Between Places

Between Here and There.

There is a moment in any journey when you are poised, exactly between the place you left and the place you are going. This is not a halfway point. It is your state of mind on the road.

I am immersed in bathroom building, literally. French plumbing has evolved to the point of lunacy, tube sizes are 22,18,16,14,12,10 and possibly 8mm, outside diameter, they also give the internal diameter, or not, or a variety of either. There are many types of fittings, olive joints, flat screw together joints, soldered joints, and a tool for expanding pipes to join them together. One joint will not naturally fit with another. Adaptors are random and may not make the leap between sizes or joint types, meaning extra adaptors to make the crossovers. With the price of copper as it is, nothing is taken out that can be used. I hate it. It leaks, it’s complicated, and its takes time to find a merchant who has what you want, because they seem to have some sort of trade agreement precluding one shop from having everything you need. And I haven’t even started the tiling yet. I have rebuilt the walls, and am starting on the floor. I hope the leaks are really gone, they can’t be seen now, so at least I have a weeks grace before the water gets through the floor!

Pipes and stuff, nearly ready to be hidden.

Hidden

All this leads to where we are going with this post. I am at the point in this particular journey where, it seems that lots of time has been spent, along with a reasonable amount of money. To reach a place we started from nearly three weeks ago. Isn’t that just how it works, in life, writing, and building, it is all the stuff you don’t see. The preparation, the learning how, the rewriting, (and hiding the evidence) that makes it work in the end.




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The weather all over the UK has been terrible, rain crashing in. Makes me glad that I’m in France, we enjoyed a meal on the terrace with friends last night. Then sat out watching the stars, chatting and relaxing with a glass of wine into the evening. So this poem is for friends in England being swept away.

River.

Sometimes there is just too much
and the water can no longer be held back.
It spreads further than intended,
into fields and woods once thought safe.
We look on, but the banks have burst,
washing through the carefully ploughed fields,
carrying so much good soil away.




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Happy travelling.

Wales, Wind and Rain

Last Thursday Pete, a good friend of mine, called. Did I fancy heading off for a walk in Wales to celebrate the New Year. He had a plan, leave early on the 1st, get to Wales and walk to Crieglyn Dyfi below Aran Fawddwy, wild camp and the following morning climb to Aran Fawddwy and walk the Aran ridge back to the car. On the face of it, staying up till 3am was probably not the best preparation, but I got some sleep in the car. Pete and Kath did the driving, I supported them all the way. Coffee on route started the recovery, and discussing the details of his plan helped with the headache.

I have been out on the mountains many times with Pete and his wife Kath, so when we arrived to high winds and heavy rain we quickly shifted to plan B, Cadair Idris. After all there is a mountain hut at the top, we could stay there overnight walk to the far side and back in the morning.

We choose the pony track on the northern side, joining a couple of others braving the weather to get out and about. As we reached the large rock marking the summit plateau we caught up with one of the Snowdonia national park wardens. He was getting into wet weather gear and dressing for the worst, “Gets windy after here” he said, smiling happily. Not just windy it turns out, wet as well. Welsh weather at its best, sideways rain, low cloud, and wind. Combining to make an interesting time of it for us, after strolling through the rock fields and over the last rocky outcrops to the summit we were ready for coffee and food. There are not many pictures of Cadair Idris as my camera is not waterproof, sorry, just some low cloud.

The View from the start of the Pony Track, Cadair Idris

Pete and Kath

Trees on the Pony Track

Low Cloud on Cadair Idris

Cadair Idris at the southern end of Snowdonia boasts some great views across Barmouth, North to Snowdon, or, as an alternative you can sit in the hut listening to the wind and rain clatter across the rocks and roof, while you hang dripping waterproofs etc up to see if you can prepare for the rest of the day. The floor was a puddle, the roof was leaking, and the benches narrow, all the while we contemplated waiting 17hours for sunrise tomorrow.

After chatting with some friendly locals who came out for a stroll, and eating and drinking coffee, then looking outside to confirm it was still getting wetter out there, we listened to our inner sane alter egos and decided to forego what was going to be a cold and windswept night and head for lower ground, and at worst a Bed and Breakfast. The trip down was, apart from the slope going down, like the trip up. Wet, windy and little in the way of a view.

Ruins on the way to Glaswyn

Next morning after listening to the wind from the comfort of a warm bed, while eating a full English, we made plans for the day. The Aran ridge, plan A, modified. The forecast for the day was winds with wintry showers, much like yesterday. Arriving at the car park though the cloud was high and breaking with wind ragging the tops of the trees. Kitted for anything we set off up the zig-zag path to our first summit of the day, Glaswyn with its small Tarn. It’s a long pull to the col, and the sight of a road at the top makes you wonder what you’re doing sometimes. But it was worth the walk. The cloud had stayed high although the wind still meant shouting at each other.

