Penarth Marina

Completing my photo journey through Cardiff, my photos taken at Penarth Marina on the other side of the bay. Very nice it was too, i wish i could have explored Penarth more but by the time i got there my feet were aching!

Cardiff

This Easter weekend i went down to Cardiff, the capital of Wales of course. I don't think i've ever been there before and what a treat i had there. A great city indeed and i spent a lot of time walking around the bay, around the castle and at the station (natch). You can see my general Cardiff photos here, my Cardiff Bay photos here and my Cardiff railway photos here (yes i took a lot of photos). I'll be certainly coming back to the city at some time in the not-too-distant future.

Aberystwyth Lifeboat Station

Aberystwyth Lifeboat Station was established in 1861 though a lifeboat had been supported in the town since 1843. In 1861 a branch of the RNLI was established and the first boat RNLB Evelyn Wood was launched for the first time. This was a ten oared self-righting lifeboat and was followed by seven other conventional all-weather lifeboats.

Since 1964 Aberystwyth has had inshore lifeboats only after the last conventional boat was withdrawn and indeed Aberystwyth was the first RNLI station to receive an inshore boat. These can travel in shallower water than conventional boats and thus are more useful in places where most call-outs might be to holidaymakers or boaters in trouble. The current lifeboat, which has been in service since 2008, is the Spirit of Friendship, an Atlantic 85. This has twin 115hp engines that gives it a top speed of 35 knots and carries a crew of 4, it is equipped with radar and direction finding VHF. The station also has a smaller Arancia A-78 rescue craft.

Aberystwyth can be a busy station, in 2014 the lifeboats were called out 41 times. Over the years the crews have been honoured for gallantry 13 times. The RNLI is a charity that could not exist without donations, please visit their website and support this vital service which has saved so many lives.

Bilingual

Bilingual sign on the beach at Aberystwyth (though the English version could do with replacing).

Aberystwyth harbour

A lovely collection of boats in Aberystwyth harbour.

Dusk over the Irish Sea

Dusk falls over Aberystwyth promenade.

The Nag's Head, Aberystwyth

The Friday pub photo.

Bi-lingual

An example of a bi-lingual sign in Aberystwyth station. Interesting all Arriva Train Wales signs look like they have to be bi-lingual no matter where they are shown so there is some Welsh signage up on the wall at Birmingham New Street too which is cool.

Aber lifeboat

Aberystwyth Lifeboat Station.

The Mill Inn

In Aberystwyth.

Aberystwyth at night

The lovely seafront of Aberystwyth as the sun goes down.

I sea the see

The seafront at Aberystwyth. It looks like you could go on forever but actually you'd end up in Ireland.

Aberystwyth promenade

Aberystwyth promenade on a blustery day (as the energetic waves indicate) a few years ago.

2013 in review : Waterways

Naturally i spent a good deal of this year walking various inland waterways and taking hundreds of photographs, many in the Midlands but i also investigated London's canals quite intensely. I walked most of the Regent's Canal as well as completing the short Limehouse Cut and Hertford Union Canals.

In the Midlands i visited Stratford of course and also returned to Brindley Place and the Digbeth Branch. New ground was covered on the Stratford Canal near Wootton Wawen, the Worcester & Birmingham Canal in Alvechurch and the Oxford Canal in Banbury. Probably the nicest place visited though was Aberystwyth and its jolly little harbour.

All in all some good milage was made. I still have a list of places to visit, we'll just have to see how 2014 pans out. My Inland Waterways blog is a good place to visit if you are interested in my travels.

Back to Aberystwyth

We enjoyed Aberystwyth so much last year we returned this year. In fact my wife treated me for my birthday and we had a great time, the weather was a bit variable but when it was good it was good (better than August 2012 in-fact). A lot of stuff was closed or restricted as it was out of season but we went up the hill overlooking the town on the cliff railway (something we never got around to doing last time). What a great view from up there! Here you can see the photos i took.

The Vale of Rheidol Railway

One of the key events of my short trip to Aberystwyth was a journey along the Vale of Rheidol Railway from the town up to Devil's Bridge in the mountains. The railway is a steam heritage line which uses narrow gauge. Interestingly the railway remained in British Rail hands until 1989 and for a time in the 1970s the steam locomotives on the line were in BR blue and had the double arrow symbol!

Nowadays the engines are in GWR colours. The trip takes an hour each way and the view is breathtaking as you go higher and higher up the valley sides. I took a number of photos on the trip which you can see here.

Aberystwyth

Its been a long long time since i've been to Wales, the last time i can remember is a family holiday to Barmouth when i was around 9 or 10. So i thought it was high time i came back! We've just spent a couple of great days in Aberystwyth. The weather was variable, at times it was fine but at others it was what you may call "bracing" but we had a great time including a trip on the Vale of Rheidol Railway (of which more later) and plenty of wind-swept walks along the promenade.

I even had a little paddle, the water was rather cold but it was fun. The last time i've paddled in the sea was probably when i was in Bali so this was a bit different. And to be honest... much better. As always i've taken plenty of photographs, i took both cameras as i didn't want to risk my DSLR if it was very wet so the photos have been taken using both... and indeed a few with the iPhone too.