Camping in Cynwyd, Denbighshire

Tuesday 21 July 2020 

Nido's parked up at the very peaceful and beautiful Felin Uchaf campsite, in the village of Cynwyd, which is just south of Corwen in Denbighshire. We have the site to ourselves and the friendly owner has been across for a chat. It's a Camping and Caravanning Club 'Certified Site' with 5 pitches available to club members. 

This is our first trip away since some of the lockdown restrictions were lifted in Wales. Campsite facilities still remain closed until later this month, but as we're self-sufficient we're allowed to stay. We did go away for a few days in February, to New Quay in Ceredigion, which was Salty's first trip away in the van. But the weather was pretty dreadful and, apart from a couple of hours on the beach, we were stuck inside most of the time. It did feel a bit strange leaving Anglesey this morning, the first time we've been off the island for 5 months. It's also taking some time get used to the van routine again - what goes where, what switches to press and so on, but we'll soon get back into the swing of it! 

We left home at 1000 this morning for the 1.5 hour journey here. We'd packed up most things in the van yesterday. Salty seemed off his food last night and this morning and we eventually worked out that he wasn't sure if he'd be coming with us - bless him! He does love being inside the van and has a choice of several different snoozing areas (none of which are on our bed though!). The roads through Snowdonia were fairly quiet; a marked contrast to the weekend just gone, when the crowds descended (and ascended). The Police had to eventually take charge of the cars parked along narrow roads (so that emergency vehicles could get through) and I heard the illegally parked cars were all issued tickets. 

The 5 pitches here are all hardstanding and we were soon parked up, electric plugged in and kettle on. A cuppa was in order first thing, sat outside under a cloudy but warm sky. We also enjoyed some bara brith made by our next-door-neighbour. We had a bit of an explore of the river (Afon Trystion) that runs just below the campsite and, walking upstream, discovered the Rayadfa Cynwyd (waterfalls) next to the mill house where the owners of the campsite live. It's a beautiful waterfall with a small but quite deep pool at the base - perfect for a dip after a hot day walking in the mountains! Salty took advantage and really enjoyed sliding down the rocks into the water! He was a bit timid with water when we first got him, but loves a dip and zoom now. 

We walked out of the site and followed the road running up the side of the valley, with some lovely drystone walls and ancient trees. We stopped half way on a long bench (perfect for social distancing!), before reaching the reservoir, where Salty again had a swim and a bit of a crazy run around. Back down the hill to the site, by the time we returned the sun was starting to break through and we sat outside with another cuppa. I'd prepared most of our meals at home yesterday, so they just need warming up. We were hungry so had an early meal of dhal and naan before sitting outside reading and snoozing. Later on we went back to the waterfall, which was now bathed in beautiful hot sunshine and had a paddle. We followed the rocky path up to the next level and discovered another waterfall and pool above the first one. Supper was a cup of tea and some toasted crumpets and butter and we're now relaxing in the van, listening to the silence. 

I've mentioned Salty and this is the first time he's appeared in the blog. He's a Patterdale Terrier and about 18 months old. We adopted him last December from a rescue centre in South Wales. Just a few days before, he'd come over from Ireland. We don't know his full history, apart from he hadn't spent much of the first year of his life outside, so even grass was new to him and we had to teach him how to play with his toys. He was quite timid but has settled very quickly and is now a full (and the most boisterous) member of the team! He loves running on the beach and in the dunes, although he does tend to bolt if he sees people and other dogs - he's too sociable for his own good! 

We're here until Friday and plan to do some walking over the next couple of days, so long as the weather holds. There's no phone signal so I can't check the forecast, but it also means there's no temptation to check up on the news or Twitter - a bit of a social media break, which is no bad thing. It does feel a bit strange writing this blog after such a long break; I've not written since our month in France last year, so it'll take a bit of time to get back into the swing of it. Reading this back, it does feel a bit like a narrative, so I'll need to up my game and penmanship! We're all very sleepy now, so an early night I think, ready for what I hope will be an enjoyable walk in the Berwyn mountains tomorrow. 

Interesting fencing

Wednesday 22 July 2020 

It rained softly and gently in the night and morning brought a cloudy sky but a warm day. Today's plan was a circular walk through the forest and into the Berwyn mountains, about 8 miles in total. 

