Intro
13 Nutters in Wales
|
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Milton Keynes
|
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Journey
We make a leisurely start, leaving Milton Keynes around 10:30. Within an hour
we meet a contingent of Nutters at the M6 services near Coventry
I have the pleasure of acquainting myself with Gavin’s most favoured person
Louise and her younger brother Simon. I realise that going on holiday with a
bunch of Nutters would be daunting for such nice normal people.
We head off in a convoy of 4 cars. We’ve all got licence free radios to keep in
contact. (446MHz using Channel 7 (446.08125MHz) with CTCSS tone 77Hz.)
Here’s the route we take: M6 M54 Shrewsbury Welshpool Dolgellau Llanelltyd.
We stop at a garage just before we get to Dolgellau – we meet our first real
Welsh person. She has remarkable teeth that are clearly her own. She sells us
some citrus flavoured Kit-Kat chocolate biscuits. They taste of toilet cleaner.
By 15:00 we’re at the rectory. We’re early and the cleaner tells us to kindly
come back later. “We’ll be ready in a couple of hours!”
Dolgellau(pronounced Dow geth lee) We stock up at a local grocer’s, a Spar in a Converted chapel. Retrieving the cap is an excuse for Matthew and Jack to get their feet wet. |
   |
Rectory
|
 |
Monday, October 25, 2004
Si
Simon is unfazed by the bunch of weird adults he's been obliged to be with
for the week. He soon puts me in my place.
He tells me that I must be old as I’m having toast with marmalade, and muesli
for breakfast. “That’s old man’s food. Young people choose cereals that turn the
milk brown!”
Settling down with his cereal he adds: “…and stop saying ‘dude’: it’s so un-cool coming from an old person!”
DolgellauWe leave Louise with the three boys and walk to the local town, Dolgellau. A
3 mile round trip. Yes there's rain but the walk is very pleasant. (The weather
steady improves during the next few days, and is very mild for late October.) We have coffee in a busy tea room.
|
  |
|
Barmouth |
||
|
|
The afternoon sees us in the small town of Barmouth on the coast.
Barmouth has sun, sand and a supermarket.
The chip shop opposite the railway station is recommended.
|
    |
 |
 |
 |
Games
The board game Civilisation Bernie had brought is deemed too
incomprehensible. |
  |
|
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Cymer Abbey |
   |
|
  |
Rick and I head off to the nearby
Abbey in Llanelltyd. We can’t actually go inside the grounds.
Although it’s closed for maintenance, the ruin is easily visible from the neighbouring farm. |
|
I Am Not A Number |
  |
|
 |
The afternoon sees the Nutters heading off to Portmeirion, where the 1960s
cult TV series
The
Prisoner was filmed. Matthew does not approve of my Tom Tom Go. "Yet another piece of modern periphery that removes a basic skill. Everybody should be able to read a map!” We take a detour through Blaenau Ffestiniog. Lots of mountains around here. Excellent scenery! |
|
Mud |
||
  |
We're soon at Portmeirion. Painted buildings and specimen trees are not within Jack's gamut of interest. Muddy streams are. I goad Jack into jumping across a muddy stream on the sands at the foot of the village. Jumping onto the sands was successful. Jack happily explores the sands. But jumping back – no: he slips. I'm requested to take a muddy teenager back in my car. |
  |
 |
We stop off at Harlech Castle. |
 |
Games |
 |
|
|
|
Phil shows us a card game Trader - pit bull. It involves lots of shouting. I
win a round! Then it’s time for Risk, Rick’s favourite game. Rick teaches Si and Matt the rules. I observe, making the odd considered comment. The boys pick up the rules rapidly. |
|
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
C.A.T. |
||
  |
We head of to the Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynlleth. (Jenny
and Jack remaining at the rectory.) I like to see what C.A.T. are up to: I usually pay them a visit every few years. 1999 2001 It's not really the best weather to make a visit. There’s no sun and no wind. You
can’t really expect the demonstrations to be doing anything.
|
  |
King Arthur's Labyrinth |
||
  |
The Nutters visit
King
Arthur's Labyrinth, some caverns in a mountainside.
You get:
All well worth the £5 entrance fee. |
   |
Gales |
||
 |
Matthew and I return to the rectory, choosing an indirect route via
Abergynolwyn. (I recall a long weekend spent here in Feb 1984 with college
friends. Time flies.) By the time we reach the coast at Fairbourne there’s a strong easterly gale. We walk down the banked stony shore…progress is difficult. Several trees are blown down partially blocking the road back …and to think there was no wind blowing a few hours earlier back at C.A.T. Matthew prepares a veggie split pea meal. It tastes fine when plastered in hot chutney. |
 |
Barmouth at Night |
||
| Jenny, Phil, Jon, Bernie and I drive to Barmouth. Fishing boats are tied up close to shore. Gale, spray, lights. Quite dramatic weather. |
  |
|
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Snowdon |
|||
 |
Herding Nutters is slow and hard work. Get them all ready then one Nutter will
insist on having another cup of tea. Eventually, by midday the convoy is on its way to
Snowdon. We stop of on the way to Snowdon by Llyn Gwynant. There are excellent views - sunny and clear. We get to the railway station at Llanberis where you can get a train up to the peak. But the trains are booked up! You need to pre-book train tickets.
