South Cornwall

 

For a post-Christmas treat we left the snowy wastes of home for the milder climes of the South West. Basing ourselves at The Falmouth Hotel, we ate and slept well and fitted in some great walks: On Tuesday, we headed to Maenporth and then ambled the coast path around to Helford Passage. The sun came out and we were in T shirts, having been sledging two days before, noting an overall temperature rise of about 25 degrees! On Wednesday, we went North to Mylor Bridge, walking in the mist, following the creek around to Restronguet Passage.

Boxing Day Bash

All the FTs, energised by piles of turkey sandwiches and lashings of mulled wine, gave the snow one last thrashing ahead of a threatened thaw. Our white knuckle ride video hopefully captures the essence of quality family time.

It's Christmas!

 

Waking up to icicles, one of which was 2 foot long, Christmas Day turned out clear blue, cold and bright. After some calls to Oz, we chucked the Turkey in the oven and prepared for guests. Pressies after lunch and a bit of telly before getting tucked up in bed while outside, the temperature headed south to -12 degrees again!

Christmas Eve

Sneaking off work early we bagged another late afternoon session on the snow. The Sun's rays struck us glancing blows to go with the more substantial blows from the undulating but lightning quick, iced surfaces. We found a new run all to ourselves: The perfect way to start Christmas. A medley of mayhem can be found at our usual video repository, incorporating previously unseen footage from this week. Thanks Turtinos.

Even More

This is us practising until dusk when the small people left the main hill and we could get down to some serious downhill magic on our new no-control polycarbonate slope rockets.

More Downhill

Jack Frost was still in the garden, we saw him there at dawn... After balancing the ladder on some slippy surfaces to get up to melt the ice in the boiler pipes, we trudged up to the hill, it being way too icy to risk the car on the skating rink, formerly known as our front road. Compacted frozen snow now awaited us and we set about trashing the new sledge. Luke mastered the skim board at full pelt and Will demonstrated the stand up sledging possibilities for those who have no fear. More pictures here.

Best Downhill Of The Day

The county finally got some of the blizzard that had been terrorising the Northerners. When it gets white, get out there: Teaming up with the Flying Turtinos we limbered up for a prolonged spell of icicles and christened the new sledge downhill from Daisybank. The banging tune on the video made up for the slow pace. Still, once it gets down to -10 tonight it should freeze over lovely for tomorrow!

Above The Clouds

Tim T and I left the foggy valley behind and climbed to view the whole of the Severn valley covered in a thick blanket of icy cloud. In bright sunshine, we surveyed 'islands' of the various 'Beacons' rising out of the mist: A truly magical Sunday morning. We ventured along the ridgeline to Haresfield and on to Stroud, returning up the Slad valley and down from Birdlip until we reached the chilly fog once more.

Into The Valleys

The Great Welsh Get-Together drew us once more to the Griffithstown valley. Hannah took the opportunity for a longer drive on quieter roads and kindly chauffered us. Everyone was good.

David & Rebecca's Big Day

David and Rebecca's Wedding was a good excuse to dress up smart and mingle over canapes and champagne. The happy couple looked radiant throughout.

A Fine Layer of Snow

While northern counties ground to a halt with an excess of the white stuff, we soldiered on: Having wrapped up well, Tim T and I planned a route across the top from Birdlip to Painswick. The branches were decorated with frost and the mud had conveniently frozen underfoot. We have slowed the video down so it's not so scary: film

Tim on Tour

Tim stayed for the weekend, providing excuses for dusting off the mountain bike and a run through the clouds, through the woods and some technical sections. On Sunday we walked up to the 2500 year old iron age fort above Painswick.

All Action Saturday

Tim and Jerry planned a full day of activity in The Cotswolds, involving mountain bikes a.m. and ropes p.m. Having checked the insurance, the route took in muddy tracks, muddy woods and muddy mud. A wobbly video captured the lowlights: Click
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD9aKbkg_R8. After a refuel, it was off to a craggy lump of sandstone to dangle about on a rope for the afternoon. Again, some of the antics were captured digitally: Click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SYB8QEV42M All of the dangerous bits have been edited out so that permission for future such adventures is not withdrawn.

