noisy and Blackbirds sing, starting before dawn and still continuing now. A cool wind blows. The town centre works rubble has now been completely reduced to two large piles of crushed stone. Over the railway bridge to the river. A Chiffchaff still sings in the trees. A Wren explodes into song. The water level in the River Lugg remains low and it flows crystal clear.
Onto Easters Meadow. A Blackcap sings in the trees. Across the meadow umbellifers, mainly Hogweed, are rising above the grasses. Many stems of the Hogweed are covered in green aphids. I feel a nudge on the back of my legs and turned to find an excited collie which immediately drops to the ground for a tummy tickle.
The market is about the same size as last week but there are far more people perusing the wares. At Ridgemoor Bridge, the Lugg is sluggish. Into Paradise Walk. The River Kenwater is shallow, its surface rippled by the wind.
Home – Kay picks a punnet of strawberries. A single green-blue egg appears every other day. The row of mange tout peas have sprouted. What was supposed to be the next succession of dwarf French beans are taken from the pot in the greenhouse and planted out. However, they are bigger than the earlier sowings. Tomatoes do not seem to be doing very well, especially those in the hanging baskets which remain very stunted and have started to flower. The wind increases in strength and there is rain in the air.
Monday – Home – The ground is vaguely damp after yesterday’s short late evening shower. Nowhere near the amount the plants could use. The expansive rambling rose which has grown up through an apple tree and walnut needs a lot of attention as it send out runners in every direction, often downwards to rip at one’s scalp. However, at this time of year it redeems itself with a glorious display of hundreds of small pink flowers. By the tall Ash tree, a Rambling Rector has also spread far and wide across various trees and shrubs and is now a mass of white roses. The morning had started cloudless but by mid-morning, grey clouds with shining white edges have moved in from the north-west.
Leominster – Down the road to the White Lion. A large number of Jackdaws descend on the trees on the far side of the railway footbridge making a considerable clamour. It appears that the targets of their outrage are a pair of Carrion Crows although it is not clear why they should be so upset by them. Eventually the Carrion Crows depart and the Jackdaws settle down and then head off into different directions. Into Pinsley Mill. A Blackcap is in song on the far side of the tracks. One of the diesel propelled trains passes heading for Manchester.
Onto the Millennium Orchard. Grasses, Field Buttercups and Stinging Nettles are growing every higher as the park has still not been mown. The Friends of the Millennium Park are going to cut it by scythe at the weekend. Another Blackcap is singing in track-side bushes. Ox-eye Daisies and Cranesbills are coming into flower. A freight train passes, hidden by the hedge. At the western end, a Chiffchaff, Blackbird and Greenfinch are in song. A Song Thrush sings by the River Kenwater. The plum and greengage trees on Pinsley Mead have an abundance of fruits.
Tuesday – Llanrwst – We park behind the modern library and head out into Heol Yr Gorsef, Station Road. Opposite is the large Capel Seion, the Methodist chapel, built 1881-1883. It has large columns behind which are two marble plaques, one a list of former ministers, the other a war memorial. Beside it is a large cemetery. Across the road is the Horeb Methodist Chapel, built in 1805 and then rebuilt in 1837,1866 and 1884, the latter built by architect Richard Davies of Bangor in the Gothic style. It now is closed amid undergoing repair. On down the street into Bridge Street and Ancaster Square. A stone clock tower stands beside a small market. Along Tan-yr-Eglwys to the church of St Grwst. By the gate to the churchyard is a passage which was once the ground floor apartment of Jesus Hospital, almshouses founded by Sir John Wynn circa 1610-1612. Across the lane is a cottage called The Sexton’s House, dating from the 19th century.
