Exploring :: The British Ironworks Centre

Hi there everyone 😀

It seemed like ages since we’d been over to the lodge so … as Martin’s knee replacement operation recovery was going well … we decided to head back over for a week earlier this month.

He still had a way to go before he would be fit enough to drive so I was in the hot seat … for the first time for this journey.

I opted to avoid the narrowest of mountain roads and stuck to the A5 across to Llangollen and it seemed the ideal opportunity to call in and have a look at the British Ironwork Centre.

We’ve driven past a fair few times and have always been intrigued as to what could be found within … based on the giant transformer sculpture at the entrance.

Well … we were in luck. At this time of year it’s free to visit from Tuesday to Friday so all we had to pay was a parking charge of £4.

Driving in we just didn’t know where to look … there are sculptures literally everywhere. Some of them are absolutely huge and all are made from recycled materials. With Martin still taking it easy following his op we weren’t sure how much exploring we would do but we certainly wanted to give it a go.

We decided to start off with lunch and inside is just as fabulous as outside …

To get to the cafe we made our way through the shop, which was crammed full of beautiful things …

… and plenty of sculpture …

There is even sculpture in the facilities. This lady didn’t half make me jump as I opened the door …

… and just look at this mirror …

Apparently there is a chimp sat on the loo reading the paper in the gents.

The cafe was also crammed full of sculpture …

The food was great … and easy to order via an app …

The portions were very generous and I was gutted that we had no room for cake … which all looked very tempting …

… and the afternoon teas looked amazing 

Back outside and we just had a bit of a wander … having a bit of a closer look at some of the sculptures we had seen on our way in …

I don’t know if you can see on the above photo but all of the centipede’s legs are actually golf clubs. 

It’s definitely somewhere we need to visit again … when the weather is maybe a bit brighter and Martin is feeling a bit more mobile.

We did pull over on the way out to capture these two guys which were absolutely huge …

… before carrying on with our journey.

We will most definitely be back 😀

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A Different Kind of September

Hi there everyone 😀

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last post, which is unusual for me … but then this September was quite different to normal for us in lots of ways. 

For the first time in as far back as I can remember we spent the whole of September at home. Normally … as soon as the schools are back … we are off somewhere exploring. Not this year … we didn’t even manage a sneaky lodge visit.

Saying that … it’s not been uneventful.

Martin has a new knee and … so far … things are looking very promising. We are currently at the lodge and have been doing a bit of walking and Martin is finding a noticeable difference, in a good way, when testing it out on a few gentle walks …

I’m noticing a lot less grumbling and we’ve actually managed to walk at the same pace … and I’d forgotten how nice that can be.

Martin was in hospital for four days and all in all it was a pretty good experience for him. We even managed to have tea together when I was visiting on one occasion …

Since coming out there has been plenty of resting, exercising, ice packs and hospital visits …

I had my first visit and snuggles with this little man …

… and we did manage to fit a few outings in. Our first trip out was an impromptu Friday night meal out with Jo and Steve at one of our favourite spots …

There was also a special celebration for Jackie and Phil’s 40th wedding anniversary which was just the loveliest afternoon spent with their nearest and dearest enjoying good food and plenty of chat …

… and a lunch for me out with my fellow foodbank volunteers …

It was actually quite nice spending such a good chunk of time at home, with not too much on the agenda.

Whilst I was quite busy, with Martin spending time resting his new knee, it was good to be able to make use of all the batch cooking we’d done just before he had his operation … with a really easy roast lamb dinner …

… and some of the shredded lamb going down particularly well …

October started with a full family meal out, followed swiftly by a very nice afternoon tea with mum and my sister, Sarah, to celebrate mum’s birthday. It’s not that often that the three of us spend quality time together and it was a really lovely afternoon … the afternoon tea was a real treat too … we will definitely be visiting there again …

It will be my 60th birthday next month and it’s looking very busy, with lots going on, so we decided to sneak this week in at the lodge … while there was a bit of a gap on the calendar.

It has been lovely so far. The weather has been great and we’ve managed to get out and about a fair bit … but I will tell you more about that next time.

Bye for now 😀

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Llanberis :: The Gift that keeps on giving

Hi there everyone 😀

Whilst we were at the lodge in August we had yet another big day out to Llanberis. It’s somewhere we’ve been numerous times and we just keep on finding new things to see and do.

This time the plan was to have a walk up to the old Quarrymen’s Hospital, as it didn’t seem to be too far a walk for us and it looked like there could be some good views to be had … both of it and away from it.

We parked on the slate museum car park and were soon on our way … walking in the opposite direction to normal, heading away from the museum and through a gap signposting us to the hospital.

Within a couple of minutes we were in a beautiful little spot on the lake. It was really quiet and would be just perfect for picnicking and paddling …

We carried on up towards the hospital, stopping part way to take in the glorious views across the lake …

… and up to the hospital …

We hadn’t been particularly planning to make our way up the steps to the hospital but we were thrilled to see that the door was actually open so we couldn’t not go and investigate. 

Whilst the steps weren’t as bad as they looked … we did have a bit of a breather part way up … just to take in the views again 😜

… but we were soon at the top …

We have visited Llanberis loads of times and have never been lucky enough to find the hospital open … so to get to have a look round inside was a real treat for us …

We even got to have a look in the morgue …

The views back across the lake were just beautiful …

… and we could even see the steam train setting off for its trip up Yr Wyddfa …

We made our way back from the hospital along the top road, which took us past the old slate mining carts …

… and came out at the bottom by the lakeside steam railway.

Somewhere else we’d been wanting to find and have a look at was the diving pool and, whilst the gates were locked firmly shut, we could see an intriguing glimpse of what lay behind. 

We managed to find another way to view the pool, from the road above, and it really was a beautiful spot, well worth a look …

We headed back past the railway to the car and decided it was time to find somewhere for lunch …

We ended up at a place called Caban, which was right at the other end of the lake and ended up being a really good find.

We carried on from here, back around the other side of the lake, to the Dinorwic bus terminus, where we parked up and set out for a walk to the viewpoint.

It was a good path and the views looking back across the mountains were pretty amazing …

Before long we came upon some abandoned buildings, which were just fascinating …

Not far beyond the buildings and we took a right towards the viewpoint …

… where we came across these guys …

We were fascinated by the goats and hung around for ages just watching them … until they all made their way across the path in front of us and niftily made their way across the slate to wherever they were heading next …

We carried along to the end of the path and the viewpoint for more spectacular views across the to Dolbadarn Castle …

… and back up the valley and Llyn Padarn …

We retraced our steps to the main path and carried on a little bit further …

… before deciding it was time to head back …

It was a fabulous little walk and somewhere I think we will most definitely be visiting again. We’d loved it … and had been so lucky to see the goats up so closely.

We still haven’t ticked everything off of the list of things we want to see and do in Llanberis. We both really want to explore the quarry more and definitely want to see Anglesey Barracks … so we will definitely be back. 

It certainly remains one of our favourite places to visit in the mountains. 

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