I’d put the Botanic Gardens down on my weather dependent list and thankfully while there was a lot of heavy rain during my visit to Cambridge all of it occured in the evening long after I’d returned to my hotel. Thus I was able to spend several hours walking around the gardens without needing to worry about seeking shelter from the elements. The gardens contain over 8,000 plant species primarily as a teaching and research resource.
I don’t often do audio tours when I’m travelling, I suppose because I always have a rough plan of what I want to see on any particular day and between that I enjoy wandering around the area following whatever route strikes my interest. On this occasion I had no real plan for the day I arrived in Cambridge and Booking.com was offering me a deal on this particular audio tour so after checking in at my hotel I headed out to explore the Cambridge Backs.
Last Boxing Day my Dad and I decided to go for a walk around Gedling Country Park for a bit of fresh air and nature. Lots of other people, and their dogs, had had a similar idea so we did have to wait about 10 minutes before we could find a parking spot but after that the park is so big that it was easy not to feel crowded.
Originally built from wood by William the Conqueror in 1068 Warwick Castle was rebuilt in stone during the 12th century. It’s been home to many important historical figures, possibly the most well known being Richard Neville who was nicknamed the Kingmaker due to his actions during the Wars of the Roses. But, learning about the history of the castle wasn’t really my purpose for visiting last weekend. (It vaguely had been but it soon became clear that Christmas at the Castle was very much its own thing and I wasn’t going to learn much about the history while there – I bought a guidebook for that!). This visit was part of an annual tradition with a friend to visit a Christmas light show or market every year. We’ve done this for a very long time, only having to cancel plans during COVID lockdowns. You can read about some of our past adventures here and here.
After visiting the West Shore Beach and walking all the way to Deganwy and back I then ventured partly up the Great Orme. I didn’t venture very far; I’d done a considerable amount of walking by that point but as it was the last day of my holiday I pushed on for a bit to see the views from this side of the Orme.
I didn’t spend a lot of time in Deganwy, in fact I wasn’t even intending to visit it at all, I just walked along Llandudno’s West Shore Beach and kept on going until I’d reached the town.
Personally I think that Llandudno’s West Shore is the best beach in the town. I don’t know what its like at the height of summer but whenever I’ve been it’s been quiet, well maintained and very peaceful. On this trip I ended up walking the length of the beach, carrying on through the Wales Coast Path and then on to Deganwy, a nearby town which will feature in the next post.
There are many ways to travel around the Great Orme. On my last trip I ended up walking it a great deal. I’ve already written about going up to see the Pen-Y-Dinas Hillfort, but later that same day I walked down from the Botanical Gardens and along Marine Drive. I wasn’t particularly planning on going all the way round or to the top – the Drive is around four miles long and it was quite late in the afternoon when I started, but I decided just to wander for a bit and see what I found.
Recently needing to de-stress after a particularly busy week at work I ventured out to Colwick Country Park with my dad, prompted to do so by a recent council email about improvements to the footpaths at the park. A huge park with lakes and a marina that was opened in 1978 we were impressed with the new pathways – much more comfortable to walk on and far better for pushchairs and wheelchair uses.
I hadn’t particularly planned on walking up the Great Orme on this trip since I’d been up there before, but then found myself doing so on three different occasions. On this journey I simply decided I was still in a walking mood after being at the Happy Valley Botanical Gardens so I followed the road from the top of the gardens until I came across a trail going upwards and decided to see where it went. At it turned out it was to the site of the Pen-Y-Dinas Hillfort.
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