St Grwst was the son of Gwaith Hengaer ap Elffin, a Prince of Rheged, now Cumbria, and Euronwy ferch Clydno Eiddin, a Princess of Din Eiddin (Edinburgh) in Lothian, making him the great-grandson of King Urien Rheged. He arrived in Wales in 540CE. The church is late 15th and believed have been rebuilt in 1470s following destruction of Llanrwst in 1468 by Earl of Pembroke. The tower is early 19th century with the north aisle a while later. The church was restored in 1882-1884 by Paley and Austin. At the entrance to the chancel is a late 15th to early 16th century lofted rood screen, considered to be one of the best in Wales. Attached to the Chancel is the Gwydir Chapel added by Sir John Wynn in 1633-34. The nave has been recently re-floored in pale stone, somewhat incongruous. In the Gwydir chapel is a low stone table on which is an alabaster effigy of an infant (Sydney Wynn died 1639). A fine 13th century stone coffin is said to be that of Llewelyn the Great. Nearby is the effigy of knight, said to be Hywel Coetmore, (circa 1440) plate and mail armour, dog at feet. On the south is a very ornate wall monument to Sir John Wynn and his wife Sydney. Around the walls is 17th century decorated panelling and a lectern of a similar age.
Back to Ancaster Square and past the large Eagle Hotel to the Pont Fawr, a three arch bridge over the Afon Conwy, traditionally believed to have been designed by Inigo Jones, who was associated with the Wynn family. It was built in 1634 but the western arch collapsed in 1702 and was rebuilt. The river is flowing rapidly. We have lunch in Tu Hwnt I’r Bont Tearooms, a former 15th century farmhouse. We then head west to Gwydir Castle, a Tudor house built in the 1490s by Meredith ap Ieuan ap Robert, founder of the Wynn dynasty. The building was in disrepair at the end of the 20th century and is still undergoing restoration. Unfortunately it is closed today. High on the hill in the Gwydir Forest is Gwydir Uchaf Chapel, built in 1673 by Sir Richard Wynn as a family memorial chapel. It has a famous painted ceiling but as a key has to be obtained from the castle we return to Llanrwst and move on.
Conwy – We are staying in the Woodlands area of the town and after booking in, we head down to the centre. The town is dominated by the massive Conwy Castle built by Edward I, between 1283 and 1287, as part of a wider project to create the walled town of Conwy, the combined defences costing around £15,000, a massive sum for the period. Over the next few centuries, the castle played an important part in several wars. It withstood the siege of Madog ap Llywelyn in the winter of 1294–95, acted as a temporary haven for Richard II in 1399 and was held for several months by forces loyal to Owain Glyndŵr in 1401. It was held by Royalist forces in the Civil War, surrendering to Parliament in 1646 and slighted and finally partially dismantled in 1665. However, impressive ruins remain, including the eight tall towers, one of which I climb by the winding steps to a vertiginous height with wonderful views across the town and the Conwy estuary.
Three bridges cross the river, the original bridge by Telford replacing the ferry, built in 1826, now a pedestrian only route; a tubular railway bridge built by Robert Stephenson in 1849 for the Chester and Holyhead Railway and still in use and a modern road bridge. The North Wales Expressway, the A55, passes under the river through a tunnel built in the late 20th century. Herring Gull chicks are on the top of the railway bridge and in an outer tower of the town wall. We wander through the town to the Liverpool Arms, an old pub on the docks, partially built into the town wall. Back up the High Street past the Palace Cinema built in 1935 by Sidney Colwyn Foulkes. At the top of the street is a fountain designed in 1898 by Grayson & Ould of James Street, Liverpool, with a bronze figure of Llewelyn the Great modelled by E O Griffith, also of Liverpool.
Wednesday – Llandudno – Across Telford’s bridge and then onto the modern bridge to Llandudno Junction. A pair of Shelduck are on the estuarine mud. Llandudno Junction is a community named after the junction between the Crewe-Holyhead line and the Llandudno-Blaenau Ffestiniog line. Here we catch a bus into Llandudno town centre.
In Llandudno we climb the streets towards the Great Orme. Referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd by the 12th century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr, its English name derives from the Old Norse word for sea serpent. The headland is a large outcrop of Carboniferous limestone. The Great Orme Tramways Act was passed in 1898 which laid out the length of the Tramway, the gauge and the fares to be paid. The original purpose of the Tramway was to transport passengers, goods and parcels up and down the Great Orme, the towering headland overlooking Llandudno. In 1901 construction began. In 1902 fare paying customers were carried and in 1904, Victoria Station was built in Old Street. We join a long queue and then set off up the hill. We change trams at Halfway Station which is also the tramway workshops. Nearby are the old copper mines which date back to the Bronze Age. At the top is a crowded visitors’ centre and café. We do not stay long as the wind is blowing a gale.