The first section was a repeat of yesterday - following the 'North Berwyn Way', up the steep road and past the reservoir. We continued on past some smallholdings and into Cynwyd Forest, dark and thick with mature pine trees. The valley sides were steep and the path traversed this, before dropping down onto one of the many tracks used by the lorries to remove the chopped trees. Quite a bit of forestry was ongoing, although the heavy machinery used to access, cut and move the trees had made a dreadful mess of the ground. In some places the trenches from the tracks were over 2ft deep and filled with mud and water. As we like to say....'custodians of the countryside my a**e!'. It was sad to see the forest turned into such a quagmire. 

We left the forest behind and climbed steadily along a stony track into heather moor - as far as the eye could see. There was little to break up the monotony of the hills, except for the odd lonely pine tree and areas of heather that had been cut to no doubt favour the grouse shooting up here. We were hit by a short, sharp shower that we watched creep up to us from the valley to the west, so had to don waterproof jackets for a while. We walked up to the ridge line, where the North Berwyn Way turned left to reach the summit of Moel Fferna. We instead turned right and followed a barely visible path through heather, with boggy, peaty ground to our right, following a wire fence steadily uphill. This was quite hard going as we couldn't see where we were placing our feet and I slipped over once, falling in slow motion to a soft landing in the heather, accompanied by a chuckle behind me (and it wasn't Salty laughing!). We stopped at the summit - Cerrig Coediog - for lunch, sheltering from the wind behind a small, rocky outcrop, looking east towards even more heather-clad hills, with not a building in site. The sun broke through and stayed with us for the rest of the walk. 

Descending, we met up with the local warden and his assistant, who advised us that our return route was 'quite challenging' - he wasn't wrong! We could see our target - a light-coloured track in one corner of Cynwyd Forest. But the route followed a rough line along the edge of several streams. The problem was, there was no defined path and we had to walk through heather, gorse, chest high bracken and wetland bogs! It took a couple of hours, lots of re-checking of the route on the map, some very wet feet and quite a bit of swearing! It was really hard going and, had I known the terrain would be like that, I would probably have just reversed back the way we came. But we made it eventually for a long walk back along forest tracks and the road past the reservoir, back to the campsite. 

We were pretty shattered and aching, but a hot shower, a pre-cooked chicken curry and some alcohol helped deaden the pain. Even Salty was soon snoring in his favourite chair in the van. An early night was had by all! 

Destroyed forest undergrowth

View from our lunch spot

The walk off back to the forest - through 'challenging terrain'!

Thursday 23 July 2020 

We all slept well after our epic walk yesterday. It was agreed we'd try and give featureless grouse moors a miss on future walks....and I agreed to stick to clearly defined footpaths when planning them! After a hearty breakfast (Salty enjoyed a little piece of toast and butter too), we walked 5 minutes down the road to the village of Cynwyd. The village has a compact centre with a square at its centre. There used to be two pubs until recently, but only the Blue Lion is still in business, currently closed due to COVID-19. The Spar shop and Post Office was doing good trade though. There seemed to be a lot of renovation work going on in the small terraced cottages and the village had a nice community feel. 

Our walk today was much gentler, starting in large, open fields, silage recently cut and gathered in. The path ran alongside the river Dee as it winds its way towards Chester via Corwen. There was plenty of wildlife, including quite a few geese in the fields and on the river. The wide, flowing river, open fields, abundance of mature trees and old, stone buildings really had the feel of the Dordogne - green, timeless and ignorant of current world events. With no mobile phone signal, it's been lovely to forget about the news for a few days and just enjoy the peace and quiet of this part of Wales. The footpath eventually joined the old railway line, which is part of the North Berwyn Way we followed yesterday. The railway line and sleepers have all been removed and nature has been allowed to reclaim it, with just a grassy path to walk through. The route took us north, again following the Dee, towards Corwen. The line reaches the very busy A5 about a quarter of a mile from Corwen and, not wanting to walk along a road full of HGVs, we reversed our route back to the village. 

On the way back up to the campsite, we met again with the owner, who was cleaning a cottage they own and are about to rent out. We had a good natter about the village and what goes on in the area; it seems community is a big part of life here, which is lovely to see.  

The rest of the day has been spent lazing around the van, reading and snoozing. Dinner was a steak of beef skirt, a cut often known as the 'butcher's cut'. It's very tasty although not as tender as some steaks, but it cooked really well. I made a salad and some garlic bread to go with it, enjoyed with a glass of rosé. Salty has spent most of the afternoon and evening (and still is) asleep on the passenger seat - his favourite spot. I think we've really worn him out the past few days! 

Tomorrow we head home. It's been good to get away even only for a few days, and not that far from home. We've enjoyed relaxing in and around the van again and exploring a part of Wales we haven't visited before. I'd recommend the area and particularly the campsite - Felin Uchaf - thanks Nan and Gwyn for a warm welcome and enjoyable stay. Hopefully if we visit again the village pub will be open and we can a pint after our next walk.

