Penblwydd hapus (Happy Birthday) x 2

Just returned from a lovely few days walking the Gower. Stayed with the lovely Patsy and her equally lovely dog Oakey in their cosy cottage in Port Enyon just round from Rhoselli Beach.

This year, the Gower Peninsula celebrates 63 years since becoming the UK’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1956. Covering 188 sq km, it was awarded its AONB status for its classic coastline.

On one hilarious walk, on the hills between Scurladge and Pilton, we hiked knee deep in bracken and heather

OK which way next guys ??

through the mist

guided by the ponies

we made it to the trig point in the end

An earlier walk took us over the coastal path, via the old Salt House at Port Enyon, and back through the village.

It was also a celebratory weekend. Patsy’s birthday on the Tuesday, celebrated first on the beach near Rhoselli with friends, dogs, bubbles and giant waves. Up to the pub for refreshments then back with Kate, David and Harry to their holiday let for a chip supper n improvised karaoke.

The following day was Julies big birthday it was her ?0^th. After a strawberry breakfast, and a Skype with Marion in Rwanda, another shorter beach walk to a different pub.

On the way we stopped to admire a cliff top view when this lovely man invited us into his garden, with a terrace down to the sea, and regaled us with tales of his past and the house/garden renovation.

Dore Abbey and The Garden in the Wind

Dore Abbey was established in 1147 and is a former Cistercian abbey on the bank of the Dore in Herefordshire.

The Abbey contains an amazing collection of wood workings and sculpture.

After a brief interlude it was off to The Garden in the Wind. The Garden has an open aspect to the Black Mountains, with spectacular views over the from the Skirrid to Black Hill along the whole Hatterrall Ridge,  and westerly winds present a challenge to gardening at this altitude.

The garden is also home to a collection of sculptures by British and Continental artists and is the Wales and West of England home for the Art & Memory collection of carved lettering.

The garden has over a dozen themed areas and a very impressive rill.

and building extension

Work has started on adding new trees and shrubs to an outlying area creating a new pathway into an area of woodland.

20 Gardens in 2 Days

Well 19 to be exact – one we couldn’t find.

Astley Country Gardens

The first group of 8 gardens, well spread out over the surrounding countryside, included a Grade ll listed half timbered house with sub tropical planting, stumpery with tree ferns and woodland temple, underground grotto and water features; classical style garden with a variety of features, a half acre garden with mixed borders and large paddock with specimen trees; a Grade ll listed C16 farmhouse garden with herbaceous borders, small feature courtyard leading to a part-walled terrace and lily pond; thatched cottage surrounded by mixed borders, bedding displays and woodland; spacious garden with beautiful views and a lake in a secluded valley with an arboretum; farmhouse garden with stream and bog garden, mixed borders and pathways through shrubs and woodland; country bungalow with choice plants in a cottage style garden and wildlife pools.

Broughton Poggs and Filkins Gardens

These two Cotswold villages, near Lechlade, contained 12 open gardens and an allotment. Scale and character varied from the grand landscape setting of Filkins Hall, to the small but beautifully formed Pigeon Cottage, Taylor Cottage and The Tallot.

There was also an interesting display of bonsai – including maples...

... and some interesting garden art.

Broughton Poggs Mill had a rushing mill stream; Pip Cottage combined topiary, box hedges and a picturesque rural view.

We also visited the small but perfectly formed Swinford Museum in Filkins. Two small cottages containing exhibitions of bygone Farming, music and masonry.

We were also entertained by the ‘Rock Choir’.

The village pub also had an unusual name – the Five Alls. Originally, this depicted the Queen who governs all, a Lawyer who pleads for all, a Parson who prays for all, a Soldier who fights for all, and a Farmer who pays for all. Some years later, however, a different mix of Alls was adopted, the Queen being replaced by the Devil, who takes all. Elsewhere in the country there are a few similarly-named inns with slight variations on the Alls theme: there is a Four Alls where the Lawyer is left out, and a Six Alls with both the Queen and the Devil included.

Falkirk and New Lanark

The Kelpies can be found at the Grangemouth end of Helix Park at the confluence of the Forth/Clyde and Union canals. The Helix is an ecopark, part of the Falkirk Greenscape Initiative, transforming 350 hectares of land between Falkirk and Grangemouth and connecting 16 local communities through an extensive network of paths.

The Kelpies - Duke and Baron - name reflected the mythological transforming beasts possessing the strength and endurance of 10 horses. Water kelpies are the Scots name given to a shape-shifting water spirit inhabiting the lochs and pools of Scotland. The photos hardly do justice to the scale and magnificence of these structures. At 30-metre-high the two horse-head sculptures were designed to depicting the heavy horse of Scottish industry, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges and coalships that shaped the layout of the Falkirk area.

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in central Scotland, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal – a height equating to eight double decker buses. Constructed to 21st century, state-of-the-art engineering it is already being recognised as an iconic landmark of Scotland's traditional engineering expertise. Designed to replace a series of lock gates built in the 19th century which have long since been demolished. 

Built ostensibly as a working boat lift it has become a major tourist attraction and it is possible to take a trip on the Wheel. We ascended in Archimedes – aptly named as the wheel works on his principle of displacement. Due to this concept the two cradles are equally balanced whatever their content and it therefore takes very little (green) power to turn the Wheel.

New Lanark Mill is a World Heritage Site,  a unique 18th-century mill village sitting alongside the River Clyde. There you can walk through millworkers’ houses, historic working machinery and view the nearby ‘Falls of Clyde’ waterfalls. The tour also includes the Annie McLeod Experience' ride which takes you back in time, Owen's School for Children, working textile machinery, People & Cotton exhibition, roof garden and village store.

The cotton mill village of New Lanark which was founded in the 18th century and became known, under the enlightened management of social pioneer Robert Owen, for providing decent homes, fair wages, free health care, a new education system for villagers and the first workplace nursery school in the world.