We had agreed that we wouldn’t go away with Lulu again this year, until our planned visit to the Norfolk coast at ‘Twixmas’. So, on the last weekend in November, we packed Lulu up & bundled Marley in and set off for a weekend at a local site at Cynghordy! Unfortunately things take a turn for the worst this weekend when Lulu springs a leak and Marley gets his feet wet!
Friday
We take our time on a lovely Friday morning as the site is literally 30 minutes from our front door. It’s funny how doing something you love changes your point of view and on the short drive – which we have done many, many times – we marvel at just how lovely the area we live in actually is.
We arrive on site at Cwmcuttan Caravan Park, Cynghordy (www.http://cwmcuttan.com/). Finding the owner, we are directed to any of the vacant pitches available. Feeling really unsociable, we opt for the first pitch at the gate – opposite an unused seasonal caravan and next to another vacant pitch, overlooking the sites carp lake.
We level Lulu. We turn the gas on for the kettle and plug the hook up cable in and power everything up. The water pump kicks in and we sit there wondering if ‘it always makes that noise?’
This is followed by the classic ‘just turn it off and turn it on again’ and then……..’is that running water I can hear?’
‘Yes!! It is!!……….bugger!’
Diving around the side of Lulu, Kev shouts that we appear to be losing all of our fresh water straight out of the van through a small pipe (there were other words used in his statement that I cannot possibly repeat here!).
Inside Lulu the cushions are off the seats allowing access to the fresh water tank and water heater. All of the dump valves are checked and are closed and the pump is off. No water is being discharged. We turn the pump on and it starts draining again.
Kev checks underneath Lulu again as I turn the water pump on and off. The water seems to be discharging straight from the water heater dump valve – either the heater has not been drained properly and has suffered frost damage or (hopefully) the seal has gone inside the valve. We cannot bypass the valve so we are faced with either calling it a day and heading home or using our collapsible water containers for the weekend.
We bought a couple of these containers from Amazon after seeing Marianne and Chris using them (Treadtheglobe.com)………..thanks for the tip guys!
We finish our now cold cups of tea, decide to fill up one of the 10 litre containers from the site tap and see how we feel in the morning.
It turns out that, for a couple of nights at least, not having mains water or hot water on demand is inconvenient but hardly catastrophic. The kettle goes on for a hot cup of tea, we grab a chocolate shortbread (why wouldn’t you?) and take Marley for a short walk as the sun is setting.
I have to say that Marley, for all of his foibles and idiosyncrasies, has been a little star. He has sat patiently, tethered up outside Lulu while Kev and I run around like demented chickens trying to sort our water issues. So, we grab his lead and head off around the small carp lake and down the road for about a mile before heading back to Lulu for supper. We have an unorthodox meal of chicken fajitas and rice without the fajita wraps………no microwave! We do manage to wash it all down with some cold beers though. We had to have beer – no water, you see!
Saturday
After a great nights sleep, which was only interrupted once by Marley, we wake completely refreshed and ready for breakfast. Yes, I know that we are becoming predictable but we had tea and bacon rolls!
We have a lovely, lazy morning just doing not much at all. Marley gets pretty dizzy going round and around the carp lake with Kev. We refill our water container and drink copious amounts of coffee, generally just letting our brains defug after a few crazy weeks in work.
Cynghordy Viaduct
Finally, we decide to go out and find Cynghordy Viaduct. This is 30 minutes from our home and we have lived in this area for 10 years and never seen it up close. We’ve seen it from above while walking the hills and been over it on the Heart of Wales line train (www.heart-of-wales.co.uk) but never from underneath. Which always seems to be the case. You take for granted the things right on your doorstep!
The Cynghordy Viaduct is a railway bridge that was built in 1867-8. It spans over 305 metres in length and is 33 metres high, with 18 arches built on a curve. The viaduct was noted as a Grade II listed building in July 1966.
Restoration works on the viaduct began in March 2016 to strengthen the structure and to reduce the long-term maintenance costs. Refurbishment work was undertaken on the pillars and arches, maintaining the original features of the 150 year-old iconic structure. The 100ft high viaduct required extensive scaffolding to complete the works including 86,000 meters of tube and 62,010 meters of scaffold board to cover the 850ft long viaduct.
The viaduct is about a mile and a half or so from Cwmcuttan Caravan Site and it is a pleasant late autumn easy walk along quiet country lanes. We draw closer to the viaduct spotting it initially through the hedgerows.
And then, there it is and it is magnificent. Up close and personal, it is immense. Its scale, within the valley is quite breathtaking and any text that you read about the structure beforehand just does not do it justice. In its shadow is a tiny row of three cottages converted from the village chapel. Now perfectly whitewashed with the lytch gate and small graveyard exactly as they were when the chapel was built.
After photographing the structure from every conceivable angle we carry on walking for about another mile or so. The limit of Marley’s endurance nowadays seems to diminish more every time we take him out so we knew that we couldn’t go much further with him.
We came around a bend and noticed a gap in the riverside hedgerow which meant that the river was accessible over a stony ‘beach’ area. Kev and Marley headed down to the river where Marley dipped his tired feet in the cool clear water and had a well deserved, refreshing drink before we headed back to Lulu.
A long walk pretty much wipes Marley out now so we get him fed and settled, then we get fed and settle down to catching up with a few of our favourite YouTube channels (John & Mandy on Tour, Camper Vibe, Life beyond bricks and The Indie Projects). We crack open a couple more beers – it’d be rude not to! We also manage quite an early night. It seems a longish walk wipes us out too!
Sunday
Marley, once again, sleeps through to about 6.30 when Kev gets up to do more laps of the carp lake with him. I obviously slip into Kevs bed and drift back off to sleep. Not for long though as my men folk come back demanding sustenance! We have a leisurely breakfast and go through the usual rigmarole with Lulu of emptying and packing. We pay our site fees, leave Cwmcuttan and pull up outside our front door 30 minutes later.
We have had a fantastic (leaks apart) weekend. Marley has been brilliant. It didn’t rain. It wasn’t windy. Cwmcuttan was a lovely little site that is open all year. It will not be the last time we go there. I think we have found our little bolt-hole. For now, we have a couple of things to do in Lulu before we go away over Christmas – namely the water leak and the diesel heater service.
Until next time – stay safe all,
Mags, Kev & Marley
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