Back down into the town. There is a quite fascinating mixture of shops and hotels. The town takes its name from the ancient parish of Saint Tudno. In 1848, Owen Williams, an architect and surveyor from Liverpool, presented Lord Mostyn with plans to develop the marshlands behind Llandudno Bay as a holiday resort. These were enthusiastically pursued by Lord Mostyn. The influence of the Mostyn Estate and its agents over the years was paramount in the development of Llandudno, especially after the appointment of George Felton as surveyor and architect in 1857. Large sections of the town are still owned by Mostyn Estates who maintain strict rules on the maintenance of buildings, ensuring that Llandudno has avoided the run-down look of many holiday resorts. There are some fine buildings, including The Palladium, a theatre of the early 20th century, originally of 1400 seats; later divided into a cinema and bingo hall. The building was designed by A Hewitt and is now a pub; the Siloh Welsh Presbyterian chapel of 1905 designed in the Baroque style; the Grand Hotel, designed by J Francis Doyle of Liverpool and built in 1900 on a rock plateau on the sea shore and on the site of the Baths Hotel of 1870s and a great sweep of hotels around the bay from the mid 19th century. We walk out onto the pier built in the mid to late 19th century. There is the nostalgic scent of fried doughnuts, fish and chips etc.
Friday – Home – The weather is very changeable at the moment. The morning starts with fine drizzle but even eventually the sun wins. The ground has had a reasonable amount of rain over the past few days and everything is looking bright and green. The blue-green eggs continue to appear and we now are getting small brown ones. It is not at all clear who is laying what. The young hens are getting bolder and whilst the old Warren gives a peck to everyone now and again, there is generally peace. Young Blackbirds are in the trees demanding to be fed. The local Chiffchaff is still calling. A Lunar Yellow Underwing moth, Noctua orbona, is in the bathroom, sadly deceased. Two Egghead Mottlegill, Panaeolus semiovatus, toadstools are growing on the courgette bed, brought in on the dung buried there.
Saturday – Leominster – Overnight rain seemed to arrive earlier than the forecast suggested. It is still overcast but dry this morning. Tomas, Russell and I tackle the dense jungle of umbellifers, Cleavers, Stinging Nettles and grass in the Millennium Orchard. The umbellifers, mainly Hogweed, are some six feet tall. Russell and Tomas are using scythes and I am using a wooden hay rake to pull the cuttings into piles and then carry them to the edges of the orchard. There is a fun day taking place on the Grange and young runners, covered in coloured powders, pass several times on the mini-marathon circuit. After a couple of hours, we have cleared a reasonable amount of the undergrowth, releasing the trees, and I am absolutely exhausted!
Home – The runner bean seedlings planted by the fruit cage have grown rapidly and sticks are now pushed into the ground to support them. Swedes have germinated in a row in the brassica bed. The tomatoes in the hanging baskets are not doing well at all and I may try to find some replacements at the market tomorrow.
Sunday – Leominster – Just a few scattered clouds are in the sky and the sun blazes down, rising higher earlier each day for another fortnight until midsummer. Gulls wail in the sky, a Blackbird sings somewhere and House Sparrows chatter behind The Chequers. Further down the street, a Greenfinch wheezes from behind the houses. Onto the railway bridge. Four Rabbits are below, disappearing into small tunnels beneath the Brambles. Despite the heavy rains of recent days the water level in the River Lugg seems unchanged.
Onto Easters Meadow. A Chiffchaff calls from the hedgerow along the bypass but its song is disjointed and intermittent. A Blackcap sings from across the river. Another makes the “tapping pebbles” call. Water Crowfoot has come into flower on the edge of the river, white petals on the surface of the river. A small White-tailed Bumblebee moves across a Hogweed flower head. A female Mallard flies rapidly downstream followed by a Common Buzzard drifting across the sky.