River Dee

Enjoying a paddle

Old railway line to Corwen

BBQ time!

Maesycrugiau, Carmarthenshire - 3 - 14 August

Our journey

Our next house sit was deep in the Welsh countryside in the county of Carmenshire, in the tiny village of Maesycrugiau, near the market town of Lampeter. We've been to this area before when we did a house sit south of Camarthen last Easter. We spent a few days making our way down in the campervan beforehand.  Our first stop was planned to be a C&CC temporary holiday site in Criccieth. However, on arrival, we were unable to get the van up the steeply sloping field, which was very wet underfoot. So Plan B was another THS just outside Tywyn, close to the sea. This one was in a fairly level field, although again quite wet. We'd planned to stay for a couple of nights; but while the campsite was OK, the town and seafront was very tired. We'd already booked a C&MC CL (5-pitch site) in the hamlet of Forge, just outside Machynlleth (CL is called Plas Forge) for the third night so we rang them and booked another night. On arrival I had a walk around to test the ground - more soggy field! But there was a long, gravelled road in and we were able to park on it at the bottom. It was a beautiful spot, surrounded by mountains and trees, with a river running alongside the site. We spoke to the owner and he told us he fed the kites each day at 3pm. About an hour before these large birds of prey started to appear, calling and circling overhead, an amazing sight. We walked up to the road to get a better view and watched them circle, turn and then, en-masse, swoop down to grab some meat. It was incredible to see so many; we counted 28 but the owner told us up to 50 came on one occasion last year! They stayed around for another hour or so before dispersing back to their own territory.  The next morning we followed a circular walk of about 7 miles; the owner kindly lent us an OS map. It was a lovely walk, a mix of lanes, forest paths, hills and open fields, surrounded by mountains in all directions.  We only met one couple walking, plus one man as we chatted to a lady who lived on one of the farms we passed through. It was a very warm day with plenty of sunshine. As we returned to the van the last of the kites were circling after feeding time and the rain started. Showered and fed, the man we'd seen out walking came into the site to camp.  His name was Rob and he's walking the Glyndŵr's Way, some of which we covered today. He was carrying his tent and belongings and had been walking for some days. We made him a brew and sat outside to chat to him; a really nice guy. We offered him some hot water and our blue bucket so he could clean up as this site has no facilities; we know how great a hot wash is after a long walk. Today we also had news from our estate agent that an increased offer had been made on our house, which we accepted - let's see if this one actually gets to exchange! So these last two days in the peace and quiet were very relaxing and I think we'll definitely be coming back to this past of Wales. 

The house and area

We're looking after a large detached house which, until the early 1980s, was the village post office and, in earlier days, also the telephone exchange.  The owners have been here a few months and have started a large programme of refurbishment.  There's a large garden around the house which attracts many wild birds, plus another landscaped garden with a pond just across the road, looking over the valley and hills.  They also have two acres of land. One is a young orchard with a polytunnel and some veg beds; part of our job was to keep them maintained and watered, plus enjoy the veg.  The other field is a wildflower meadow. They have plans to turn this into a small campsite.  The house is in a small hamlet in a village a few miles from Lampeter.  It's close to the river Teifi, which is a popular fly-fishing river.  It was very quiet here with no artificial light, so on clear evenings (not many as it rained most days!) the milky way was very bright.  We walked alongside the river and down some of the quiet lanes.

Cow eating the garden!

The pets


We looked after three lovely cats: Twizzle, Smee and Fidget.  They all had their own personalities and characters and were clearly loving the country life, often only appearing at meal times.  We soon knew we were in their gang, as they left us a few headless 'presents' on the kitchen floor!  They were easy to look after and eventually came to sit with us. Although not strictly pets, we also fed the birds plus put out special food for the hedgehogs to enjoy at night. Here's photos of the cats; Fidget lived up to his name and took an age to get his photo!

Smee - assuming the position!

Fidget is hard to capture - he found the Mac cover a warm spot!

