Wales in the rain :(

 Thursday 13rh May 2021

Well after a fine and mostly dry day yesterday it began raining overnight and hasn't stopped since.

I decided to head in the planned direction of New Quay in the hope that some fine weather would find us, but of course all we saw was more rain. 

The forecast doesn't offer much hope either, so after lunch in New Quay, we headed north to one of my favourite parkup's at Fairbourne on the Mawddach Estuary, overlooking Barmouth across the river.

There's lots to do here if the weather is fine, there is a cycle trail up the estuary to Dolgellau, or a ferry boat goes across the river to the seaside town of Barmouth. 

The beach is also great with mostly soft sand and a few stoney sections.

I've been here many times before, last time was a glorious weekend last Summer when I was able to get the kayak out and go for a paddle up the estuary. What a difference in today.

Tomorrow we'll head home and put Pembrokeshire off until the weather decides to play nicely.

Disappointing but there'll be plenty more opportunities I'm sure.

A rather gloomy looking Fairbourne in the rain

Elan Valley Wales

 Wednesday 12th May

After postponing this trip from a couple of weeks ago due to the dire weather forecast for torrential downpours, the weather this May has only picked up a little bit. 

After the dryest April on record, I wouldn't be suprised if we end up with the wettest May on record !

 

But never mind, whilst the weather forecast may not be up to much, so far today it's been quite dry and sunny with just a brief shower as we were leaving Powis Castle after a lunch stop.

Next stop was Tesco in Newtown for some pillows that someone had forgotten to load up.

After that it was up to Elan Valley in the heart of Wales, close Rhayader.

There are series of reservoirs here that supply fresh water to Birmingham.

Construction began in 1893 and the village of Elan was flooded with only the landowners receiving compensation. 

Most of the villagers lost their homes and received nothing.

In 1941/42 Barnes Wallace blew up a small dam here that had been built to suppy the village before it was destroyed for the reservoir.

Apparently it was an experiment to research how much explosive would be needed to blow a hole in a dam ! 

It's quite scenic with lots of wildlife, there were two Red Kites circling earlier and I'll try and get a photo if they return, edit - they didn't return unfortunately.

We're parked up on a free carpark carved into the rock face overlooking the reservoir, it's probably a hangover from when the dam was built but it's a great spot for a peaceful night, hopefully.

We had a walk earlier to the visitor centre, mostly closed but there's a small shop and cafe for takeaways. Hopefully things will begin to open up more next week.

We're spending our evening being entertained by sheep and their lambs surrounding us and what an spectacle it is.

Their energy is boundless and spend their time chasing each other and leaping in the air just for the fun of it. 

Lovely to watch but I do hope they shut up later and go to sleep so we can as well !

We`ve got a lovely sunset for this evening but the weather forecast tells us to expect rain by 10pm.