A Walk In The Leaves

We watched the forest 'fireworks' of the autumnal leaves on a walk North of Parkend. We managed to claim the dry bit of the day between raindrops early and late. The colours were superb and we barely saw another person for miles. The wildlife seemed equally delighted with the quiet Forest and the technicolour backdrop to their world. On the way home we picked up provisions at the farm shop, including a variety of squashes that we'll need to do some research on before turning them into seasonal suppers.

Hockey

Hannah in action at Plock Court.

Saunton

The Flying Turtinos kindly invited me on their latest surf epic: ticking off Saunton on their list of beach breaks tried and tested. Excitement mounted when the Weekend Wave crew pulled out of their overnight lodgings and joined our convoy. The whole morning session saw no-one make it out-back, instead riding out the white water and doing da tricks init. After a short interlude we went back in. Will and I eventually made it out of the foam and into a world of whoppers off the point. Too scared to come back we hung out a while before each catching a beauty all the way in. Done over and done in we enjoyed a rainy journey back in sharp contrast to the sunny day we had enjoyed in North Devon. Picture: Will happy to be out of the white water. The beach is 500m away - the thin strip of land on the horizon. For the latest Turtino film click here.

Winchcombe

We looped Sudeley Castle (Royalist stronghold during the Civil War) on a circular walk from the thriving Cotswold village of Winchcombe with Dave and Liz. The Gloucester Old Spot pigs and their piglets that we encountered were hilarious and also the (I don't eat grass me) Alpaca guarding 'his' flock. Finishing with speciality tea and teacakes from a Japanese teashop capped off a pleasant autumn day in the country.

Musical Interlude

Kimaya played for us beautifully, while Isaac solved mysteries (clue: It's always the janitor)

Cornish Views

The prospect of fresh clear days at the frontend of half term was all the excuse we needed to book up at Trevella for a dose of fun in the areas of outstanding natural beauty south of Newquay. Simo and Claud kept us company and out of trouble walking the coastline to Holywell Bay on Saturday and then around St Agnes Head on Sunday. We then had a sublime surf through sunset and into near darkness in a pleasant 2' swell at Crantock. Obviously we made a film.

On Monday we enjoyed a near balmy late October day in Falmouth, calling on Lydie and her housemates, to admire the seaviews from her room. It's tough being a student!

ITM Gig @ The Venue

Into The Morning played their first public gig at The Freeze Festival to general acclaim, raising money for the NSPCC and winning a prize of a recording session. Pictures by Hannah - parents were banned.

Family Walk

After a good night's sleep to recover from the night before, plus a refuel via a full Welsh breakfast, we wandered down to admire Blackwood's suspension bridge and then drove up the valley road and West to Pontneddfechan. Our intended easy wander turned into a goat trail up a river. Anyway no-one fell in and the fresh air was so remarkably fresh we had a job staying awake to drive home.

The Wedding

James and Sara were married in beautiful autumnal sunshine at Sacred Heart Church, Pontllanfraith and then treated everyone to a sumptuous reception meal at Maes Manor, Blackwood. The celebrations carried on through the evening disco, feast and live band 'The Venue'. Wedding pictures.

Windy Weekend Westward Ho!

Despite a blustery forecast we weekended at Westward, where an offshore gale blew right through Saturday. Of course, that didn't put us off.... cue some magic mishaps from the motley crew. Abandoning SUPs, everyone adopted the old-fashioned, traditional paddling-with-your-arms technique, to various success. We overnighted in a nice farm CL before a re-run on Sunday, where the wind did drop a bit and the Sun even came out in the afternoon. Chris's HD board-mounted cam provided opportunities to review one's skill (or lack thereof): See Weekend Waves video. Thanks everyone for a fun few days. Short film here.

Nick this is where your lunch went (aaah). Ethan won all the football, everyone else was rubbish.

Back To The Brecons

Making the most of the one dry day of the weekend, we travelled back to The Brecon Beacons NP for a challenging but rewarding walk across the skyline and past waterfalls and the source for the Tallybont Reservoir. Starting with a steep ascent up Craig y Fan Ddu, we followed the ridge North enjoying 360 degree views. We dropped down to a memorial sited where a Canadian Bomber crew crashed in 1942. Then on to a cairn, before a scramble back down the Caerfanell valley past rushing water and pretty waterfalls. We left the National Park southwards and only got lost a bit in Merthyr Tydfil (where they are saving money on road signage) on the way home. Click for film.