A Wet Weekend in Wales

It seems that a lot of my times away this year have been exceedingly wet. For example, there was Kelmscott on a Rainy July Weekend and now there has been an exceedingly wet weekend in Wales.

This post is very much a diary of my brief rambles between the rain drops. I won't claim the photographs to be worthy of anything beyond diary entries. Some were taken on my camera, but some were taken on my phone and none of them are technically brilliant or artistically outstanding. They are, however, what I saw in this small corner of rural Monmouthshire at the beginning of November 2023.

For those looking for greater specificity in terms of my location, the above photo is of the Holy Cross Church, Kilgwrrwg seen through a rain splashed window. 

The photo below (taken on an iPhone, but not mine as I don't own one and so with thanks to its owner and the photographer of the picture) is of yours truly, in Chepstow one evening after dark, with Chepstow Castle illuminated in the background.

A Summer Day in Autumn

It's definitely autumn. It's Sunday, 8th October. But, with apologies to Keats, this is no ode to fruitful mists and mellow suns. In fact, with bright sunshine and temperatures in the mid-twenties, if feels like a glorious summer day.

I'm in a light summer skirt, top and sandals. Butterflies are flaunting their gorgeously rich summer colours. Insects are busily out in force and the leaves are barely starting to change colour.

It's more summery than when I last posted here in July.

The horse chestnuts, though, are trying to say something different.

To be honest, though, I'm still not sure whether summer is coming or going.

Kelmscott on A Rainy July Weekend

So, lots of things to say, as well as photographs to share.

I'm an admirer of William Morris. I have been for a long time: the writing, the designing, the art, the philosophy and politics of the man. If you want to know more, I commend the Fiona MacCarthy biography of William Morris. Really - go, read it.

On a rainy Saturday in July, I finally got to visit Kelmscott, the beautiful cotswold house where Morris, his family and (from time to time) assorted Romantic artists lived and worked for many years - an important, almost-pilgrimage, for me. There would have been more photos, but, hey, dark and rainy does not make for ideal photographic conditions and juggling a camera, a handbag and a huge, very wet umbrella presents its own challenges.

In the village of Kelmscott there is a rather lovely and very old church. The family of the owners of Kelmscott Manor (Morris rented) are buried there. William and Jane Morris are buried there themselves and, yes, I visited their grave, though it's difficult to find behind a large bay tree. The exceptionally wet weather didn't make for a reasonable photograph of the craft movement style grave, but I delighted in the re-discovered medieval frescos in the church.

And so to Kelmscott Manor, via a rather attractive, warm and comfortably dry village pub that served excellent beer and sandwiches (The Plough Inn, if you are asking, and it has Hooky on draught, amongst other delights).

May Flowers

After the recent exuberance of peonies, I felt I should share the beauty of some of the wild flora that has to compete against such glorious extravagance, along with some of the less in-your-face commercial crops.