ranger49's VirtualTourist Home Page

.... in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales - Surrounded by the Brecon Beacons National Park -and the historical, industrial valleys of South Wales.

Less than an hour away from Cardiff, Capital City of Wales;
less than two from the Gower Coast - an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty;
two and a bit hours from the beautiful mountains valleys and beaches of west Wales.
A bit longer to Snowdonia and the castles and mountains of north Wales.

This small country on the western edge of the United Kingdom has its own language, culture and history, and Assembly Government and is too a member of the UK and the European Community.

We have a large family - including 8 grandchildren from 4 - 18 years - and none of them are more than 3 hours driving away.

They live in 4 different country towns in four different English Counties all bordering Wales, and two - after several years away in Oxford and London are again living in Wales.
They visit us frequently and the grandchildren enjoy the many things there are roundabout here for them to see and do . Including Raglan Castle just up the road, from the top of which they look for our house.

The younger ones love to play in the garden and are in and out of Gramps' greenhouse and his "bean -cage". There are lots good hide-and- seek places and secret corners which may be outer space one moment, a magic fairyland the next

Born in Manchester - a "pre-war baby" but during the war years I was frequently sent away (to avoid the bombing) and stayed with relatives in Cheshire, Derbyshire and Wiltshire (always a great treat to be down on the farm) .

After the war we returned to live in south Manchester and life became an uninterrupted treat - it was a great place in which to grow up.

Good schools, parks, cinemas, youth clubs, cricket and tennis clubs, theatres, Belle Vue - and the Halle Orchestra.

On Saturday afternoons we packed our cycle baskets with a picnic and set off through country lanes for "Ringway", as it was then known to us.

Better known now as Manchester International Airport surrounded and approached by motoways. No school kids with jambutties in their cycle baskets o be seen there now!
If we had saved up enough pocket money, and had Dad or an older brother with us, we could have a 30 minute air tour of Manchester, in a plane that looked like an Orange Crate, for 10 shillings/50p/1US$ - peanuts!

Little did I think then that one day I would take off from there in a plane that carried hundreds people to fly around the world!

I used to fancy myself one day wearing a Manchester University scarf but instead went to Wales and Cardiff University - by which time few people wore Uni. scarves!
My first - and last jobs, and those in between, were all in various parts of Wales and I never returned to live in Manchester.

I go back once or twice a year and enjoy the diversity and vibrant life of the city but am always glad to return to my adopted home in a small market town.

My father felt he had done all the travelling he wanted to do - outside the shores of his own country - in Europe between 1914 and 1918.
He loved - England, Scotland and Wales and made sure all his children got to know those countries too.
I don't believe he ever went to Ireland.

My first opportunities for travelling abroad were "school trips" in those days when they were of no real "Educational" value and little more than extended Sunday School Outings.
One of my relatives was fortunate to be part of an early version of a town twinning association and stayed with a family in Alkmaar in 1947 when she was still at school. It became a lasting connection and forty years later her son married a girl from Amsterdam.

Another cousin went to study abroad - quite an unusual thing for someone in my family to do in the late fifties. She too never returned to live in England but married and lived in Spain until she sadly died at only 60 yeayrs old.

An uncle went to Estoril for his holidays - which sounded very glamorous back then............. particularly as he flew to Lisbon!

Later student friends trickled abroad particularly those doing foreign languages.....

I was moderately envious but saw plenty of the UK and it was not until I had a family that in the early 60's we took our first trip to Brittany. I was hooked but for the next 10 years trips abroad were few and far between and nearly always to France or the Netherlands.

No future travel experience has ever quite captured the thrill of driving onto a ferry in Southampton for the first time, having my first "smorgasbord" (sorry minus accents!) on board, no sleep, then disembarking on to French soil in Cherbourg the following morning.

Followed by driving on the wrong side of the road down the Cotentin, stopping for breakfast and drinking coffee from a huge soup-bowl sized cup with real grounds floating on the top, and fresh croissants. Meanwhile half a dozen men propped up the zinc bar and knocked back brandies.

This was France!! I was on my travels.

Top Row l to r. Great Grandma (a Gaelic Speaker); Dad's parents with me - Granny died when I was 7 but Granddad survived my Dad, the youngest of his four children and lived to 96. Mum,s Parents -he died two years before I was born. Grandma was a feisty lady; smoked cigarettes through a long holder, very practical and a great cook, a fine pianist and singer. In the days of silent movies she provided the piano accompanyment for films showing in Grandad's small chain of silent movie palaces.

Middle Row - Dad - served on the Somme in 1916 and in Gallipoli the following year. Mum about 1930 on holiday in Scotland. Dad's sister my favourite Aunt, an artist, botanist and champion high diver.Teacher of elocution (tried hard to rid me of a "Manchester accent") entertained wounded troops in local hospitals with recitals and humourous monologues. Aunt, friend and confidant. Dad's parents - my Grandparents - Engagement photo 1880.

Dad's older sister - my "famous Aunt" - Nurse, teacher and misionary in China 1913 -45. Interned by the Japanese for 4 years until 1945; Mum on honeymoon in north Wales May 1936, Dad's G/father(a Gaelic Speaker). Dad's brother my favourite Uncle.

In no particular order -

Music - mainly classical and opera.
Theatre and Film.
Reading -I belong to a reading group.
Gardening.
History and Family history research.
Art and Museums.
Castles, stately homes and cottages..
Food and cooking.
Nature and wildlife
Anything else I can find time for.

Slowly with lots of hard work, little forward planning, lots of mistakes and changes, barrels of fun and laughter, many rewards and oodles of pleasure. And a bit of back ache.

Castle Meadows - just down the road - is our favourite walk along the river Usk and takes you through the meadows to the Castle and into town. It is a walk of less than a mile but you can make it as long or as short as you want. It's a favourite with all our visitors too.