Twizzle - he found Cathy's chair very comfortable

Our days

The weather was a bit mixed but we still managed to get a few jobs done.  This included stacking a huge pile of logs near the top wildflower field, weeding and cleaning the wooden decking. We also spent time in the polytunnel, watering, weeding and picking some lovely veg, which we enjoyed each day.  On the first Sunday we drove to Pembrey Country Park, on the coast, to meet up with some friends from Gosport who were camping in their caravan. It was great to see them again and have a good chat. They made us a lovely lunch and we enjoyed a walk along the beach with their dog Meg; however the very strong wind and rain on that day curtailed the walk.  We also had a sunny but very windy day out on the beach at Traeth Mwnt on the Ceredigion coast, close to Aberporth. I'd anchored off Aberporth several times in warships, as it has an MOD site that monitors and analyses high seas missile firings, particularly surface to surface missiles.  We also had a day out at the Dolaucothi gold mine, which included a great guided tour.

I stacked a huge pile of logs to season for their log burner

If you want to benefit from the warmth of a polytunnel, you need to water

Nido stands out in the car park above Traeth Mwnt

Traeth Mwnt

Blowing a hooley on top of the hill

And to finish

The owners returned after their 10 day break late on Sunday evening. I cooked a chicken curry, aloo gobi (using their home grown potatoes and cauliflower), and rice and we sat eating and catching up on our respective weeks. We slept in the van that night as we need to leave early the next morning as we'd arranged a few house viewings on Anglesey, basing ourselves at another Camping and Caravanning Club temporary holiday sites at Treaddur Bay.   

Bitter Sweet

I hadn't planned to write a post for the weekend just gone - we were visiting a regular haunt and I didn't think there'd be much new to share.  But a few highlights and lowlights - Bitter Sweet moments - changed my mind.

I'd booked Friday afternoon off work and we drove to the north coast of the Llyn Peninsula to stop for a night or two at Porth Ysgaden, a small but very pretty cove with safe sea swimming and wonderful sunsets. We've been here before and enjoyed our stay.  This is wild camping, but we're respectful of our surroundings - we don't overstay our welcome - and we're grateful for the opportunity to enjoy such a beautiful spot.  So rather than a wordy narrative, I thought I'd list the Sweet and Bitter, with a (short) explanation where useful:

Sweet:

Swimming in the cove in the evening light - all alone (at least Cathy did!).

Several sea swims in different locations - refreshing, invigorating, smile-inducing.

Sat quietly watching the sun set into the sea.

The sight and calls of oyster catchers and other sea birds.

Meeting a local guy (sorry I didn't get your name) wild camping in his motorhome - friendly, interesting and knowledgeable about local birdlife and foraging for food, including fishing, picking wild thyme and rock samphire. He also taught me how to use the crab/fish trap, a birthday present from Nicola & Chris. What a pleasure to spend time talking to him.

Meeting Joy and Ian - a couple who were wild camping in a small VW with a pop-up roof. They had read my blog hence their visit to Porth Ysgaden.  It's nice to know someone reads my ramblings!  We hope you enjoyed the peace and quiet and cycling along the empty Llyn lanes.

Coastal walks in hot sunshine.

Lunch at the Ty Coch Inn - great beer and food - I couldn't finish my huge plateful!

Light rock fishing - nothing caught this time but fun watching the small wrasse and blennies chasing my sand eel lure in the gin-clear water!

Discovering new beaches and coves - we particularly liked Porth Nefyn.  A beach we'll definitely return to.

Collecting seaglass and 'lucky stones' - fast becoming an addictive compulsion.

Bitter:

Rubbish on the tidal line.  We always collect rubbish from the beach, taking it home to recycle or dispose of in our bin.  Most is plastic but there's also food and drinks litter left by day trippers. 

 A local man walking his dogs telling us the local council are clamping down on campervans parking overnight in such places.  He has a van himself and also likes to wild camp, but believes the local campsites have been complaining.  The fact is we don't want to pay over £20 to park in their field when we're self-sufficient and don't need to use any of their facilities. Nor do we want to book a pitch several weeks in advance, preferring the spontaneity of a last-minute trip.

A boat-owning lady stating rather loudly "no wonder they're stopping these 'caravanettes' from parking here" despite the fact that her 4-wheel drive vehicle and long trailer were taking up about 4 parking spaces. We'd happily pay a reasonable fee to park here overnight as I'm sure she'd happily pay a launching fee for her boat (it's currently free). 

So it looks like our occasional stop-overs at Porth Ysgaden may soon be at an end.  It's a shame as we love this spot and always leave it cleaner than we found it.  We respect the area, look after it and spend money in the local shops and pubs. My view is 'live and let live' and there's room for all to share this beautiful part of the peninsula - day-trippers, divers, fishermen, walkers, boat owners, campervanners.  All it takes is a sensible approach and some mutual respect.  But it looks like the campsite owners are unhappy that not everyone wants to stay on their noisy, over-priced fields.  Still, there are plenty more places to explore and stay on this beautiful peninsula. 

