Category — Activity

Britain is home to an endless history of myths, legends and unexplained tales.  From the famous standing stones of Stonehenge to the murky depths of Loch Ness to the gruesome lives of our  murderous monarchs throughout the middle-ages, there are ghost stories and mysteries to be unraveled in every corner of Britain.  At this time of year, in the run up to Halloween (Oct 31st) the paranormal is ever nearer so where did this ancient festival come from and how do we celebrate here in the UK?

It was a foul day here in Wales when Juliana and I set off to mid Wales to visit one of the hotels that we use on our itineraries – The Lake Vyrnwy hotel in Powys, Mid Wales that has a great location overlooking the lake.

On the way we stopped off for morning coffee at Llangoed Hall, a country House hotel owned by Sir Bernard Ashley, widower of Laura Ashley. It was either that or The Little Chef in Builth Wells. No competition. Sorry Little Chef. There’s no reception desk at Llangoed Hall, so you really do feel that you’re walking into your very (very) rich uncle’s house. We wandered into the drawing room that looked out over the croquet lawn towards the farmland beyond, introduced ourselves to one of the staff, and ordered a coffee. I could have easily spent the rest of the day being waited on hand and foot reading the latest Grisham novel, but Lake Vyrnwy beckoned so off we set.

Norfolk’s unusual landscape is one of the most remarkable in Britain. No mountains and valleys here – it’s wide and open as a result of the ice age Glaciers that covered Britain (as well as over a third of the world) for over 80,000 years until the great meltdown about 10,000years ago. I wonder what caused global warming at that time. Hairy Mammoth flatulence maybe?