The Cowbarn https://www.thecowbarn.co.uk Its nearly all photos! Tue, 27 Feb 2024 17:34:33 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.thecowbarn.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-logoArtboard-1Large-32x32.png The Cowbarn https://www.thecowbarn.co.uk 32 32 83736094 October 2023 https://www.thecowbarn.co.uk/2023/10/31/october-2023/ https://www.thecowbarn.co.uk/2023/10/31/october-2023/#respond Tue, 31 Oct 2023 18:14:00 +0000 https://www.thecowbarn.co.uk/?p=2823

A quieter month than normal

Sam is getting used to his new surroundings

Sam with his regal look
Sam hoping there may be snacks in a moment

Things around the garden

Our bees doing what bees do
Apples…
and Pears

Always lots of weeding to do

Red Admiral resting on a gate
Whirling Butterfly (scientifically known as Gaura lindheimeri… as everybody knows)
Bluetit snacking on peanuts

Outside the garden

We do, on occasion, look outside the property

Sunrise over the Llantysillio mountains
Llantysillio mountains
Looking towards Corwen
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Bobby

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Carrying boats since 1805 it’s an impressive spot.

The 18-arched stone and cast iron structure is for use by narrowboats and was completed in 1805 having taken ten years to design and build. It is 12 feet (3.7 metres) wide and is the longest aqueduct in Great Britain as well as the highest canal aqueduct in the world. A footpath runs alongside the watercourse on one side.

Reference; Wikipedia

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
A tight turn on the Llangollen canal at Trevor Basin
View from the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct looking at the River Dee
A duck in the canal at the Pontcysyllte aqueduct

Around the property

Our resident pheasant
A Dragonfly stops for a rest on the greenhouse
One of those pesky wasps
Corn on the Cob 🤔
A Bumblebee getting supplies
Fuchsia

A trip on the train

We mentioned before that the Llangollen Railway had arrived in Corwen, a trip seemed in order… A diesel train on this particular day.

The platform at Corwen
Nothing to do with the Llangollen railway, I was just reminded of this cartoon I drew in 2016
Pretty sure the train is going to Llangollen
Signals at Llangollen
Llangollen railway station

At this point we should mention the british ironworks

Because this was next on this months itinerary, you need to go, you really do!

Their website is HERE but we have some photos here as well.

Groot, apparently…
There’s a message here somewhere…
Made out of spoons
The cafe is interesting
er… Deadpool….
Darwinism

Meanwhile, back at home…

We appear to have a family of squirrels which have made themselves at home in the trees in front of our house.

A scurry of squirrels
Playtime

The Lost Gardens of Heligan and a bit of Cornwall

Hidden away in Cornwall are the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Happily it turns they are signposted…

Lost Gardens of Heligan – The Mud Maid
Lost Gardens of Heligan – Vines and flowers
Lost Gardens of Heligan – Mrs B, Bobby and a scarecrow
Lost Gardens of Heligan – Instructions in case you want to build your own pineapple pit
Lost Gardens of Heligan – Just in case King Charles nips in for a spot of gardening
Lost Gardens of Heligan – Board walks all over the place
Lost Gardens of Heligan – Looking very tropical
See, we found them!
Lost Gardens of Heligan – Rope bridge, no idea who these people are but they serve well to show the scale
Lost Gardens of Heligan – Everybody should have a pineapple pit
Lost Gardens of Heligan – The lost valley is well signposted

Gardens of Lanhydrock

Apart from the Lost Gardens of Heligan other gardens are, as it turns out, also available..

Interesting tree at Lanhydrock
A bridge in the gardens of Lanhydrock

Mevagissy

If you want to see a cornish harbour this is the place.

Bird life at Mevagissy
Harbour at Mevagissy
Fishing boats at Mevagissy
Mevagissy

Combestone Tor

One of those odd bits you find in Dartmoor…

Rocks at Combestone
Bobby at Combestone keeping AB company while she drinks tea
Comestone
We have this trouble parking everywhere we go. Combestone
AB on the rocks at Combstone

September the 18th. Our friend Bobby passed on.