This is why we love this place.....

Not exactly packed is it?  Car park at about 5pm

Meditating sat on a rock looking at this......

Beauty is in the eye of the stone holder

Cathy swimming late in the evening - warm water all to herself

Breakfast cooked on the Cadac Safari Chef 2 I won in a competition

This is what we see time and again.....sad

All the way from Pachino, Italy

Hot sand, blue sky

House sit in Glyn Ceiriog

We'd planned a quiet weekend at home after two weeks away, plus another month of trips already planned in the van. But on Tuesday an email from Trusted Housesitters popped up, with an urgent request to help someone this weekend. I replied and the owner was soon in touch.  We talked through the gig and agreed to help out. This was to look after a country cottage in a beautiful valley in North Wales, with two elderly terriers, four chickens, a feisty cockerel and six ducklings who think Ted the terrier is their Dad!

After work, we drove from home into torrential rain - I mean like monsoon rain! It was very warm and we drove into Wales, heading steeply uphill out of Llangollen, before dropping down through several steep hairpins into the Ceiriog valley. We dropped down a narrow, fern-lined track down to the cottage. There were crumbling out buildings on our left. I pulled up at the gate and the owner met us, let us through and I parked overlooking the misty valley with sheep in the field.  Engine off and we were enveloped by ear-ringing silence. The dogs - Ted and Tom - met us at the door, excited to see new faces and we all got on well. We had a good chat over a cuppa and some lovely homecured ham and did the usual house sitting handover - pet feeding, keys, electrics. The owner had some work to finish so in the meantime Cathy made us all a lovely dinner of homemade pizza, salad and new potatoes, enjoyed with a bottle of white wine.  Tidied up, we headed for bed, opening the window to listen to heavy rain and some very unhappy sheep! 

We woke early to a cockerel's crow and so were sat at the kitchen table, drinking tea and watching the bird life by 0630. Once the owner had left for her weekend we had breakfast and fed the animals.  We cleared some overgrown tree and shrub growth then took the dogs for a walk, through the fields, along the river and into the village.  Actually, if truth be known, we didn't know the way so the dogs walked us! Back at the cottage we sat outside in the hot, humid sunshine with a brew before I tied up the tomato plants in the greenhouse, while Cathy tidied up. As we worked there was the odd rumble of thunder and heavy rain started to fall. 

I drove into Chirk to buy some food plus fish and chips for our supper - we were hungry! With the ducklings and dogs fed, Cathy had a snooze while I watched cycling on TV, with Ted laying next to me with his chin on my leg.  We have a few jobs lined up for tomorrow so, until then, it's time to listen to the silence of the deep countryside.

The next morning it was still cloudy with mist on the tops of the valley, but warm enough for shorts. The hens had laid a couple of eggs, which we enjoyed with bacon and toast for breakfast. Outside jobs today were weather dependent.  However we noticed Tom was holding his rear left leg off the ground.  We took a look and couldn't see anything apart from a little blood on the paw. So I rang the vet in Llangollen and booked an appointment for later. Tom travelled well in the car and he was soon examined by the vet, who thought something had pierced the skin but was not still in there and there was some swelling. A quick injection and some anti-inflammatory tablets to hide in his food and we were soon back at the cottage. The rest of the day was on and off torrential rain, so outside jobs had to be fitted around. But we did manage to sort out the compost heaps. Resting on pallets and with plastic in the bottom, there was no way for the worms to reach the composting material, which explained the slow progress and smelly stuff. We forked one full bin into the empty one, cleared the bottom and then forked it back, so with a double turning it should really take off now. We also tidied up around the allotment and checked on the greenhouse. I had planned to replace the topping stones on the dry stone wall, but it was too wet to safely handle them.

The rest of the day was spent reading and fussing over Tom and Ted. I cooked a very tasty lamb biryani and there was plenty left for the owner's return, so she doesn't have to cook after a long journey.  We watched some TV in the evening before heading off to bed. 

More rain in the night and more forecast today! Spike the cockerel had a Sunday lie-in until 0730 so after that I was up to feed and water all the animals. This is our last day, so we tidied and cleaned up after ourselves, spending time looking out on the views of the hills and sheep and watching the many birds feeding in the garden during the rain and pottering in the garden in between. 

Spike the cockerel

Six little Aylesbury ducklings

Lovely views - wildflower meadows, sheep, hills

Walking Tom and Ted through the wild meadows

Cathy seems to be their favourite perch today!

Lovely view from the dining table

Misty morning