Dechreuwyd ar y gwaith o adeiladu Rhaglan yn y 1430au cyfnod cymharol hwyr o ran adelaidu cestyll. oops I am reading from the wrong side of the brochure. Here is the English

Raglan was begun in the 1430's, rather late in the day for a castle building. Unfashionably late by some 150 years ! Despite thi , mod cons such as massive mullioned windows brought the design bang up to date, bathing rooms in luxurious light.

Raglan looked like my idea of a castle, even in ruins it is imposing and has all the earmarks of something from the past. I won't rave on I will just show you some pictures, some are taken from the top of the (still standing) tower.

This place was interesting, it is built around an old Mill which now houses some artefacts from the coal mining days as well as local forest life. They had stuffed animals, a wolf, a deer, a wild boar, a bunny and some badgers. Also in the complex were some very good woodcavings and metal statues which I would not have minded throwing in my bags. I also liked the forest cottage with its gardens and animals although the Gloucester Old Spot pigs were a bit on the nose. We tramped through a woodland path and went across a suspension bridge into the adventure playground but that was about as adventurous as we got, in fact Eileen actually opted out of the bridge and took the easy way out.

Symonds Yat is in Herefordshire. It is amazing how close we are to borders here in Sling (Coleford). Officially the Forest of Dean if you go down the hill and across the river you are in Wales and yesterday we headed north to this pretty spot. The Yat is a big rock that sticks out through the forest and we didn't climb to that but we did drive into the town of Symonds Yat East, only a narrow strip consisting mostly of hotels and restaurants, and we did go for a walk along the river through the forest. It is beautiful there, as I said, this region is every bit as pretty as The Cotswolds and apparently in school holidays and high tourist season Symonds Yat is bedlam as the roads are narrow, no where to turn around and, of course, not much room at the bottom. Lawrie said when a bus comes down the road everything comes to a standstill. I am glad we went midweek in off season. The walk was nice, the forest is quite peaceful and there is always the hope of seeing deer. We have looked all week in various places but so far have not been lucky. We have seen squirrels, a fox and a lot of other things but no deer. Apparently there are also wild boar in the forest too. We had lunch after our walk and headed into Monmouth.

Monmouth is in Wales and was once a market town. The surroundings are very nice, the countryside on this side of the country is lovely, narrow lanes but not too much traffic to spoil the place although we did avoid peak hour. The old houses here are built from a red and blue sandstone whereas the cotswolds are built from creamy limestone. As in the Cotswolds, newer houses are now being built "in style" with the old so it is in sympathy the traditional country style.

We went to Caerdydd (Cardiff) on Wednesday it rained all day and was miserable. Lawrie and Eileen go to Cardiff most weeks to do parent things. Lawrie's father (my Uncle Hugh) is in a nursing home and Eileen's mother stll lives in her own flat but Eileen runs errands for her and of course they both go for a visit. I opted to go with them and be dropped off at cousin Carol's house where I met up with her for the first time in 44 years (can you believe that, I can't). We had a great couple of hours reminiscing and catching each other up and she and her husband Phil have invited me back some time before I leave so I can have an updated look at Cardiff. As a child, Lawrie and Carol often stayed with us or we with them and we also had cousins in Manchester who did the same. I enjoyed the road signs which are written in both Welsh and English, it is a lovely old language

Tintern is in Wales and is another place of interest not far from Lawrie and Eileen's, lucky me. What a top place Tintern is, it is a small hamlet nestled along the river surrounded by hills. I just loved the look and feel of the place and it is dominated by the ruins of Tintern Abbey. Tintern Abbey was founded for Cistercian monks in 1131 but largely rebuilt in the late 13th century. As it is a ruin we did not pay our money and go in but from the perimeter it appears that there are restoration works in progress. I also bought some very nice T shirts and souvenirs here and we had our tea and coffee with welsh cakes at weeks end this is becoming a bit of a habit but I guess one should have Welsh Cakes when in Wales. They are kind of flat pancake things with currants in them and they have the consistency of an Australia scone. The other day we had scones and they were more like rock cakes

Chepstow is an old Garrison and market town which still has is city gates in place and some of its town wall. Chepstow has lots of character and, despite modern vehicles trying to navigate old structures, the town has a busy feel but is not as hurried or frantic as Oxford and towns around it. We wandered around town and dodged the rain. The weather has not been all that good this last week, mostly overcast with occasional showers and infrequent sunshine but we have ignored the weather and carried on anyway.

We have had a few walks this week, mostly in the forest but also around lakes and towns and so I must be getting quite fit. I havent noticed the cold much, sometimes my feet are cold at night but generally I seem to have aclimatised and mostly wear long pants and t shirts. On Friday we went to Tescos supermarket on the Welsh side of Chepstow and I was fascinated to see all the signs in the aisles and on the general signs for items in Welsh and English. Then over the river we went back to England and Sling via the scenic route. Down in the valley where the rivers meet I saw the expanse of the Severn bridge, its huge.

The only regrets for the week are not seeing deer and not meeting any proper forest people. Eileen assures me they are very nice and friendly but I seem to have come across only people with Welsh accents or west country accents. Oh well, the countryside is wonderful and I have had a great week.

Off to Anglesey to visit my mother's brother, Uncle Tony