NEWS UPDATE

 

 

Hi all,

 

 

Due to unforeseen circumstances this Thursday's planned Annual General Meeting (AGM) will have to be postponed. Apologies for any inconvenience this causes. I will update you all as soon as we have a new date.

 

Thanks.

 

Dylan

 

Gowerton

(Sunday the 18th January 2015)

6 miles. Easy.

 

 

So the Tawe Trekkers are truly off and running in 2015 after two excellent walks perfect for beginners to start us off. After last weeks excellent walk in Ponsticill I led a group of 15 walkers and 1 dog around the woods and hills of Gowerton. This walk was billed as perfect for beginners and it seems to have been exactly what was needed to give some new people the opportunity to dip their toes in.

 

The walk itself appears to have surprised quite a few actually, with more than one expressing surprise with what was actually right on the edge of quite a built up area of Swansea. There were some stand out moments, including the top quality mud (I did warn you!) and the randomness of walking through some back gardens. Why people would buy a house with a public footpath going straight through their back garden is anyone's business but there you go. The best part for me though is as we reached the walk's highest point we were met by some genuinely superb views. To the west was the Llanelli estuary in all its glory. To the north-west though we were afforded clear views all the way to the Brecon Beacons, where we could see the snow covered peaks of Fan Gyhirech and others from the Carmarthan fans. I smell a future walk coming on!

 

 

Fan Gyhirech and the Carmarthan Fans from Gowerton!



 

After this we stuck our heads down and after wading our way through yet more muddy woodland paths and hills we soon found ourselves back in Gowerton. A quick change of clothes and we soon found ourselves in the Gower Inn for a bit of Sunday dinner. By the way the staff met us with looks of overwhelmed stress you would have thought they were completely rushed...yet you could have heard a pin drop there to be honest. Despite this strange greeting the food turned out to be excellent and another great little day ended with talks of the year to come.

 

Next week Dave will be leading us on a strenuous walk in the Brecon Beacons. I'm not sure exactly where yet but as he wasn't on today's walk I'm guessing he was out recceing it. Keep an eye on the programme and Facebook for updates guys.

 

Dylan

Hi fellow Trekkers,

There will no doubt be eighteen pairs of wet, muddy boots drying in an assortment of airing cupboards and under radiators following Janet's walk this Sunday, as well as the familiar sound of canine post walk cleaning routines for some days to come. Needless to say, Janet's romp around the quarrys and woods near Ponsticill proved to be an exceptionally muddy, albeit pleasant affair, offering unrivalled views of Talybont reservoir.

Starting from Ponsticill reservoir, our intrepid group climbed steadily along an established forestry path, which in parts resembled an elite army assault course, before descending to views of the distant water of Talybont reservoir. A stragetically placed wooden log across an exceptionally muddy section proved great fun, some negotiating this obstacle with considerably more confidence than others.  All survived unscathed however, and we continued to our lunch spot in a nearby wood.

Following a brief stop beneath the boughs of ancient trees Janet spurred us on to traverse the ridge of a steep wooded valley and from here we climbed through a landscape scarred by mining before descending for our final section along the shore of Ponsticill reservoir, the dogs enjoying a brief dip before arriving back at the cars, muddy but happy!

Drinks were taken in The Red Cow in Ponsticill, a roaring log fire adding to the feeling of just reward for our efforts. Many thanks are extended to Janet and Shona for leading this exceptional walk and thanks to all who braved the weather and came along, especially to those of you new to the group.

Dylan promises a significantly less strenuous walk this coming Sunday ( 18th January ) near Goweton. Dylan's walk will take in both woodland and hill, and, weather permitting will offer great views of Llanelli estuary. Should you require additional temptation to boot up, please note that there is also the option of a post walk meal in a cosy local pub! What better way to spend a Sunday?! For more details please contact Dylan on 07540 746 360.

On a final note, those of you wishing to join us for the Three Peaks weekend and have yet to pay Dave for accommodation, please contact him a.s.a.p. on 07981 963 681. There are still places available at the Pwll Du Adventure Center bunkhouse for the weekend of this (Abergavenny) challenge (28th and 29th March) and again contact Dave for more info.

