Brecon Beacons

My trip to Wales with the gold Duke of Edinburgh group was very enjoyable. We left early on Thursday morning. Giles drove the minibus with the 11 kids, then Steve & I followed in my car. Well, I took Will's car actually, but in less than a couple of months, what is his is mine!!! The nice thing about gold DofE is that you can pretty much leave the kids to it, you really only need to check-point them once during the day, then make sure they make it back to the campsite OK. They are supposed to walk about 2okm per day for 4 days. You'll probably notice an improvement in the quality of photos in this post. That's because most of them were taken by Steve who teaches Art & Photography.

When we arrived, Steve & I set out for our first walk. The weather was pretty good, although a bit cold & windy on the tops. It was amazing to see that sides of the hill that didn't get any sun were still covered in ice, & a lot of the reeds were covered in a sheath of ice which we found fascinating.

We did come across a very cool 'icicle tree'. The photos don't quite do it justice.

On the Friday we went up Lord Hereford's Knob, which I think is my all-time favourite name for a hill! Now today was COLD. There was an icey wind which chilled you to the core. Apart from the quick dash up the knob & back, we spent a lot of the day keeping warm in the car, feeling sorry for the kids out walking. The top of the knob was a bleak & blustery place, we only hung around long enough for Steve to take a few pics. The wind was almost strong enough to knock you off your feet. I think the official temperature was about 5 degrees, but the wind-chill probably took it down to at least -5. The cairn on the top was very cool however, with lovely ice formations. We also got lots more iced up vegetation as well. That night we were staying at Llanthony. I know the area pretty well as I've been there a few times on other DofE trips, & also, 3 years ago I hired the bunkhouse there for a birthday bash. This time we were camping in a farmers field, & we looked on enviously at the smoke coming out the chimney of the cosy bunkhouse... There is a lovely old ruined priory at Llanthony which started falling down in 1800. One nice thing about the location is that there's a pub about 3 minutes walk away, so while the kids were cooking their boil in the bag meals over their stoves, the staff retired to the pub for a meal, a couple of pints, & some cards.Saturday morning we all woke up feeling a bit rough. We hadn't had much to drink, but the barman had commented that the pints we were drinking were a bit cloudier than normal, so it might have been a duff batch. We had a relaxed morning, & took our time striking down camp. That afternoon Steve & I did our last walk up Sugarloaf. We were camping at an army adventure-training base not far from the hill, so Giles dropped us off at a start-point, then Steve & I walked back to camp. That night was seriously cold, it was down to -8 degrees! I was OK, but I did sleep in long-johns, 2 thermal tops, socks & hat, inside my cosy 4-season down sleeping bag with the hood pulled right up over my head! Sunday was an early start, as I had to get back for my rugby match. We got up around 7 to find our tents totally covered in ice! Steve & I were on the road by half-7 & had a good trip back. I just had time to grab my rugby gear & wish Will a quick happy birthday before getting to the club in time for the coach which was departing for Thurrock at 10:30.

The rugby itself was bit of a disaster, we were totally outclassed, & in the end the score was something like 50-odd nil. A bit different from when we played them at home & they beat us 5-0! They are a very good team however, & will almost certainly be promoted from South-East 1 to the Championship for next year. Despite the heavy loss, people were in good spirits on the coach trip home. I got in at about 8pm, absolutely shattered & looking forward to a nice warm bed.

Yesterday I started my week off with a nice sleep-in. Later I took Renee & Jeremy for a tour of my school. It was the first opportunity for them to see it with the kids not in. Last night I cooked Will a nice birthday dinner, as the actual day on sunday was bit of a non-event! My birthday is tomorrow.