We now tend to go down to the annual nyckelharpa gathering at Halsway only every two years, as it’s a long way to travel. It’s still good fun though, and I really enjoy the music workshops and the sessions. We also turn it into a bit of a holiday, usually visiting bits of England and Wales we haven’t been to before.
This time we began in Gatehouse, and as well as the usual visit to Wigan, we stayed overnight in Ludlow on the way south. It’s a lovely town, with some superb old buildings; we stayed in the Feathers Hotel which has a spectacular frontage.
The rooms on the front are original as well:
The town has a large market square, and lots of other old buildings.
We ate in the Rose and Crown in the evening, where there are lots of “Mouseman” panels.
Halsway was great; we arrived in the sunshine. No photos from the event, I was too busy with music!
After Halsway we went to Taunton, where we were staying a night with friends Graham and Martin.
The day after we travelled into Wales via (south) Cadbury Castle, a huge set of earthworks.
We then visited Marwyn’s friends Dave and Avril (from her time in Lyon) before driving into south Wales over the Severn crossing. Our first night in Wales was in Tredegar, in the Tredegar Arms:
Tredegar is known for Aneurin Bevan, amongst other things:
From Tredegar we travelled further into the valleys, to call in at Ton Pentre where we had a coffee and lovely Welsh cakes.
We then headed north via the (somewhat more touristy) Brecon beacons, calling for coffee at the Brecon canal basin.
We ended up for the night in Llanfyllin, another lovely little town.
After Llanfyllin we drove back home via Wigan. A good trip.