Thats all for now folks.Be safe and walk tall,

Paul

UPCOMING TRIP NOTICE

 

THIS TRIP IS FOR TAWE TREKKER MEMBERS ONLY

 

This year we will be visiting the Pembrokeshire coastal town of Tenby for our annual New Years Trip. Tenby has developed a bit of a reputation over recent years as being party central on New Years Eve and as evidence of this I offer the following YouTube clips:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmgXz7PUbUM&app=desktop

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNaL9HNoXrA&app=desktop

 

Please note the amount of fancy dress going on in the first video above. Many of us who spoke about Tenby whilst in Milford Haven recently like the idea of dressing as Austrian walkers. Please note that agreement to this may very well be a criteria for acceptance on this trip :-D

 

Unfortunately the nearest bunkhouse is in Manorbier, which is 6 miles away. This is a bit too much during this time of the year I think and as result I have taken option B. I have managed to secure 2 top quality Holiday Cottages in the heart of Tenby, just 5 minutes walk from each other and a 10 minute walk max from Tudor Court (see videos above). I have booked these cottages for a total of 4 nights from Tuesday the 29/12/2014 to Saturday the 02/01/2016 for a total amount of 14 people. The charge will be £150 for the whole trip (£37.50 ppn) and I will be looking for a minimum deposit of £75, but would prefer the entire amount if you can afford it. I will need the final payment by the end of October at the very latest. Given the amount of money at stake for the TT's here I will not be able to provide your deposit back if you have not cancelled with me by the 01/12/2015. This is because at such short notice I might struggle to find a replacement. Both cottages allow two dogs each and they are not allowed on the furniture. There is actually also a sauna in one of the properties which I hope might be useful after some of the strenuous walks and drinking sessions we embark on.

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/tenby/1794132

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/tenby/372793

This trip will be open to fully paid Tawe Trekker members only initially and will be opened up to other Ramblers group members after the end of October. By this time everyone should have paid their final deposits and secured the property. If at anytime you decide to book yourself into Tenby separately but would like to join us during this trip you are of course welcome to do so. Obviously you will need to let me know of this decision. I will not be booking any extra cottages than what I have and this is a first come first served scenario. Obviously if you wish to book an extra cottage for you and a few others who have missed the first opportunity (or a B&B) I am happy to give you my contacts details in order to help you.

Diolch.

Dylan

 

 New Year 2014/2015

 

 



Hello pawb,

 

Well the Christmas and New Year period has come and gone again. I hope that Santa brought you everything you wanted and that you all had a great (sober and reflective!) time seeing in the New Year (Muha!). As for the Tawe Trekkers we saw 2016 in in the beautiful surroundings of the Pembrokeshire coastal path from our base at Upper Neeston Lodges, Milford Haven. I'm happy to say that the trip was a resounding success and has been a fruitful learning experience for me.

 

We arrived on Tuesday in fits and starts so we didn't get the chance to go on our planned short walk up to Blackbridge. This came in handy for later though so no worries. Once enough of us had arrived we headed down to the newly developed Marina area of Milford Haven and shared some drinks in the very cosy Harbourmaster Restaurant/bar. The food here was pretty damn sweet and I seem to recall having to eventually return to the bunkhouse in order to release my belt buckle.

 

We arose on New Years Eve and after some discussion I decided to make some changes to the planned walk in order to keep our lives simple. We convoyed 20 minutes west down the coast to Dale, and it was at this time that Mr Paul Shadrach and Ms Caroline Williams' walk-leading virginity was stolen. I'm not sure that they really volunteered for it but I can promise that everyone enjoyed this stunning (and windy!) walk around the peninsula. Some of the highlights of this walk included, the random art provided by a local artisan, the beautiful views and the final drinkie-poos in the beautiful Griffin Inn. I would personally like to take this opportunity to thank both Paul and Caroline for their help on this day. I was gutted when I heard that they both had to leave the next night and they were both much missed.

 

 

 





Annette of the West Country Ramblers and her friend Elina from Finland.

