On Friday (14th) we followed the coast through Barmouth, passing Harlech Castle, then turning west past Porthmadog, arriving at the Llanstumdwy CCC site just outside Cricieth. This was a well managed site but suffered from one major issue – it was impossible to level a motorhome on their sloping pitches, even with the big levelling blocks they seemed to be lending out to all the new arrivals. By the end of the first night we were very pleased not to have rolled out of bed! We moved to a slightly better pitch the second night but we will not be rushing back to this site.

I walked into the local village of Llanstumdwy, which has a major claim to fame as the childhood home (and retirement home) of David Lloyd George, the UK’s Prime Minister who successfully guided the country through the First World War, as well as introducing National Insurance as the foundation of the welfare state and supported the campaign to bring in votes for women. There is a museum dedicated to him next to his childhood home which has been well preserved with many original furnishings. Just down the road is his grave in a beautiful location overlooking the river.

The next day we took the bus into Cricieth, a small town with an impressive beach and the seemingly compulsory castle overlooking it!

As we were leaving New Quay to continue northwards we had an unexpected hitchhiker…..

Driving north we stopped off for a visit to the National Trust property at Llanerchaeron, an elegant Georgian villa, designed by architect John Nash in 1790 (he later went on to design many famous buildings including Buckingham Palace!). The building, essentially a very upmarket farmhouse, has remained largely unaltered for over 200 years. In the car park we ended up next to a motorhome clearly much better equipped for Welsh mountain climbing than ours!

We continued to Aberystwyth for some supermarket shopping and then on into the Snowdonia Nationa Park. We stopped for one night at the CMC’s Swn-y-nant CL, to the west of Dolgellau. This proved to be an excellent site to which would certainly like to return. The facilities, for a CL, are very good and include hardstanding, wifi and even TV hookup. A walk from the site led directly into the Abergwynant Woods, managed by the park authorities, and beyond that the Mawddach Trail, a very popular walking & cycling route along both sides of the Mawddach estuary which stretches from Barmouth to Dolgellau.

Today (12th) we drove north through Fishguard to New Quay, a charming small seaside resort, and then to our campsite for the night, Rhydhalen Farm CL. The main activities in New Quay seems to be eating Fish & Chips and spotting dolphins, either from a boat trip or from the end of the pier. We were very pleased to spot a few dolphins (actually Harbour Porpoises) in the bay.

The next afternoon (11th) I set off on a walk heading north from the campsite, around the Carn LLidi outcrop until I reached the Coast Path. I then followed the path westward around St Davids Head and then down to Whitesands Bay. The views from the clifftops were quite spectacular and included a few deserted beaches. Whitesands Bay beach is huge and a hub for watersports activities.

St Davids is the UK’s smallest city, situated on the most westery point of Wales. It’s main draw is the Cathedral, whose construction started in the 12th century although the site has been a place of worship since the 6th century, the time of St David himself (or Dewi Sant to the locals).

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Next to the cathedral are the ruins of the Bishop’s Palace, built in the 14th century by Bishop Henry de Gower. As thousands were visiting the cathedral to see St Davids Shrine he felt justified in building one of the biggest and most impressive palaces in the country.

On Sunday (9th) we headed west from Llandelio and stopped at the National Botanic Garden of Wales which has a huge selection of plants laid out in some impressive displays. As well as a Tropical House containing some rather exotic plants, their most eye-catching attraction is the Great Glasshouse. The structure is the largest single-span glasshouse in the world. Inside are plants from various parts of the world which all enjoy a Mediterranean climate. From outside it looks a little like a spaceship has landed on a Welsh hilltop!

One of the displays, relating to the connection between plants and medicine, was an excellent recreation of an Edwardian pharmacy.

After the visit we continued west to our next campsite, St David’s Lleithyr Meadow CMC site. for a 3 night stay.

Yesterday (7th), we packed up and drove away from the Gower (via a Tesco Extra outside Swansea) inland to Llandeilo. The town has plenty of character with lots of repurposed Victorian buildings, art shops and delis. We are staying at the very attractive Brynhyfryd Campsite, just outside the town.

Today we spent the day on the National Trust site at Dinefwr. There are plenty of things to see here: 800 acres of parkland including a medieval Deer Park; the imposing 12th-century Dinefwr castle and Newton House, a 17th-century manor house. There is so much history tucked away in this park. The Rhys (or Rice) family were descendants of The Lord Rhys, the powerful Prince of the Welsh Kingdom of Deheubarth, who ruled from the now ruined Dinefwr Castle. By the 18th-century the estate was in the hands of George Rice and his wife Cecil who developed Newton House and the grounds into the impressive location it is today.

The Castle

Newton House

Today, I walked along a small section of the Wales Coast Path from the campsite in a southeasterly direction (away from Rhossili) and discovered some excellent photogenic views.

From the bottom of our campsite you can see down to Mewslade Bay which is at the western tip of the Gower.

In the morning, I ventured down a rather steep rocky path to the bay,crossing the Wales Coast Path on the way. It’s a very attractive isolated sandy beach, surrounded by rocky outcrops with fascinating erosion patterns at the base of the cliffs.

For lunch we walked to an excellent Cafe in Rhossili called The View. The view in question was over the enormous Rhossili Bay beach which is rated as one of the best beaches in the world! This beach and the surrounding coastline is managed by the National Trust and is quite spectacular.

It’s been quite a while since our last major motorhome tour but now we are heading off for most of June on a trip around the coast of Wales.

First stop – the Six Counties CL at Nant Y Moor Park, just outside Newport.

We had the site to ourselves but I imagine it could get frequently get noisy during the day as the park houses a large clay pigeon shooting facility!

We visited two attractions the following day. First, Tredegar House, a National Trust property in Newport. It is one of the most significant late 17th-century houses in the whole of the British Isles. For more than 500 years the house was home to one of the greatest Welsh families, the Morgans, later Lords Tredegar. The Morgan family owned more than 40,000 acres in Monmouthshire, Breconshire and Glamorgan at the end of the 18th century. Their lives impacted on the population of south-east Wales socially, economically and politically and influenced the heritage of the area. As well as the house, the stables and entrance gate were paticularly impressive.

That afternoon we moved on to Caerphilly, the home of the largest castle in Wales, second in the UK only to Windsor. Built in the 13th century the site covers a total of 30 acres. During the Civil War, a gunpowder explosion in the south-east tower left it leaning precariously over the lake – but no sign of it collapsing yet! The castle’s upkeep has been neglected for some time but a new major project is under way to redevelop much of it’s internal structure. Unfortunately this meant we were unable to visit some of the most interesting parts of the site, such as the Great Hall, which was rather disappointing (although I did quite like the dragon pit!).

We ended the day by driving out to the far end of Gower Peninsular to our next campsite, the Mewslade View CL, just outside Rhossili.