Bobby (also known as Bobbles) came to us in 2009 along with Drift. With his passing we have now lost both of our friends of many years.

Bobby 2019
Bobby 2009
Bobby 2022
Bobby 2020
Bobby and Drift 2019

Sam

4 year old border collie has a new home with us.

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Model railways this month!

The Llantysillio Mountains

We spend quite a lot of time on the Llantysillio on the grounds that it’s directly opposite our home, so pretty easy to get to.

Bee hives on the Llantysillio. The bees would be making honey from the heather on the moorland (not my hives)
Bobby walking in the Llantysillio
Heather on the moorland
A view into a valley from the Llantysillio Mountains
The path running along the top of the Llantysillio Mountains
Mr B at the trig point on the top of Moel Morfydd on the Llantysillio Mountain range
Path running up onto the tops of the Llantysillio Mountains

Llyn Brenig

A handy place if you want to put a drone up to check the top of your motorhome…

A drone shot of our motorhome roof
Llyn Brenig
Road cutting across moorland to the north of Llyn Brenig

Chester Cathederal has everything…

Including a 00 gauge railway courtesy of Pete Watermans making tracks team (excuse the grainy photos… it wasn’t very light in there).

Making tracks 3. That Pete Waterman chap sent his bods to Chester Cathederal
Milton Keynes station!
Beatles related wagons

Meanwhile, over at the Llangollen canal…

There were horses and things.

Horses and things
A boat passing under a bridge
Llangollen Canal

And across the valley…

Moorland
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Drift

Still in Skye!

Not just any rock, a rock on the Isle of Skye

And then it’s off to Haltwhistle… via Glencoe… where we had been only a few days before…

An aerial view of our friends Bobby and Drift sporting their bad weather jackets
Looking up the valley from the campsite in Glencoe
Loch Leven, Glencoe
Spotted as we walked from Glencoe back to our campsite
The views from the campsite in Glencoe are good

And, at long last, we reach Haltwhistle

A walk through the woods at the Haltwhistle campsite
At Haltwhistle campsite. We didn’t go up there
Vindolanda
Vindolanda is still an active site

Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (castrum) just south of Hadrian’s Wall in northern England, which it pre-dated. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD.

Located near the modern village of Bardon Mill in Northumberland, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets, a set of wooden leaf-tablets that were, at the time of their discovery, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain.

Reference; Wikipedia

Cafe and museum at Vindolanda
Mrs B at Steelrigg with our friends Bobby and Drift

July the 16th. Our friend Drift passed on.

Drift came into our lives in 2009 along with Bobby and not many days have passed without his company during all that time. We are heartbroken.

Drift 2019
Drift 2020
Drift 2022
Drift 2018. His favorite pastime, playing ball, he seldom missed the catch

The Garden

The garden is full of colour this month

Mostly petunias
Linaria
Calendula
Woodpecker
Geranium
Roses
Sparrow feeding chicks

Out and about

These photos are all taken within just a short car ride or walk from our home.

Our friend Bobby having an amble
A train on the Bala Lake Railway
A Greylag Goose coming in for landing at Alwen Reservoir
Stonechat on a barbed wire fence
Some of the sheep have been shorn
Artwork of a first world war soldier near Flint castle
A female mandarin duck
Flint castle
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Things definately warming up now…

Local summer type things

We have a fair few Red Kites in the area and this is one of them.

A red Kite
A Stonechat in the Llantysillio Mountains
Violas
Blackbird checking out the garden
Red Kite looking for food
Red Kite looking for food
A meadow Pipit takes flight
A Linnet hanging out in the Llantysillio Mountains
A Bumblee in the garden

The train has arrived…

The Llangollen Railway (a heritage railway, you can find them HERE) has extended their railway line into our local town of Corwen!

