The Elan Valley in the Great British Mid-Summer...

A not-very-sunny day in the Elan Valley before visiting the Royal Welsh Show at Builth Wells tomorrow.

The Elan Valley is one of my favourite places but is very much more attractive in bright weather. These pics were taken very quickly inbetween very heavy downpours which continued throughout the day.

Caban Coch


Garreg Ddu viaduct



Pont ar Elan


Craig Goch


Craig Goch


Craig Goch


Pen-y-Garreg


Pen-y-Garreg


Claerwen


Claerwen


River Wye at Rhayader

Peace ... Soon

Groan...

... And missed it all by only seconds

(What a shame... Yeee haaa!)

Home again

The history bit

This might upload as a high resolution pic.

Artist at work

Home time

I've crammed as much as possible into this one day of good weather and now it's time to amble back and start the 4 hour drive home. The country wailers should be hoarse by now. I hope.

Industrial remains...

Pembrokeshire coastal path view

Porthgain village

Porthgain and former brickworks

Porthgain harbour

Porthgain

Why couldn't the weather have been like this yesterday...

Abereiddy

Blue lagoon

Former slate quarry, Abereiddy

Surfing at Abereiddy

Porthclais harbour

Porthclais

Ramsey Sound

Looking towards Ramsey island

Ramsey Sound

St. Justinian 3

St. Justinian 2

St. Justinian

Surfers at Newgale

Guess where...

Milford haven 4

Milford haven 3

Milford haven 2

Milford haven

A wild night

That was the wildest night i've had for some time. I started off bearing the full brunt of the force 6 gale then moved to a more sheltered spot but still the wind raged around me and the rain lashed horizontally from all directions. No leaks - luckily but i still need to do some proofing to be prepared for more summer weather. It's quite mild but still nice to have a heatpad stuffed into freebie shaun.

A quiet night in

Never say i don't know how to have a good time... I've dried off with kitchen roll, washed my feet in cold water, warmed up a heat pad for the fun of it and settled down with my wind-up radio. It would be even better if i was in a reception area...

Tonight's view

Another long evening. I've barely set foot out of the car today and each time i became drenched in seconds. The rain is now much heavier and accompanied by force 6 gales. I've been driving with headlamps on all afternoon and it's more like november than july. It's hard to believe we were in the midst of a heatwave just a week ago.

Health and safety gone too far...

I've just been into Tesco at HAverfordwest to buy some scissors having left my camping knife at home. These cheap scissors are 'not for sale to persons under 18' and 'can be dangerous if misused' so a supervisor had to be summoned to confirm i am over 18 and authorise the sale. (If only she knew what i'm going to cut in half with them!!) They're secured with tough cable ties so i've had to return to another branch to cut through them. Tesco are being very careful....

Porthgain

One of my favourite hamlets but not quite as picturesque today. The buildings are former brickworks and the cliff walk leads to a former harbour now frequented by seals.

Abercastle

In the rain. Normally i'd stroll up to carreg sampson...

Sandy haven

Sandy haven

Awaiting low tide to expose the stepping stones