Woolly says – After a couple of nights in Dudley doing things with the family, I was looking forward to our next night under canvas at a place that I had been desperate to visit for months. The weather forecast looked grim using words like ‘Severe flooding’, ‘High risk of gales’ and ‘100% chance of rain’, I sighed deciding to see what the morning brought.
The morning didn’t bring any better news, in fact it was worse, I’d received an email from the campsite….
Woolly says – ‘What do you mean it’s flooded?!’ Jo just looked sadly down at me, as I scanned the missive she had been sent. ‘It’s not fair’ I shouted and stamped my paws down on the laptop.
…. I completely related to his frustration but I had a plan, yet another one.
Woolly says – I listened as my carer outlined her thoughts and having nodded several times and accepted that the following morning would mean an incredibly early start, I climbed into the car and we set off for our small home in Welshpool. The plan was actually pretty simple, we would spend the night in Welshpool in the dry comforts of our home and then leave in the early hours to ensure that we made it to our destination for the allocated time. It was dark as we hit the road and all seemed to be going well, Jo had left us with two and a half hours to cover the distance which should only take an hour and a half, that was until fate intervened.
Fate came in the guise of a tractor pulling a static caravan along the road we needed to travel, for twenty long miles we followed behind it as more and more minutes were added to our journey. In the hope that once past we could really speed up, I asked Woolly to give me the low down on our day ahead.
Woolly says – I knew she was merely trying to distract me but I’m always up for a lesson so having shuffled my copious quantities of notes I proceeded to tell her. Dan yr Ogof is located at the National Showcaves Centre for Wales and is a 17-kilometre (11 mile) long cave system 15 miles from the town of Brecon, in the Brecon Beacons National Park. Claimed to be the largest cave network in the UK, the cave was first explored in 1912 by three local brothers, Edwin, Tommy and Jeff Morgan, using candles and very primitive equipment. Unsure of what they would discover, they armed themselves with a revolver and sent the smallest brother, Edwin, in first. The initial expedition was halted at a large lake, which they later managed to cross by coracle. They eventually crossed three more lakes in the same manner, but were stopped by a tunnel that was to small to access. It wasn’t until 1963 that further discoveries were made of the undergrown network along with the bones of 42 humans, as well as numerous animal bones. Today is a major tourist attraction and although I was looking forward to exploring underground, I was equally excited about the dinosaurs that they had on display.
Pulling into the car park fifteen minutes after our timed ticket we raced towards the entrance in the desperate hope that they would still let us in. The lady at the ticket booth smiled down at me, ‘Bad traffic was it?’ Jo and I nodded as we tried to get oxygen into our lungs after the dash, ‘No problem, enjoy your day’ she said, if I could have hugged her, I would have. As Jo put on her coat and mask, put the panting beast onto his lead and adjusted her bag we set off into the gloom of the first cave.
Small numbers of stalactites and stalagmites were dotted around, big drops of water fell from the ceilings as we went deeper and deeper into the hillside, the lake that the brothers had first crossed all those years ago seemed relatively small as we wandered past. Up and down steps and paths we went, I looked around me at all times but the only highlight was a stalactite known as the curtain which hung high above our heads. It was the dazzling spectacle that I had hoped for and as we arrived back into daylight the only one who seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the walk was Alfie the Dog.
All was not lost as we still had a second cave to navigate, known as the Cathedral Cave I keep my paws crossed that this would provide far more in the way of delights.
A few more mites and tites passed us by along with a waterfall that the humans were having to pass under, I took the sensible option of tucking up into Jo’s coat to keep dry, the dog and my carer didn’t far so well and arrived back outside with wet hair and fur. I didn’t really know what to say and Jo sensing my disappointment disappeared into the café returning with hot chocolate and cake.
It wasn’t the best but then we are comparing these caves to ones we have seen in Turkey which have huge quantities of mites and tites in all shapes and sizes. If you’d never seen underground caves before then I guess it wasn’t so bad. Having warmed ourselves up I hoped that the dinosaurs would live up to my small friends hopes.
Woolly says – All shapes of sized of prehistoric beasties lined the pathways, some moving and roaring whilst others were tucked away waiting for you to find them. A large area was covered with a vast selection of dinosaurs, some of which I struggled to name, loud roars filled my ears and I just hoped that there wasn’t a real raptor hiding amongst the life-sized models.
The best was yet to come as we passed an Iron age village with its small thatched homes and smell of wood smoke and walked straight into a large mammoth.
The grin on his face was priceless as he set about making friends and having selfies taken.
Woolly says – With the caves completed we walked back towards the car passing some ancient stones we paused to peer into a burial mound which was full of skulls and bones, I wondered who might have been buried there and how important they must have been to have a whole mound dedicated to them. Nearby was a farm but with the rain teeming down and a dog to contend with I was happy to give it a miss, the campsite where we should have woken up this morning was several inches under water which wouldn’t have made for a pleasant night’s sleep.
Following the road towards Brecon I sat watching the incredible landscape and counting the sheep.
Brecon hadn’t been on my list for the day having thought that the caves would take far longer so I wasn’t’ exactly primed on the place except for knowing that it was a market town and the third largest one in Powys. As Jo squeezed the car into a tiny space, I looked around me and low and behold there was a castle, leaving the human to sort out her bag and the wet panting animal I raced towards it. Formerly an 11th Century Norman Castle, then an early coaching inn and later the residence of the Morgans of Tredegar Park, in 1809 part of the castle ruins and outbuildings were renovated by Sir Charles Morgan to become one of the first ‘modern’ hotel in Wales. No longer an attraction to go round but they were serving lunch and as my tummy rumbled it seemed that Jo had the same idea and headed inside to order.
With everyone fed and watered and the rain having ceased for a few moments I suggested we head towards the Cathedral.
Woolly says – As we drew closer, I pondered how something so small could be a cathedral, it looked far more like a church. Information boards are most helpful and this told me that it had previously been the church of Brecon Priory and then the Parish Church of St John the Evangelist, it became Brecon Cathedral following the disestablishment of the Church in Wales in 1920 and the creation of the diocese in 1923. It might be small but it was rather sweet and as we found the entrance and headed inside, I found it rather delightful, with lovely stained-glass windows and a unfuzzy décor. The vaulted ceiling was plain wooden beams and even the alter hadn’t been adorned with too much decoration. Outside we were meet with more rain and having ensured my safety from the large fat drops of water in Jo’s bag we hurried back to the car to escape another deluge.
Not quite the brilliant day I had expected and the camping had gone for a burton but at least we could head back to our warm base and get ready for the next adventure.