Next time we’ll know! We weren’t all kitted for walking, so Snowdon will wait for another day. We have lunch at the Electric Mountain Visitors’ Centre, a few yards up the road from the railway station. |
   |
|
Train |
|||
 |
We take a Ffestiniog
train from Tan-y-bwth to Porthmadog. The track is within the Snowdonia
National Park with some very rugged and beautiful mountain scenery. We have a mammoth Tesco’s shopping session in Porthmadog. (15 year old single malt is purchased. Jennifer demands the best.) The Nutters head back down the coast, Matthew and I divert for pint and
wander around Barmouth. |
   |
|
Friday, October 29, 2004
Pooh Sticks |
|
 |
Jennifer, Bernie, Mathew and I walk up the rising land behind of rectory. There’s a stream flowing down – we play pooh sticks on a bridge. |
Quad Bikes, Machynlleth |
|
| Biker Gavin is keen to go quad biking. The Nutters, visit
Beiciau Madian Quads for an hour's trek. Good fun. I soon get the hang of it after the first couple of laps. 5
Speed gears, automatic clutch. |
|
           |
|
Pub |
|
 |
We descend on poor old Dolgellau. We enjoy and evening pint, and raid the local off-licence. |
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Nutters Dispersal - Phase 1 |
|||
 |
Our party is now splitting up and making tracks for home. Phil and his son
Matt are leaving: Matt has booked a concert this evening in London. Some combo
called HIM, an acronym for His Imperial Majesty, referring to the late
Rastafarian-worshipped king Haile Selassie. I accompany Phil into Dolgellau to fill his wagon with Petrol, taking the opportunity for a chin-wag before he goes. At 11:00 Jenny, with Jack drive Phil and Matt to Machynlleth station. This gives Jenny a chance to look around C.A.T. (Jack – well he liked the chickens.) |
 |
|
Convoy to Machynlleth. |
|||
 |
Our reduced 3 car convoy travels to Maclinith. The view of Mynydd Moel is spectacular. Matthew and I honoured to have Si as passenger; he clearly wants to bask in the erudite wit that surrounds our car. We have lunch at some tea rooms in Machynlleth. I get more verbal from Si: "Liver and 2 boiled veg is for old people!" 14:15 Jenny joins us… only for us to disappear heading off for the Quad bikes. |
 |
|
All Terrain Vehicles |
|||
  |
We liked the bikes so much yesterday, we
did it again.
Beiciau Madian Quads are delighted to have our custom once more! Louise and I decline. For me today was a chance to play with a camera. What lenses should I use? A wide angle would be good for the trial with bikes speeding through the stream - a telephoto lens for the rest of the course. I compromise. Telephoto. Manual exposure – set on grass – slow shutter 1/125th (ISO 800, F/9.5) Yes, a dull overcast day. (Around 12dB cloud attenuation over a bright sunny day.) That last bit was extra nerdy! There are 2 teams, each with a leader and tail bike from the farm:
|
   |
|
 |
  |
 |
|
 |
  |
  |
|
 |
  |
 |
|
  |
 |
||
  |
 |
||
Nutters Dispersal - Phase 2 |
|||
| Jenny, Jennifer and Jack leave for Cambridge. (A vital meeting to prepare
for.) We return to the rectory. |
|||
Nutters Dispersal - Phase 3 |
|||
| No more
Grand Theft Auto. Si, his sister Louise and her man, Gavin, are
leaving. They have a long journey back to Cambridge: they’re dropping off Si in
Chorleywood. The house is quiet with all the boys gone. Only a core of Nutters remain (Jon, Rick, Matthew, Bernie and I.) We pack into Bernie’s car and head for Dolgellau for some fish and chips. We’ve found all the counter staff in the town friendly: the hotel pub; the Spar, the Threshers offy; the tea room; and now the Chippy. We startle some locals. |
 |
||
Evening |
|||
| After making a start on tiding up the place, we relax and play cards. A game of Munchkin followed by poker. We play for pennies, Estonian sents and Risk tokens. (15 year old whisky and digestives - very pleasant and enjoyable!) |
|||
Sunday, October 31, 2004
GMT |
|
|
| I enjoy a good night’s sleep, having taken over a
vacated double bed. Daylight saving time has ended: we’re back on GMT –
we get an extra hour. I descend for breakfast. Bernie is cleaning up – he’s keen to get a move on. I help. The others appear: Jon last of all… he’s somewhat delicate this morning. We lock up and head off at 10:30. By 12:00 we’re in England, at a road side café near Ford, Shrewsbury. A mug of tea later and we say goodbye to Bernie and his car full of Nutters. |
||
Ironbridge |
||
 |
Matthew and I detour via Ironbridge. A fine structure. By 16:00 we’re back in Cambridge. |
 |
Conclusion
Another fine Nutters holiday!
Planning
Jenny organised the holiday. The rectory cost us £620 for the week, and has room for 15 guests.
Book your own holiday at the rectory!