Corwen heritage railway station
Corwen railway station is accessed from beneath

A trip out

Starting in York, you can tell by the photo of York Minster…

York Minster
THE SHOP THAT MUST NOT BE NAMED, the shambles, York

York was followed by Beadnell Bay

Rockpools at Beadnell Bay
The beach at Beadnell Bay
An Eider Duck with chicks at Beadnell Bay

After Beadnell Bay it seemed like a good idea to drive to Falkirk and visit Helix Park and the Falkirk Wheel…

The Kelpies at Helix Park
Mrs B and our friends Bobby and Drift at the Kelpies
One of the two Kelpies
The Falkirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel in the process of lifting a boat

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in Tamfourhill, Falkirk, in central Scotland, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It reconnects the two canals for the first time since the 1930s. It opened in 2002 as part of the Millennium Link project.

Planners decided early on to create a dramatic 21st-century landmark structure to reconnect the canals, instead of simply recreating the historic lock flight.

The wheel raises boats by 24 metres (79 ft), but the Union Canal is still 11 metres (36 ft) higher than the aqueduct which meets the wheel. Boats must also pass through a pair of locks between the top of the wheel and the Union Canal. The Falkirk Wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and one of two working boat lifts in the United Kingdom, the other being the Anderton Boat Lift.

Reference; Wikipedia

Obviously, if you have been visiting in Falkirk it makes sense to go to the Isle Of Skye, via Glencoe and suchlike…

As is the way of things the weather decided to cave in to the demands of the rain gods but we managed to get some good weather…

Loch Lomond
Camped out on the Isle of Skye overlooking Loch Greshornish

When we use the term “camped out” we should be clear that we are not camping as such. We have heating, comfy furniture, a fridge, bathroom, bed, in fact everything except a tent…

A bit of Glencoe
A cliff at Neist Point on the Isle of Skye
Dramatic scenery on the Isle of Skye
Lighthouse at Neist Point, Isle of Skye
Some of the roads are a bit narrow
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At last, winter has gone!

Spring has sprung!

Grey has been replaced by colour and the chill of winter has been replaced by warmth!

Pink cherry blossom
White blossom
Cherry tree in our apiary
Cherry and pear trees in our orchard
A squirrel making the most of the warm weather
Tulips in the garden
Osteospermum in the garden
Lupins in the garden
Bluebells, Llangollen canal

Bala

Llyn Tegid at Bala
New paths and benches at Bala
New path along the Afon Trywern which continues on the Dee where Llyn Tegid flows into it

Rhayader and the Elan Valley

Lots and lots of water!

You have been warned!
A dam in the Elan Valley
View of a dam in the Elan Valley from the top
Part of the Waun Capel Park in Rhayader
A bridge across a reservoir in the Elan Valley
A crow takes exception to a Red Kite at Rhayader
Mrs B with our friends Bobby and Drift at Rhayader
Interesting trees, Rhayader
The Elan Valley, and our motorhome
Some very impressive carving, Elan Valley

Some other bits of photography…

Moonlight
Mr and Mrs Mandarin duck at the Llangollen canal
A gate on one of our regular walks in the Llantisillio mountains
A duck splashing about on the Llangollen canal
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Lots of wildlife and canals this month…

Llangollen Canal

Just outside Llangollen is a splendid section of the canal if you just want a walk.

It’s a duck
Slightly misty early morning on the Llangollen canal
Whatever it was I missed it
Langollen canal starting to look like spring is starting
This month we discovered Mr and Mrs Manderin duck had chosen this part of the Llangollen canal to hang out
Chirk aqueduct
Llangollen canal, someone with a grand sense of humour

Oswestry Old Racecourse Common

Oswestry Race Course (also known as Oswestry Old Racecourse Common) is a historic racecourse on ‘Cyrn y Bwch’ hill close to Oswestry in Shropshire that was used by the Welsh and English to socialise and race horses. Covering an area of 22 hectares (54 acres), the course was closed to racing in 1848 and is now an area of common land for recreation. It is a well travelled walking route because Offa’s Dyke Path passes through the site, although the dyke itself lies to the west.