The market is smaller than in recent weeks but still busy. I purchase some Tumbler tomatoes, as mentioned above, mine have performed poorly. By the entrance to Brightwell’s is a patch of ground on which is growing Stone Parsley, Sison amomum, an umbellifer with which I am unfamiliar and seemingly quite scarce. A car rally is being held in the Bridge Street car park which includes a Formula 3 racing car, several vintage vehicles and several large motorbikes.
Home – The root vegetable bed is weeded. There are a large number of Shepherd’s Purse coming into flower and getting them out before they spread even more seeds is important. It seems germination of the parsnip seed sown several weeks ago has begun poor, so another row is sown along with one of beetroot. It now appears that the Rhode Rock hen is laying the green eggs and the Bluebelle is laying brown eggs that are getting larger. Assumingly, the Silver Rock is yet to lay. Six Wrens, clearly a family group, fly into the dense Ivy on the old pear tree.
Leominster – In the evening we attend a concert at the Priory by the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra playing music by American composers.
Saturday – Humber – Something like 100 Jackdaws are flying to and fro around the town centre just as I head out for the second round of the BTO Breeding Bird Survey. It is a gloomy, overcast dawn. The first transept is rather quiet, just a single Whitethroat and several Blackbirds. However, there are a fair number of Wrens singing loudly. A Grey Heron flaps over. Over the hedge, the northern field is set to maize. A Common Buzzard launches off a telephone pole. Along the Roman road. A large field is growing potatoes. The next field is grass on which are 24 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Herring Gull and another Common Buzzard. Down to Humber Brook which is low and cloudy. Up to the church where there are very few Jackdaws. Through the village to Humber Court Farm. House Martins are feeding overhead.
Sunday – Leominster – Another grey, cloudy dawn. Jackdaws are sitting in pairs on television aerials. Other stalk the road searching for food. Wood Pigeons call. Swifts sweep through the sky, many in pairs, some low over the rooftops, others much higher. Down to the White Lion. A Chiffchaff calls, Wrens, a Garden Warbler, a Dunnock are singing in the woods across the railway. A family group of Long-tailed Tits squeak as they search a Silver Birch for food. A pair of House Sparrows sit on the railway fence.
Into the Millennium Park. There are still areas of Stinging Nettles and Hogweed in the orchard despite our best efforts. The large patch of what should be wildflowers in the park is now full of Stinging Nettles. Some Meadow Cranesbills are flowering. A rabbit lopes off into the churchyard. A hen Blackbird pokes the grass on Pinsley Mead. The boughs of the plum and greengage trees on Pinsley Mead are bending low, heavy with fruit. The River Kenwater flows clear and slow.
Rabbits and Grey Squirrels dash for cover as I enter the churchyard. Great, Blue and Coal Tits are calling, but they are difficult to hear being drowned out by a loud Blackbird, several Wrens and an equally loud Chaffinch. A dozen Blackbirds are scattered across the Grange. Flocks of Jackdaws are engaged in their morning perambulations around the town.
I head out again after breakfast. The sun is shining brightly although it is dulled every few minutes by passing clouds. Swifts are still overhead, screaming and scything through the sky. Rabbit scurry away from the old railway track into the undergrowth. Evening Primrose has come into bloom there. Wrens and Blackbirds are still singing lustily in the woodland by the river. The water level in the River Lugg has fallen slightly over the week.
Grasses, mainly Cocksfoot, Yorkshire Fog and what looks like False Oat Grass, have grown high on Easters meadow but the Hogweed is even higher. A Song Thrush sings beside the river. Hemlock stands tall by the Brightwell’s fence. A small flock of Rooks passes over. There is more Hemlock further down the path and Teasels are rising high. A Harlequin Ladybird is on a Hogweed flower. These are very variable beetles, this one is black with an orange spot on each elytra that has a black dot in the centre.
The market is quite large and busy. Of course, I buy nothing!
Home – More weeding. Most the climbing beans have found their own way up the poles, although one goes to the next pole down and another heads off away across the bed. Kay has harvested over a kilogram of raspberries and nearly as many strawberries.