 

After some swift arrangements we returned back to the bunkhouse, tarted ourselves up, and we all met at the Lord Nelson Hotel for a beautiful meal to start our New Year celebrations. It was at this point that The Tawe Trekker's resident 'life of the party', David Horton, finally made his appearance. Due to the evil machinations of Y Swydda'r Post Dave could only join us for one night and one walk this year. It was a great night though and I hope he enjoyed. It wasn't long before he was entertaining us with one of his now legendary anecdotes and we ventured into the town for our New Year celebrations...and here is when we met the fly in the ointment. It would appear, ladies and gentlemen, that Milford Haven is a bit of ghost town. We ventured to several local watering holes and found that they were quite literally empty. As you can imagine this was quite disconcerting and after some persistence on our part we ended up in Martha's Vineyard in the Marina. It was here that some of us saw in the New Year dancing along to a local jazz band and drinking copious amounts of alcohol with the locals. On the other side of town some of the less capable drinkers had chosen to return to the bunkhouse and danced the New Year in together. Check out the 'jibs' on Diane and Janet here. Clearly they had a great time!

 

 

 

As you can imagine we all slowly arose to the New Year with some pounding headaches. Nevermind that though as by 10am we were walking out of the bunkhouse and west up the road to the beautiful bay of Sandy Haven. Joining the Wales Coastal Path we then turned east and enjoyed a simply stunning walk all the way back to Milford Haven, where some of us had cunningly left our cars. We're an intelligent bunch at the Tawe Trekkers. It was during this walk that I'm afraid I joined the increasing number of Tawe Trekker walk leaders to commit the cardinal sin of allowing a coffee break (queue some Facebook abuse). Please refer to the evidence below which I willingly offer to prove my guilt. I can only apologise and offer the petty excuse that I think Janet Thomas and Tracy Hatherill may have chundered all over me if I hadn't agreed to it. We then continued and after arriving in Milford some of us ventured on to walk a planned extra 4 mile circular walk to Blackbridge. Unfortunately we found our path blocked by poor maintenance and as it was rapidly starting to pour down we took the opportunity to return to the bunkhouse, dry off and clear our heads.

 



We decided to spend this final night relaxing with some drinks in the bunkhouse but first we returned to the Lord Nelson Hotel to fill our bellies and after a pointless search to find a single open store in Milford Haven to buy extra booze we returned to bunkhouse, and after a comical ten minutes trying to cut the wood with a kitchen knife we were rescued by Diane Price's organisational skills...we finally had tinder and fire lighters for our wood burner. This was a fantastic night and I offer you just a few of the pictures below as evidence. Check out Anwen Cale platting my hair. Clearly this lovely lady needs a daughter...and to drink less gin! The picture of the card is the extremely kind gift that I received from everyone on the trip to wish me a happy birthday and to thank me for arranging the trip. I'm personally so glad everyone enjoyed their time in Milford Haven and we spent a good while this night considering future New year trips. It was during this time that I spoke about some of the challenges I had met and the New Year resolution I have made not to allow myself to put too much pressure on myself next year. With this in mind Mr Andrew Bevan has kindly agreed to arrange next year's Christmas meal. I know for a fact that he's done a great job in the past so I'm certain a great night will be had whatever he decides to do. With regards to next year I am currently finalising plans. I don't want to give too much away about next year yet but I have decided that there will be less availability and I'm afraid that it will be more expensive as there are no independent hostels in the area and the closest YHA is 6 miles away, which is a bit too far to be realistic at this time of year I'm afraid.

 

We did actually enjoy ourselves!



 

On the final day the number unfortunately depleted as for various reasons could not join me for my final walk at Angle. It was a great shame to say goodbye to everyone especially as what was to follow for those who stayed was an extraordinary walk around the peninsula of Angle. I was so impressed I have spent some time considering leading this walk for the Tawe Trekkers later in the year. We will have to wait and see. Sadly the local pubs were closed for us to enjoy a final lunch and drink. Instead we journeyed down to Pembroke and after enjoying a surprisingly good meal at the local chip shop/restaurant we said our goodbyes over a drink in the Kings Arms Hotel.

 

 

Tracy Hatherill takes in the view at Freshwater West

Photo of the Year Competition 2014

 

 

I have decided to conduct a little photo of the year competition in order to celebrate some of the excellent photos of the last year. Please see 4 photos that have at one time or another during 2014 spent time as our cover photo on Facebook. If you would like to vote for your favourite picture please respond to this email with the number either 1,2,3, or 4. Alternatively you can vote for your favourite picture on Facebook. The photo competition will return next year in a new quarterly guise.

 

 

1) Tawe Trekkers at the peak of Skirrid March 2014

2) Rhossili Down, Glamorgan area walk. June 2014.

 

3) Heol-Y-Cyw, November 2014

 

4) Above Ystalyfera, November 2014

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Dylan