The Aran Ridge

Looking down the valley, on the Left, The Aran Ridge.

Llyn Y Fign, Pete and I by the Tarn at Glaswyn.

We stopped for lunch half way down Glaswyn on the way to Aran Forddwy. In a small hollow out of the wind. There is something quite primeval about the battering from a really good bit of windy weather. Hard work but satisfying to compete and win. There was some mixed snow and hail around, but not enough to worry about. As we took in the views today we could see Cadair Idris in the distance, white at the summit. And streamers of sleet and rain passing into the valleys around us. Today we were smiled upon by the walking gods, and only had a few hail showers to deal with.

Near Aran Fawddwy

The summit of Aron Forddwy was icy and the wind picked up to make sure we didn’t stay too long. Just a Mars bar and a biscuit in the shelter at the side of the trig point. The footpath down was more a muddy stream, making our balletic skills shine, pirouetting gracefully back down to the car. Two completely different days, changed plans, but up and down safe both times. Maybe next year we’ll get the right weather to camp in the wild.

Pete and Kath, near the top.

Aran Fawddwy. Summit trig point

The way home

Thanks to Pete and Kath, who once again let me tag along on their trip. It makes a pleasant change for me to be walking with others, and these two always make good company.

The Cairn dedicated to an RAF St Athan mountain rescue team member, Mike Aspin who died in June 1960 aged just 18, after being struck by lightning.

These views are why we visit these places

The Lightning Tree

Devon travel

We are spending a week down in Devon. Driving in the west country is like nowhere else in England. Narrow deep lanes, mostly single track. And every trip takes longer than expected. The scenery in summer is wonderful. In this wild weather its is dramatic, with arching skies low clouds and wind coursing across the landscape. The trees are windswept and bare, the fields are lying in wait for the spring.

We drove across country last night, headlights bouncing of the steep sides of the lane and the bushes above. If we had met anyone coming in the opposite direction it would have been interesting. Tomorrow I am heading out for a walk around the cliffs of the North Devon coast, past Hartland point. There is a storm forecast for this afternoon so I hope tomorrow will be wild and woolly.

Sorry I haven’t replied to anyone this week, internet is intermittent at the moment so next week I will be catching up. We are heading around the country to see family and friends before work starts in January on some renovations and repairs on the house. So it will be Birmingham, Nottingham, Doncaster, Manchester. Then home in Weston-super-Mare for Christmas. In between all of this I hope to be able to do some shopping for presents. Who knows how it will go.

I love Christmas and believe that you should go out and choose gifts for people not just get what they ask for. This does lead to some confused looks but hey, that’s the way it goes. It’s the thinking about someone and choosing a gift that counts.

Should be on track next week anyway, I’ll try to get some pictures of Devon up this weekend.

Rain

Its been raining all day today, and more is forecast for tomorrow. We are packing ready for a short trip to England. Only a week to try to create space in the house by filling another one! Look from our balcony we can see where the Allier river has burst its banks, and the smaller Vendage has joined it to help it along, like a smaller boy tagging along with the bully.

Allier Flood Plain

Just over an hour later I took another picture before it got too dark. The water is still rising so it’s a good job we sit at 400m on a bluff overlooking the valley.

Allier Flood Plain, An hour or so later

The farmers were out in force collecting cows from the bottom fields and bringing them to safer places. The field on our side of the road were filling up last time we looked. Hopefully it will slow during the night to allow time for it to clear before rains starts again. I am also hoping for a respite so we can pack the car in the dry, we head off to England on Monday. More travel, I’m going to try to write as we travel, to capture the landscape as it changes while we drive. It will be good to see the family and catch up with some friends for a brief time. Then back to France to prepare the house for the harsh winter they say is coming.

Café in the Rain

In the café,
at a table on a rainy day,
with a blank page
crowding out the noise
of people and traffic.

I watch a drop of water
hanging on the windowsill
until it falls, joins the rain
falling on the boulevard.

We drink coffee,
watch the people
through the streaked window.
Drowned distorted shapes.

The door opens into our space
and a couple search for space
in the settled crowd,
no-one is going anywhere soon,

not in this weather.
In the silence and the rain
that fills the gaps around
the noise of the city.

Some Days travel slowly, and sitting in a crowded Parisian café is one of the best ways I have found of spending time that moves like quicksand, waiting for the moment to move on. We don’t stop and look very often, but holidays give us the time to stop and stare without the guilt of a working day. Everyone of us needs to stop sometimes and see the world around us. To let it wash over us as we move through life, even more when we are busy.

Shakespeare and Co, a fantastic bookshop in Paris and next door a great Café

We visited the great bookshop, Shakespeare and Co, a labyrinthine shop of book treasures. Then sat and watched the rain fall and the world hurry past. Great memories.

Where’s your favourite bookshop, or maybe what type, indie or chain store?