Wednesday – Home – A Raven croaks as it flies over, barrel-rolling in the air. The day is getting hotter. Summer Raspberries keep coming, several kilos have now been frozen along with jars of jam. Part of the orchard is strimmed, whilst a decision is made whether to cut it completely. The main lawn has not been cut for several weeks as the hot, dry weather means the grass is simply not growing. I am trying to avoid large scale watering but there appears to be no rain coming in the near future.
Thursday – Leominster – A pre-breakfast wander. The sun is already high in the sky but it is pleasantly cool but it is threatening to get much hotter later. Jackdaws chack from chimney tops. Swifts dash across the sky beneath a pale half moon. A Dunnock sings from a front garden. A muttering Blackbird disappears into a hedge.
Into Pinsley Mill. Rosebay Willowherb is coming into flower. The Manchester train growls as it heads north and a few minutes later the southbound Cardiff train slows down for the station. A Wren sings on the other side of the tracks. A Chiffchaff calls from near the river.
Into the churchyard. The bird song detector picks up Spotted Flycatcher, Goldcrest and Tree Creeper calls. I hear the song of the latter two but not the flycatcher and failed to actually locate any of them. All have been recorded in the trees here in previous years.
Home – The heat grows more intense. The chickens are hiding underneath the hen house in the shade. They have drunk all the water I put out this morning. I need to get another drinker. House Sparrows still find the energy to chirrup in the thick laurel bush. It is rather amusing to think back to June 2012 when I was complaining about the constant wet weather! Ox-eye Daisies have come into flower in the meadow. The great mass of pink roses across the Bramley apple and Walnut have finished but a few patches of the Rambling Rector are still bright and white.
Saturday – The Summer Solstice – Home – We are both weary after a very poor night’s sleep owing to the heat. The forecast states the heatwave will break over the weekend. The morning starts grey and cloudy but there are still periods of sunshine it the air is hot and muggy. The fruit on the Christmas Pippin apple tree is thinned, leaving only two apples per truss. A similar task is partially attempted with the Herefordshire Russet but the tree is too large now to be effective. The boughs of the Cambridge greengage bend ever more alarmingly with the weight of fruit. The raspberries keep coming, Kay picked over a kilo yesterday and just a little less today. Another six jars of jam are made. The strawberries are coming to an end. A few short showers of rain dampen the ground but nowhere near enough.
Sunday – Leominster – Dark clouds cover the sky and the morning is cooler than of late. The Chequers pub has a splendid display of red geraniums and roses. Swifts are higher in the sky this morning. Jackdaws continue to chack. The wind is rising rustling the trees beside the railway. A Chiffchaff and Wren are still in good voice. St John’s Wort, Rosebay Willowherb and Evening Primrose are in flower beside the old track. The water level in the River Lugg has fallen further. The remnants of a rusting bicycle are on the shingle bank; it is hard to see how or why it is there. The verdancy of Easters Meadow is now fading to pale brown. A Song Thrush sings by the river. A shingle bank is exposed at the confluence of the rivers Lugg and Kenwater. The occasional damselfly, a Meadow Brown and a Gatekeeper are seen but not a single bee.
The market is large and very busy. It appears East European fruit pickers have arrived in numbers. I purchase a tray of purple sprouting broccoli as I have little faith my seedlings are going to survive. Along Mill Street. The year’s first Pond Skaters are on the River Lugg beside Ridgemoor bridge. Pink roses tumble over the wall of the old railway crossing keeper’s house. It starts to rain.
Home – Showers of rain and occasional periods of sunshine continue through the day. The first potato plant, Sharpe’s Express, is dug with pleasing results. There are also a few broad beans and mangetout peas. Overnight there is more prolonged rain.
