The road to South Wales from Birmingham winds its way through Abergavenny, and for a long time now I’ve been thinking that it would be fun to climb Sugar Loaf which is on the outskirts of the town. We pass it by on the way to and from the bigger peaks further west, and most recently drove through Abergavenny on the way home from Babcia’s funeral down in Carmarthen at the start of June. On Saturday with no weddings or races on the calendar, we finally made plans to drive down to Wales and walk up Sugar Loaf together. It’s very easy to skip the lower peaks in favour of the bigger climbs of Pen y Fan and Corn Du, but Sugar Loaf on the edge of the Black Mountains is a really beautiful climb, with really good views on a clear day.
I’ve just got a couple of rolls of film back from AG Photographic so thought I’d put together a collection of the film photos from our trip to Cornwall at the end of May. This year we camped down on the Lizard Peninsula at YHA Coverack for two nights and at YHA Penzance for three. Both of the campsites were good. We had our own private glade at Coverack (the downside was that the long grass was full of bugs and I got bitten alive). At Penzance I made friends with a lovely long haired cat who I took pity on because she was so desperate for attention and food. I ended up buying her sachets of food two nights in a row as she kept begging for food, but then was woken by her mewing outside our tent at 3am!
On Friday night Ed and I stayed over at Ilam Hall YHA as we were filming a wedding together on Saturday morning. It’s not a long drive up from Birmingham, but it was a 9.30am start so staying local the night before just made sense. We often stay at YHA properties as they’re simple and self-catered, and in really good locations. I think Ilam might be one of the best!
Yesterday morning I was woken up at dawn by the radiator beside my bunk turning on and the pigeons outside my window starting up their morning song and dance. I always forget how noisy the countryside is in the morning. City life is loud at night, but mornings are quiet. In the countryside it’s the other way around. Ed can sleep through most things so I went down to the kitchen in the basement for a cup of tea, and on my way down the stairs spotted the most amazing golden light pouring through the 3m window in the drawing room. With two hours to go until my alarm I picked up my camera and went for a walk in the grounds.
A riverside walk at dawn with wild garlic on the air, bluebells at every turn and rabbits running free across the lawn was such a lovely, peaceful start to the day. I wish we’d had more time to explore the grounds as there are so many good walks from there including the mile downstream to Dovedale, but I’m sure we’ll go back soon, minus a car full of tripods and light stands!
