Betws y Coed 15 July 2007

On Sunday 15 July Brad and Sue decided to go for a mountain bike ride in Wales to escape the wet Manchester weather, so I tagged along. We drove to a small village in northern Wales called Betws-y-Coed. It is in Swondonia National Park, and is surrounded by forested hills and valleys. It is a busy spot in the weekends, as it is a popular starting point for hikers or mountain bikers wanting to expore the national park.

Brad and Sue took off on their bikes and I did a sedate walk through some forest to a small lake and back. There was a nice view of the village along the way:

On the way back to Manchester we stopped at Conwy, a town on the north Welsh coast, dominated by a castle built by King Edward the First way back in 1280.

Conwy

From one extreme to the other, Conwy is also home to the "UK's smallest house". I had a peek inside and it is definitely cosy.

Peak District, 8 July 2007

On the 4th of July Marian and I said our goodbyes to Dympna and drove from Louisburgh through to Limerick from where we flew out of Shannon Airport to Manchester. We were lucky to have somewhere to stay temporarily; Brad and Sue, friends from Christchurch, very kindly lent us the spare room in their apartment which overlooks the Old Trafford football ground. This is the view from their balcony showing the sun setting behind Old Trafford:

It was apartment-hunting on Thursday and Friday (5th and 6th July) and after traipsing around in the rain for two days looking at apartments, we were a bit frazzled and glad to have the weekend off. On Sunday Brad and Sue organised a nice gentle walk in the Peak District, which lies to the east of Manchester.

We started and finished the walk in Castleton, which does indeed as the name suggests, have a castle on the hill above the village. This quaint village seemed straight out of an episode of Miss Marple or Midsomer Murders. We carefully avoided the vicarage lest one of us got mysteriously murdered.

We climbed out of the valley where the village is situated, and were soon strolling along country lanes. In these very English surroundings, Marian said that she felt like she was in the Famous Five off on an adventure. All we needed was Timmy the dog:

On the way back to Manchester we stopped at Lyme Hall, an old country estate mansion. Lyme Hall was originally a remote hunting lodge. In Tudor times a house was built there and this was turned into an Italianate palace by the Venetian architect Leoni in the early 18th Century.

Lyme Hall is the celebrated location for Mr Darcy’s famous dip in the lake in the BBC adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, and playing the exterior of his house, Pemberley. Marian’s sister has the series on tape so perhaps she could confirm this.

Louisburgh 22 - 26 June 2007

On Friday June 22 I flew from Manchester to Knock. Marian picked me up and we drove to Marian's parents' house at Louisburgh. Tom and Dympna, Marian's parents, were very kind hosts and gave me a warm welcome. I also met Marian's sister, Clair, her husband Phillip and their two children Thomas (4) and Maria (18 months), who live a mile or so down the road from Tom and Dympna.

Thomas likes nothing better than getting into his wellies and helping his Dad with jobs outside:

Maria is very sweet and friendly, even to strangers from New Zealand with funny accents:

Here are Claire, Thomas and Maria, at their home:

Tom and Dympna's house is only a short walk from the beach, called Old Head. There is a jetty there, and when the tide is far enough in you can jump off the jetty into the "bracing" waters of the Atlantic. Dympna swims every morning rain or shine (mostly rain though). I wasn't as dedicated as Dympna but did go for a few morning dips. Very good for clearing the head.

Some scenes from Louisburgh:

Irish Famine Memorial, Murrisk (near Westport)

On Monday Marian and I drove to the north Mayo coast to the Ceide Fields, a 5,000 year old stone age site, reknown as the most extensive stone age monument in the world.

We also visited the nearby Downpatrick Head, a specatular headland with steep cliffs (carefully crawling on all fours to the edge to peer over).

Louisburgh - Tralee 26 - 28 June 2007

On Tuesday June 26 Marian and I set off from Louisburgh on a road trip down the west coast of Ireland. The first day took us from Louisburgh south through Connemara, County Galway, to Galway City. Connemara is quite uninhabited and wild, with desolate bogs, rolling hills, and pretty coastline. Roundstone is an attractive village, and the Guinness there was very nice indeed.

Kylemore Abbey, Co Galway

Sky Road, Connemara, Co Galway

Connemara, Co Galway

Roundstone, Co Galway

We had dinner with Marian's brother Eion in Galway on Tuesday night. On Wednesday we drove to Limerick via The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher.

Distinctive Rock Formations in The Burren

Cliffs of Moher

At Limerick we stayed with Louise and John, friends of Marian's. On Thursday Marian showed me her old University of Limerick haunts, then we drove from Limerick to Tralee.

Dingle 29 June 2007

On Friday we drove from Tralee to Dingle, or An Daingean as it now officially known. The Dingle Peninsula is a Gaeltacht, which is a designated Irish-speaking region. The Irish government supports the use of the Irish language here, and it is noticable that road signs and shop signs are all in Irish.

Not all signs though:

We went for a drive around the Dingle Peninsula, which is a rugged and beautiful spot, with the Blaskett Islands off the coast.

Ventry (Ceann Tra)

Along the way we stopped at an early Christian church, or oratory, at Gallarus. The Gallarus Oratory was built between the seventh and eight century and is the best preserved early Christian church in Ireland. It is built of stones and it is very impressive that it is still in such good condition:

We stayed the night at the home of another Marian, (O'Flaherty), a friend of Marian's from University days. Marian is a journalist with the local newspaper, Kerry's Eye, and invited us to a book launch at O'Flaherty's pub (no relation) on Friday night. The launch was for a translation of the memoirs of Mike Dineen O'Shea, a famous local author and musician, and was attended by a who's who of the Dingle literati. I managed to purchase a copy, and was lucky enough to get it signed by both the author and translator.

With the author Mike Dineen O'Shea (Maidhc Dainin O Se) and translator Gabriel Fitzmaurice

The traditional Irish music session that followed the launch was great craic. Many pints of Guinness were consumed while the band played a seamless series of tunes, following the lead of various lead-players with no words spoken and no sheet music. The highlight of the session was a beautiful solo acapella performance by Marian (Grealis), who sung "In the City of Chicago", a Christy Moore song about Irish immigrants. You could have heard a pin drop in the pub as Marian sung, until everyone joined in for the chorus.