Monday 10 August 2015

Pembroke, the Welsh far west

Driving to Pembroke you do get a sense of how far west it is compared to the other Welsh counties. Its eastern borders are for the most part, further west than most counties western borders. You can almost sense the proximity of Eire as witnessed by the regularly departing ferries on a 3 hour journey from either Milford Haven (Aberdaugleddau) or Fishguard (Abergwaun). 

We stayed in Pembroke, the county town, that is very old and remarkably well preserved both in the number of old buildings and the layout of the streets. Henry VII was famously born at the Castle that is itself in remarkably good condition with glass windows in many of the apertures. The high street has many fine pubs and we ate at the Kings Head that served Dylan's excellent dark beer. I had a fantastic curry and the prices were very reasonable.


We visited all of Pembroke's major towns and were able to surmise that in size and popularity and population Tenby was clearly the winner and the most major centre. It also has connections with Henry VII who escaped to France from here, and Dylan Thomas who frequented some of the pubs. It also has probably the most western located Sainsbury's in the United Kingdom if not the world.





To get in touch with nature we took a trip to Skomer Island where we saw puffins and fulmars in amongst a plethora of gulls and rabbits. A beautiful island and we took 4 hours to walk right round but not the most interesting, either that or all the animals were hiding. Skomer is also home to a lichen that is unique to this island.

Monday 3 August 2015

Sixties the new middle age

After another break I am back, I cannot decide if I am a blogger or not...still we will see.

This blog is about new experiences and not giving in to the dark side. When I think about moments in my past there have been some that I have not been terribly proud of, others that were turning points and have remained with me all my life. Like the day I decided to move to Canada and more telling, the day I decided to move back home to the UK. We are all faced with momentous decisions, getting married, having children, career choices.
R2D2 on Cereal
But as you move into your sixties the focus dramatically changes. Yes there are those career minded people who work into their dotage, or the man who decides to start a family with a young wife. Des O'Connor for one. But generally the sixties are a time for winding down, taking stock and enjoying the fruits of your years of work. I always wondered what it would be like for me and to be quite honest some things have not changed:

Star Wars defined my coming of age, I saw the first movie in 1978 at the Odeon and here I am at 61 faced with part VII coming on to the world stage as strong as ever.  No change then.

I can remember listening to Radio 1 in 1967 with Tony Blackburn and all the hits of the day and I was barely 13. Today I have spent a happy afternoon listening to Greg James on Radio 1. No change then.

The author with a local author
I had my first model railway at the age of 14 or 15 and I had grand ideas. Today I worked on my new model railway and posted a video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-VnYVBR4xs  I am not sure if it is any better than those ones I did in the sixties but it must be my fifteenth or sixteenth attempt at getting it right. No change clearly !!!

What is certain is my intention to adopt the mantra of not going gentle into that good night. I have a life to live and I will live it. I am not exactly sure when I made this decision but if I were to place a point for it I would say at age 59 and 11 months precisely. I have not looked back, I could spend my years feeling apologetic for my misdeeds or I could say the page has turned and this is a new era where neither blame nor accolade is justified. 
Random photo of my travels.
Lady Godiva in Coventry

.......and one of my commitments is to use this blog as a record of my life from hereon in. So if you follow me and are curious then please bookmark and return in a week or so to see the first effort.

Blessings upon you all