Wild West Adventure

When spring arrives, my heart turns towards the West Country. As a child, every Easter we went to visit my Father’s parents, Grandma and Granddad Delve, who lived in Exeter. Dad was a Devon man, brought up in North Tawton and so these holidays always had a feeling of homecoming.

I remember the long drive down from Buckinghamshire- it was before the A303 and how Grandma always made a delicious fish pie for our first supper, in case our tummies were feeling delicate from all that traveling. My memories of my Grandparents are linked to the red earth of Devon, the joy of being by the seaside at Exmouth and Budleigh Salterton and most of all -Primroses- masses of Primroses! Spring comes early to Devon and everything always seemed to be greener and the deep lanes full of flowers.

So when planning my next little adventure, a month in the West Country was my first choice. I realised from the start that this is going to be a very different trip from my time in Wales last September. That was a grand voyage of discovery, a new venture and I was buoyed up with the excitement of doing something new. The weather was warm and sunny and everything was suffused with a golden glow of achievement.

This month is entirely due to the kindness and generosity of my friends and family. I am staying with people and at places that I already know. In many ways, this makes it extra special and I am so very grateful but I also feel a little guilty that none of this is due to my own hard work.

In the weeks before I left, life had been filled with a myriad of minor annoyances and worries. With all the trouble in the world, I felt ashamed to be feeling stressed and down-hearted, especially with a holiday ahead but I have learned you cannot alter your emotions and I just have to accept what I feel and try to act in a positive way.

I decided to take a leisurely route down to Pip and Andy’s. They live in Aveton Gifford, a lively and lovely village in the beautiful South Hams area of Devon. It will come as no surprise that I stopped for lunch and an afternoon on the beach at my beloved Budleigh Salterton. I enjoyed my first picnic, heard the sound of the waves on those beautiful pebbles, and started to feel excited at the thought of everything ahead.

That evening, well-fed and very well looked after, I sat by the fire with my dearest friend and felt content. Life is good and I am very lucky.

What will I remember most?

It's now a grey rainy Sunday evening in February and the sun-filled days of my Welsh Adventure seem a long time ago. So I thought I would pick out my very favourite moments, to remind me what a life-changing magical time I had.

I loved the peace and isolation I felt when I sat outside my little cottage in Snowdonia every evening and watched the sun go down behind the mountains.

The fun of eating wild field mushrooms and the meal I had in the 'Boatel', reading ancient history by candlelight.

Discovering the secret oak wood and my first visit to the Isle of Angelsea - I will return ...

Meeting up with Emily and Jordan.

The view from the Panorama and finding the painted Church.

Slow days spent getting to know so many beaches, sea swimming, and having the time to watch beautiful sunsets.

Knowing I had my beloved home to return to when I pressed the SatNav button for the final journey.

Feeling like this again.

Reconnecting

 My last week was spent at the holiday home of my dear friends Gillie and Peter. The moment I walked in I felt comfortable, it is a place where generations of their family have come to enjoy the peace and beauty of the coastline near St Davids.

My time here felt different from the rest of my travels. I met up with friends and family and began to re-connect with my world again. The weather was more changeable and there were some windy, rainy days so a little of the golden magic had passed. However, this last week was full of fun and laughter and felt like a perfect end to my little adventure. For one thing- there were Donkeys in the field next door- what could be more cheerful than that?

My days were still spent exploring the local beaches and bays. I swam, saw baby seals and many beautiful sunsets. The cottage is very close to the famous Blue Lagoon- this was originally a slate quarry- and is above the beach at Abereiddi. My favourite was AberFelin was a small but lovely cove, where there was also the remains of an old mill - Melin Trefin.

I met up with my sister-in-law Gina and Dave and also with my friends Carol and Paul. A happy morning was spent at the beautiful Cathedral that makes St David's our smallest city.

By a wonderful coincidence, the first evening spent with Carol and Paul was also the time when they had news of the safe arrival of their first Grandchild- baby Noah. I think I will always remember the look of happiness on Carol's face.

At the beginning of this trip, one of the things I packed in the boot of my car was my Ghillie Kettle. For those of you who don't know, it is such a simple yet ingenious device for making hot drinks when outside in the wild. I had never had the chance to use it and so when I managed to persuade my friends that it would be a good idea to have an evening BBQ on the beach, I finally had the chance to try it out. Paul was the one who actually managed to light the kindling, but once the flames took, our drinks were made very speedily. I was so pleased to have achieved a long-standing ambition!

