Last camping trip of the year

I am very blessed in many ways.  

One of those is that my son now has a roof top tent, so sometimes I get to enjoy his company whilst we go camping in our respective vehicles.

So for my last trip out in the van for the year we headed to Brecon to the first campsite I went to as a solo camper.

I knew it would be perfect not too big and the facilities are first rate, this is the site if you'd like to take a look Bryndu Camping.

 

We were lucky as there were barely anyone else staying so we got to pick where we wanted to park.

After a good night's sleep we headed off to Botanic Garden Wales.  But we did stop off briefly at Llandovery. 

 

 

We then arrived at the gardens.   I had been previously a couple of years before twice in one week and still hadn't managed to see everything, but knew I would loved it third time round. 

So I decided to invest and buy a year's membership as I will be visiting again next year. 

The Annual membership is really worth it as I can also visit Westonbirt Arboretum, Birmingham, Coventry and Oxford Gardens all in the price. 

 

I took some pictures for you to see some of the gardens.

 

 

 

 

The tropical house was amazing with the Bananas growing. 

 

 

I love walking around the grounds too and it was so lovely to see the autumnal leaves against the water. 

There is a big sculpture that from one direction it looks like a seat and another it looks like an apple. 

It was a long day so it was nice to settle in and snuggle down with the fairy lights in the van. 

The next day we headed to Hay on Wye, famous for once a year having a Literature Festival spread over 11 days and attracts over 100,000 people.

The town is so refreshing, not only is it surrounded by beatifult coutryside, but it has so many small indepentant shops.  

Along with knitting and van life I do also enjoy reading so to walk around the incredible amount of bookshops of which there are over twenty was amazing.

 

For the final part of the trip we stopped off for an hour at Weir Garden which I wrote about here
Again it was a short trip and we did not get to see everything, but it was a garden's will definately visit again and the drive home was very pretty too.

 

 

I thought I would finish the blog with this great plague I saw.

 

(2) Sheringham Museum & Cley by the sea RSPB Reserve and beach.

 

 

The Herring Girls

From the mid 1800s through to the 1950s herring was a vital catch which enriched the nation. It provided a valuable source of employment for fishermen and gutting girls, who prepared and salted the catch.

The herring shoals were fished in the winter and spring on the East Coast of Scotland. The herring girls followed the fleet as the shoals moved to the North Coast of Scotland and Shetland in the summer and down to the East Anglian Coast in autumn.

From as far away as the Outer Hebrides and the Shetland Isles came the girls that would travel the length of the country to gut and prepare the precious catch. They would pack their trunks and board chartered trains to take them to the ports. They began to follow the fishing fleet from the age of 15.

Dressed in long skirts, aprons, jumpers, head scarves and wellington boots the herring girls would begin work on the quayside at 6 a.m. Singing in Gaelic and wielding sharp knives they could gut a fish a second. They would bind their hands to protects themselves from cuts, but the salt that preserved the fish would certainly hurt their hands. The girls worked in teams of three - two gutting the fish and the tallest girl grading and filling the barrels. At 8 a.m. they could break for a bowl of porridge and a cup of tea and then they worked through the day until they finished at 6 p.m.

It was hard work but it meant freedom from the traditional role of wife and mother. Working in the day and socialising in the evening the 'herring lasses' lived life on their own terms. Their wages were low but they bought gifts for their families at home to remind them of their travels mementos like - dishes with the names of the ports like Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

 

 

(3) Sandringham and Snettisham Beach