Monday – Home – The ground looks damp, so a reasonable amount of rain fell last night. The patch of the bed where most of the purple sprouting failed and the spinach bolted is cleared of the weeds that rapidly covered the ground. The new purple sprouting seedlings from the market are planted. The swedes have germinated too well and a considerable amount of thinning is necessary. The area is then well watered. A new fleece is then put over the bed with limited success; the wind does not help! The bramble at the bottom of the garden has sent out numerous runners, so they are chopped off. There is a decent number of flowers on the older bramble stems. There are two eggs in the nest, so it seems the Silver Rock is still not laying.
Wednesday – Home – A day of mixed weather – the sky darkened by grey clouds, then sunshine and around again. It is warm and fairly muggy. The raspberries keep coming. Kay must have picked over six kilos now. Another, and probably the last, batch of jam is made. I harvest a few broad beans, mangetout peas, radishes and some carrot thinnings for dinner. Two more Sharpe’s Express potato plants are dug; one has just a few tubers but the other has a fine crop. The first courgettes are getting bigger. The dwarf French beans are in flower. A row of lettuce seedlings go in, rather too late for any kind of succession cropping. Yesterday, Kay transferred the compost from the three plastic bins to the large wooden one – a job I used to do but have been told not to! Pink roses are opening on the bower across the path. Several large containers of red geraniums have come into flower on the patio make a beautiful display. Young Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens, Blue and Great Tits are around the garden.
Thursday – Hereford – Through the busy city centre. It is a little quieter on the Cathedral Green. We are waiting for the Roman Catholic church of St Francis Xavier to open. However, when we enter it is clear it has been open for some time as there are two large groups of school children being instructed by a priest, although their knowledge of biblical matters seems very limited. The church was built in 1839 to the designs of Charles Day from Worcester. As the restoration of the English Catholic hierarchy was not until 1850, the church has no windows, fearing that any would be broken during the early 19th century by anti-Catholic riots. The church was built on the site of a chapel used by the Society of Jesus during the reformation, hence it was dedicated to St Francis Xavier, a 16th century Jesuit missionary. The building is on Broad Street, a neoclassical building with fluted Doric columns. A life size statue of St Peter in the vestibule the foot of which is bright bronze where worshipers have worn out by touching. Inside the nave is a glass dome lightwell. Behind the ornate high altar is a gilded tabernacle modelled on the one at the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament of St. Peter’s in Rome. To the right of the altar is the shrine of St John Kemble, one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, containing his hand which was also chopped off when he was beheaded in 1679. A number of statues are on the walls. Around the walls are the twelve stations of the cross based on designs first shown to the public at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. The font is of Gothic design with gilded trefoil detail and grotesques. It was relocated from the church of St Denis in Harewood and was originally situated in Chardstock in Dorset In a side room is a display of a replica of the Turin Shroud. A speaker comments that the history of the shroud rises and falls, but currently it seems that the view is that it comes from the correct period but exactly what the shroud is remains unknown.
Friday – Leominster – Clouds drift across the sky occasionally obscuring the sun and a southeasterly wind keep the morning cooler than the eastern areas of the country. Onto the railway bridge. House Sparrows chatter behind the railway station and a Wren and Chiffchaff still call in the riverside woodland. St John’s Wort, Ragwort, Evening Primrose, Rosebay Willowherb, Ox-eye Daisies and Buddleia flower below the bridge.
The water level in the River Lugg has fallen even more since the weekend. A large Ash tree has fallen in the woods, its topmost branches out across the river. Back through Pinsley Mill. Bindweed is coming into flower by the fence. Into the orchard. Apples are forming on the trees, it looks like it will be a good crop again. White butterflies dance across the grass in the churchyard. A Mistle Thrush rasps from the top of a conifer. A Wren and Chaffinch are both in song. The thin,squeaky song of a Treecreeper comes from near the playground.