Beach Art

I have written before about my love for beaches and how this time away from everyday life has reminded me how to play. Because I am not in a rush and have time to potter about, I have found so many unexpected things of beauty on the seashore. Whether it is in the intense colours of crystalline rock structures, or the patterns left by the receding tide, there is art all around me.

I think beachcombing is in my blood because I always have an eye open for shells, colourful pebbles, unusual seaweed and driftwood. As children, my brother Jon and I would spend happy hours making 'the perfect rockpool'. The beach would be searched for pebbles, shells, seaweed, and if we were lucky, a crab or two and then we would create our own beautiful miniature worlds.

I was lacking the pool but making this little scene took me straight back to my childhood. I remembered the concentration and intensity of feeling and the delight at making something so lovely.

The writer Elizabeth Goudge writes about a collection of  'Little Things' in a couple of her books. These were tiny china ornaments, yet I felt I was following her lead when I made this little gathering of perfect tiny shells, carefully placed in a clam-shell. I do so hope a child found them before the sea washed them away.

I am always surprised by the variety of colours found in the pebbles on beaches. The best place for beautifully coloured perfectly oval pebbles has to be Budleigh Salterton, yet with a bit of time spent searching, there is usually a rainbow's worth to be found.

I was especially pleased when my friend Carol told me that she had come upon one of my colourful collections and immediately thought: "That must be Jane's doing".

 I also love beaches that are full of dark stones foliated with white quartz stripes. It is endlessly fascinating to look for letters within the pebble's patterns.

I also enjoy making shapes by connecting the lines within the stones. My friend Pippa taught me how to make hearts.

I become totally absorbed when I make my little beach creations, it feels like a form of meditation. Time flies and I feel refreshed and satisfied by what I have made.

And then I came upon the sublime work of Rachel Shiam   http://www.quietearth.org.uk/

She draws these delicate intricate designs on the sand. I watched her work and then, at her suggestion, climbed up the cliff-top path so that I could look down on the beach and see the whole pattern.

Hey ho- there is playing and there is true art and I know what I create!

Ancient sites and Sacred places

In the summer, before my journey around Wales, I had gone on an interesting walk all around Stonehenge with a friend who volunteers there. Perhaps because of this and because the Neolithic monuments are so clearly marked on my maps, I was keen to visit some sites during my travels.

It was a clear and sunny day when I set off to find Brynn Celli Ddu.  According to my Welsh heritage guide it’s in the south of Anglesey quite close to the Menai Strait. I’m not great with following directions and so I found myself wandering around some fields in a vague and hopeful manner, thinking, maybe it’s that lump in the distance?

Once I actually saw the beautiful dome of this chambered tomb- I was in no doubt that I had reached the right place.

 

I had learned that this site was originally a henge (3000BC) with standing stones and it was about 1000 years later that a passage grave was built, and that the burial chamber would have been entirely enclosed within a huge mound. Now a smaller mound has been reconstructed and you can walk into the chamber from the back. At the front is a replica of the decorated stone that was part of the original henge.

I was so lucky to visit on a day when the sun was shining and quite low in the sky. As I entered the burial chamber it was glowing in the sunlight.

 

It felt very peaceful and special. People had placed gifts and messages and so I was glad to find that I had a lovely piece of sea glass in my pocket, which I left as my offering.

 I came upon my second site entirely by accident. I had just left Newport and was driving home when I noticed one of those interesting brown historic monument signs. So I turned down the road, past some very modern houses, and there, in a tiny field not much bigger than the bungalows’ back gardens was Carreg Coetan Arthur.

I was soon joined by a young man who was most knowledgeable and friendly. He explained that this burial chamber would have originally been covered with earth and that it dated from around 3000BC.  He was slightly shocked to find out that I had yet to visit Pentre Ifan and in fact had not even heard of it. I promised to follow his instructions and make a visit.

 And so I did.

It is breath-taking and beautiful and set amidst the hills away from any sign of modern life. It had a presence and a majesty that moved me greatly.

 

I decided to make a little wreath of Hawthorne and blackberries from the nearby hedges and spent a happy and engrossed hour creating my offering. The sun shone, there was birdsong on the breeze and peace and beauty surrounded me. It was a truly sacred place.