March 2018

March arrived with a really cold and snowy spell as the Beast from the East (Weather from Siberia) met Storm Emma (coming from the West).  Fairford had a good few inches of snow and a lot of drifting but escaped any of the major problems experienced in other parts of the country. It is at times like that we are grateful we are retired and didn’t have to go out in the extremely cold and snowy conditions.

One Saturday morning, we had a lovely morning walk with Jenny, Mark, Bethany, Callum and Elsie in the grounds of Greys Court (a National Trust Estate near Henley on Thames).  After a lovely walk, we headed for lunch at the Maltsters Arms in Rotherfield Greys (The food was really good).  During the month, we also visited Hannah, James, Rosie and Ptolemy on Mother’s Day, as well as a visit to Jon, Jess, Oscar and Felix and then Lucy and Emma came to stay the night at The Nook. It was lovely to catch up with the UK based children and grandchildren. It is just a shame that Martin, Louise and Archie don’t live just a little closer!!

After good consultations with kidney and thyroid specialists in February, we were hoping for similar good news when we visited the haematology specialist in mid March.  One year on from the stem cell transplant, Gerry has made excellent progress and, apart from not wanting to see him for three months, the specialist has cleared him for Long Haul flights. This is amazing news and means we can start planning to visit Jo and the children in California later this year or early next.

We had more snow on the weekend of 17 and 18 March. Nothing like earlier in the month but we woke to a few inches of snow on the Sunday morning. However, it started thawing almost immediately which was good as we were heading to Bala in North Wales the next morning. The roads were reported as clear so we set off and had a great journey to Bala, As usual we were staying at the White Lion Royal Hotel (Royal because Queen Victoria stayed there).  Although there was quite a bit of snow on the hills around us the roads and pavements were all clear despite six inches of snow the day before! The high hills of Snowdonia were something special to see.

During our 4 night stay we managed to do several walks to Bala Lake, as well as visiting Bodnant Garden near Colwyn Bay.  The Garden was really lovely and we enjoyed a long peaceful walk around the estate.

Following Bodnant, we visited Plas Newydd (National Trust) just over in Anglesey.  Once again we enjoyed a long peaceful walk through the grounds and woods before touring the house. The following day we took the train from Blaenau Ffestiniog along the Conwy Valley to Llandudno. It was a nice enough trip through the countryside but not perhaps the most memorable of train journeys.

Our third complete day in North Wales saw us walking at the northern end the beach at Fairbourne a village on the coast of Barmouth Bay to the south of the estuary of the River Mawddach. We walked around the end of the low lying land to the terminus of the Fairbourne narrow gauge railway and where one can get a ferry across the estuary to Barmouth – a matter of a couple of hundred yards but nearly 14 miles by car and then crossing a toll bridge. 

However, there is a railway bridge across the Mawddach Estuary with a footpath attached. We drove the couple of miles from Fairbourne to the railway halt at Morfa Mawddach and walked over the bridge to Barmouth and had a wander around the seaside town before walking back over the bridge to the car.

On both crossings we were passed by a train!

The walk was bracing to say the least as the wind certainly blew as we crossed the estuary!

Feeling very pleased with our walks we drove down the coast and then headed into Machynlleth to wander around the town and see the lovely clock tower.  

The following morning we woke to quite persistent rain but as we set off to return to Fairford the weather brightened up so we decided to visit Attingham Park near Shrewsbury.

We could not believe how busy the car park was when we arrived but we were then surprised at how few people we met during our two mile stroll around the park.  (Apparently they expect about 5000 visitors a day over Easter). During the walk, we came across the Repton Oak which is at least 650 years old as well as a herd of deer who seemed unphased by the proximity of humans. 

What a wonderful few days.