Sunday – Leominster – It seems some time since we have seen what we call a “Leominster grey” sky, one covered in pewter coloured cloud. The occasional chack from a Jackdaw and a cooing Wood Pigeon are heard down the street. Both were much noisier at five o’clock this morning. A Goldfinch twitters from a television aerial. Over the railway and on to Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg has fallen slightly again. Onto Easters Meadow. Nearly all the umbellifers have turned brown. A dead mole lies on the path. A tatty chocolate coloured Ringlet butterfly is in the grass. A Chiffchaff calls from the roadside hedges. Hedge Woundwort has come into flower. Cinnabar moth caterpillars, red soldier beetles and ladybirds are on Ragwort. Brightwells’ compound is empty of lorries, just a few artic trailers a caravan and some cars are left. Rather small Meadow Brown butterfly flits past. At the confluence of the rivers Lugg and Kenwater, a Dipper bobs up and down in the shallow water beside a shingle bank. Cleavers are climbing up a branch into an Oak tree. Green haws are beginning to take on a yellowish hue, a few others are already turning red. Cheaton Brook is getting shallower.
At the petrol station under refurbishment, the pipes have now been laid in a large shallow hole. Ridgemoor Brook is getting shallower.The market is less busy this week, fewer sellers and punters. The sun makes an appearance and it quickly warms up. However thicker and darker clouds are rapidly moving in.
A pair of small Brown Trout drift in the current upstream from Ridgemoor Bridge. Into Paradise Walk. A ginger and white cat runs off the path into the old recreation area sparking an alarm call from a Wren. Like the other waterways the River Kenwater gets ever more shallow. The wind is rising.
Home – A single Red Duke of York potato plant is dug, giving more than enough potatoes for dinner. Some mangetout and broad beans are gathered. Kay is still harvesting raspberries.
Llanrwst – We park behind the modern library and head out into Heol Yr Gorsef, Station Road. Opposite is the large Capel Seion, the Methodist chapel, built 1881-1883. It has large columns behind which are two marble plaques, one a list of former ministers, the other a war memorial. Beside it is a large cemetery. Across the road is the Horeb Methodist Chapel, built in 1805 and then rebuilt in 1837,1866 and 1884, the latter built by architect Richard Davies of Bangor in the Gothic style. It now is closed amid undergoing repair. On down the street into Bridge Street and Ancaster Square. A stone clock tower stands beside a small market. Along Tan-yr-Eglwys to the church of St Grwst. By the gate to the churchyard is a passage which was once the ground floor apartment of Jesus Hospital, almshouses founded by Sir John Wynn circa 1610-1612. Across the lane is a cottage called The Sexton’s House, dating from the 19th century.
believed have been rebuilt in 1470s following destruction of Llanrwst in 1468 by Earl of Pembroke. The tower is early 19th century with the north aisle a while later. The church was restored in 1882-1884 by Paley and Austin. At the entrance to the chancel is a late 15th to early 16th century lofted rood screen, considered to be one of the best in Wales. Attached to the Chancel is the Gwydir Chapel added by Sir John Wynn in 1633-34. The nave has been recently re-floored in pale stone, somewhat incongruous. In the Gwydir chapel is a low stone table on which is an alabaster effigy of an infant (Sydney Wynn died 1639). A fine 13th century stone coffin is said to be that of Llewelyn the Great. Nearby is the effigy of knight, said to be Hywel Coetmore, (circa 1440) plate and mail armour, dog at feet. On the south is a very ornate wall monument to Sir John Wynn and his wife Sydney. Around the walls is 17th century decorated panelling and a lectern of a similar age.
Castle built by Edward I, between 1283 and 1287, as part of a wider project to create the walled town of Conwy, the combined defences costing around £15,000, a massive sum for the period. Over the next few 
centuries, the castle played an important part in several wars. It withstood the siege of Madog ap Llywelyn in the winter of 1294–95, acted as a temporary haven for Richard II in 1399 and was held for several months by forces loyal to Owain Glyndŵr in 1401. It was held by Royalist forces in the Civil War, surrendering to Parliament in 1646 and slighted and finally partially dismantled in 1665. However, impressive ruins remain, including the eight tall towers, one of which I climb by the winding steps to a vertiginous height with wonderful views across the town and the Conwy estuary.
the original bridge by Telford replacing the ferry, built in 1826, now a pedestrian only route; a tubular railway bridge built by Robert Stephenson in 1849 for the Chester and Holyhead Railway and still in use and a modern road bridge. The North Wales Expressway, the A55, passes under the river through a tunnel built in the late 20th century. Herring Gull chicks are on the top of the railway bridge and in an outer tower of the town wall. We wander through the town to the Liverpool Arms, an old pub on the docks, partially built into the town wall. Back up the High Street past the Palace Cinema built in 1935 by Sidney Colwyn Foulkes. At the top of the street is a fountain designed in 1898 by Grayson & Ould of James Street, Liverpool, with a bronze figure of Llewelyn the Great modelled by E O Griffith, also of Liverpool.
visitors’ centre and café. We do not stay long as the wind is blowing a gale.