Reference; Wikipedia.org

A lot of trails through the Old Racecourse
Mrs B and our friends Bobby and Drift checking out some ruins at the Old Racecourse
Horse head at both ends, if you want to know why you’ll have to nip over to the Old Racecourse and read the legend
Some good walking just off the Old Racecourse

Wildlife (I did warn you… ) and a bit of flora

Lots of lambs around and about
A squirrel at the Llangollen canal
A rabbit in Bala
Mr Mandarin Duck on the Llangollen canal
A goose at Llyn Brenig reservoir
A couple of Oyster Catchers at Llyn Brening reservoir
A wagtail
Pansies in the garden
Daffodills in the garden

Tenby

Just nipped down for a couple of days, well, it’s only a four hour drive…

Interesting iron work in Tenby
If you haven’t read Under Milkwood do it it now!
Beach at Tenby
Tenby is a colourful place

Other photos just because…

Llangollen Canal
In the Llantysilio mountains
Lots of old fence posts in the Llantysilio mountains
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When the snow arrives…

Snow

The snow arrived on time, as usual…

A view via our drone of a tree in our garden
The sheep don’t seem to mind the snow
Looking toward Snowdonia
Fields in the snow
The view across the valley from our garden
Snowman, not real.
I drew this one, the realism is amazing though isn’t it?
A lot of snow here

Lambs

A lamb with its mother

March is when the lambs usually arrive and here they are.

A lamb

Signs that spring is on its way

Iris
A Goldfinch getting itself fed up for spring

Carefully planned planting. A joy to see at this time of year.

Daffodil
All sorts, lots of colour
A squirrel checking out a potential home for the coming year

Southwold

A trip to the other side of the country!

Beach Huts, lots of beach huts
Beach with Southwold Pier
Tree stump on the beach
Something to do with George Orwell
Southwold Pier
Our friends Bobby & Drift
Southwold Harbour

A sunset to finish off the month

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The neither here nor there month…

Sunsets

You just can’t beat a good sunset, and in February you don’t have to wait long…

Getting close to sunset
Taken from the garden
Footpath crossing the Llantysillio mountains
Also taken from the garden
Llantysillio mountains

Early morning

Early morning breeze
Dew drops on the grass glisten
Birds chirp in the trees
Sun rising over the mountains
View across the valley

Night

From the top down; Moon, Jupiter and Venus

Woodland

Boncyn Foel Bach
A dark spot in Clocaenog Forest

Eglwyseg valley and escarpment

Eglwyseg is a valley located in Denbighshire, Wales, to the northeast of Llangollen. The area is best known for the prominent Lower Carboniferous Limestone escarpment, the Eglwyseg Rocks, which runs north–south for around 4.5 miles (7.2 km). The valley has several Bronze Age burial mounds, and there is evidence of agricultural use of the area from the Bronze Age onwards. The valley has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Landscape of Special Historic Interest.

The castle you can see is Castell Dinas Bran.

Wildlife in the garden

The garden is generally full of birdlife, so you need only to point the camera in vaguely the right direction…

Sparrow arriving, or leaving…
Starlings

There is also Crocus putting in an appearance

Departure in the background
Busy birdfeeder

Other bits this month

A trip to Chester cathederal

A giant globe forms the Gaia exhibition
Some odd things in the catherderal

A spot of black and white photography

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The start of another year…

Chester Zoo

Elephants at Chester Zoo
At the islands at Chester Zoo
Whatever they are, at Chester Zoo
Number 12 at Chester Zoo

Llantysillio Mountains

Winter trees in the Llantysillio mountains
A single tree in the Llantysillio mountains
The sun glowing through clouds, Llantysillio mountains

Garden

Wildlife in the garden is an easy target for the camera…

A squirrel posing on top of one of our bird feeding stations
A bluetit helping itself to some food

Llynnau Cregennnen

In the Eryri national park just south of the Mawddach estuary you will find these lakes.

Mawddach estuary, as seen from Llynnau Cregennen
Cregennnen lakes
Sunset
Cregennnen lakes viewed from a drone

Llangollen Canal

A tourist boat moored on the canal at Llangollen
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

The Llangollen canal runs from Llangollen in North Wales until it reaches the Shropshire Union canal near Nantwich

Bod Petryal

Beech trees hiding in the wood
Sunlight through the trees
Frozen lake

Llyn Brenig

A boardwalk on part of a path around Lyn Brenig reservoir
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