Bloody hell, it's cold

I can't believe it's this cold without snow.

On Saturday we headed off to another foreign country. It was a bit tricky trying to understand the roadsigns but luckily most of the locals seemed to speak English. They even looked like us!

We had decided the Brecon Beacons beckoned so jump-started the car and headed off over the Severn Bridge to a strange new land. Well, not that new. We stopped in a village called Blaenavon (pronounced Llanelli) that has the ruins of an ironworks as its main attraction. It was interesting to see this early industrial revolution site and apparently it was the home of the bessemer (or indirect) reduction method for those of you who are at all interested. But I'll tell you something - it was feckin' cold! It is surrounded by mineworks on all sides and underneath, and close by were forges and steelworks. It has also been used as the site for one of those family-lives-and-works-in-period programmes called The Coal House which will no doubt be on your screens shortly. We have trod those very steps dear reader.

After a pleasant lunch watching Stade Francais (in pink) lose to Cardiff (in Wales), we carried on as we wanted to find a Youth Hostel. We didn't, so carried on to Brecon where we found a B&B. Since it was completely dark by 4.00 we didn't see a hell of a lot, but wandered around the town centre freezing our bits off. There was a brief bit of drama when two very pissed ladies managed to overbalance and hit the deck with a double clunk you could hear from across the road. They both hit their heads on the pavement so assuming they did at all they would have woken up with one heck of a headache each, but which they couldn't blame on the booze.

The B&B was nice enough, with a newly decorated bathroom, but rather flimsy walls. Luckily there were no couples next door. It had been extended from the original house by converting two attached barns, so the floors were higgeldy-piggeldy, and there was a surprisingly long corridor.

On Sunday, after jump-starting the car, we headed back through the Brecons which were a bleak area like the route from Dunedin to Middlemarch. There was evidence of the mining that's gone on for centuries in the form of tailings and ruined buildings. We had hoped to take a scenic train ride but it was a special Santa train that day so no go. We went down the Big Pit and had a good introduction to mining. God, what a job. Our guide was an ex-miner but somewhat less fit than he would have been when working. I thought he was going to have a heart attack then and there. The map of the mine showed roads and galleries going off for miles in all directions so it was pretty amazing. Batteries weren't allowed, so there were no cameras allowed either which was a little disappointing. The Big Pit is no longer worked thanks in part to Maggie, but there is apparently still plenty of coal in it, and fairly clean burning, so maybe when the oil runs out we'll be using it again to run our trains.

We drove through Griffithstown looking for Panteg (pronounced Cardiff) as J thinks her rellies come from there. Turns out Panteg is a steelworks, so we're not sure if we were anywhere even close, but a google seems to suggest Panteg is a suburb of Griffithstown. We should have stopped at the church.

The sun had just gone down as we went back over the border, which is a shame as it would have been quite spectacular from the bridge. It was of course only 4.00 so we got home in plenty of time to relax.

For pics of whales click here, or for our snaps of Wales, click here. Don't forget that if you double-click the images on this page or in the albums you get a full sized pic!

Work is pretty quiet but we've both got work lunches coming up. Two for me and two or more for J. There's already a big tin of chocolates sitting on the desk and apparently another two coming, so my teeth will be rotten by New Year. Perhaps I should have Listerine (tm) chasers after each one?

Col Blimp is refusing to let me have a copy of the invoice in question and I now have to write through his lawyer. What it must be like to have someone else to be unreasonable for you. He really is pathetic, but what can I do?

Have I told you it's feckin' cold? Apparently it was -3 today but take some more away for wind chill factor. J was waiting for a train for an hour+ in about -10 deg!