Owen Williams, an architect and surveyor from Liverpool, presented Lord Mostyn with plans to develop the marshlands behind Llandudno Bay as a holiday resort. These were enthusiastically pursued by Lord Mostyn. The influence of the Mostyn Estate and its agents over the years was paramount in the development of Llandudno, especially after the appointment of George Felton as surveyor and architect in 1857. Large sections of the town are still owned by Mostyn Estates who maintain strict rules on the maintenance of buildings, ensuring that Llandudno has avoided the run-down look of many holiday resorts. There are some fine buildings, including The Palladium, a theatre of the early 20th century, originally of 1400 seats; later divided into a cinema and bingo hall. The building was designed by A Hewitt and is now a pub; the Siloh Welsh Presbyterian chapel of 1905 designed in the Baroque style; the Grand Hotel, designed by J Francis Doyle of Liverpool and built in 1900 on a rock plateau on the sea shore and on the site of the Baths Hotel of 1870s and a great sweep of hotels around the bay from the mid 19th century. We walk out onto the pier built in the mid to late 19th century. There is the nostalgic scent of fried doughnuts, fish and chips etc.
The weather is very changeable at the moment. The morning starts with fine drizzle but even eventually the sun wins. The ground has had a reasonable amount of rain over the past few days and everything is looking bright and green. The blue-green eggs continue to appear and we now are getting small brown ones. It is not at all clear who is laying what. The young hens are getting bolder and whilst the old Warren gives a peck to everyone now and again, there is generally peace. Young Blackbirds are in the trees demanding to be fed. The local Chiffchaff is still calling. A Lunar Yellow Underwing moth, Noctua orbona, is in the bathroom, sadly deceased. Two Egghead Mottlegill, Panaeolus semiovatus, toadstools are growing on the courgette bed, brought in on the dung buried there.
chatter behind The Chequers. Further down the street, a Greenfinch wheezes from behind the houses. Onto the railway bridge. Four Rabbits are below, disappearing into small tunnels beneath the Brambles. Despite the heavy rains of recent days the water level in the River Lugg seems unchanged.
river. Another makes the “tapping pebbles” call. Water Crowfoot has come into flower on the edge of the river, white petals on the surface of the river. A small White-tailed Bumblebee moves across a Hogweed flower head. A female Mallard flies rapidly downstream followed by a Common Buzzard drifting across the sky.
out by a loud Blackbird, several Wrens and an equally loud Chaffinch. A dozen Blackbirds are scattered across the Grange. Flocks of Jackdaws are engaged in their morning perambulations around the town.
the reformation, hence it was dedicated to St Francis Xavier, a 16th century Jesuit missionary. The building is on Broad Street, a neoclassical building with fluted Doric columns. A life size statue of St Peter in the vestibule the foot of which is bright bronze where worshipers have worn out by touching. Inside the nave is a glass dome lightwell. Behind the ornate high altar is a gilded tabernacle modelled on the one at the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament of St. Peter’s in Rome. To the right of the altar is the shrine of St John Kemble, one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, containing his hand which was also chopped off when he was beheaded in 1679. A number of statues are on the walls. Around the walls are the twelve stations of the cross based on designs first shown to the public at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. The font is of Gothic design with gilded trefoil detail and grotesques. It was relocated from the church of St Denis in Harewood and was originally situated in Chardstock in Dorset In a side room is a display of a replica of the Turin Shroud. A speaker comments that the history of the shroud rises and falls, but currently it seems that the view is that it comes from the correct period but exactly what the shroud is remains unknown.