Mutterings for the Minority

Having visited the lower Lliw reservoir last week during a lunchtime bike ride, I thought it would make an ideal place to take the family on a warm and sunny bank holiday!

For those of you whom aren’t familiar with the area or how to get to the reservoirs, simply leave the M4 at junction 46 and follow the signs for Felindre and the brown Country Park signs.

As soon as you see the Felindre village sign turn right and follow the road until you see the sign to turn left for the Lliw Reservoirs (opposite the Welsh Water buildings/works). Follow this road and you’ll eventually get to the country park at the lower Lliw reservoir. The kids will love the latter part of the journey as the road passed several fields and a farm, complete with sheep, horses, donkeys and chickens!

There are good car parking facilities in the park, as well as toilets and numerous picnic tables. An ice cream van had even pitched up for the day today – thanks to the sunshine I’m sure. There used to be a cafe – with working clock perched on top – but I’m told that the lease for this is now up (see Welsh Water if interested!).

Also situated in the car park is a bronze sculpture called ‘Emergence’ by Naomi Bunker, a local artist. I’m unsure as to the significance or relevance of this to the area. Does anyone know?

There are several walks to choose from and cater for everyone – from a short wander around the lower reservoir, a 4 mile route suitable for pushchairs taking in the upper and lower reservoir or an open moorland route of over 10 miles (for the more adventurous and kitted out walker!).

Given that we had the kids and pushchair in tow, we opted for the 4 mile walk and enjoying both the reservoirs. The two reservoirs offer a distinct difference in environment – the lower set amongst a wooden valley, whilst the upper is in open moorland.

This meant that the walk offered us a great mix of nature and landscape – some of which are hopefully captured in the following photographs.

This gorse bush had a really strong scent which I can best describe as smelling like coconut oil – and no there weren’t any sunbathers in sight!

Here a just a couple of the many sheep we encountered whilst heading towards the upper reservoir and latter stages of the walk.

The kids loved being able to get so close to them, not to mention the various streams that were full of tadpoles and pond-skaters. We were even fortunate enough to hear a cuckoo – a sound which I certainly hadn’t heard for quite a few years.

The entire walk took us approximately 3 hours but that included several stops, taking pictures and various kiddie carrying debates

But all in all it’s been a lovely day and one which we all thoroughly enjoyed. So if you’ve not visited the reservoir(s) before, I hope you do as I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

One final tip, if you want a really in-depth walking guide for the Lliw Valley reservoirs, then I’d recommend reading the Glamorgan Walks website.

For as long as I can remember I’ve had little interest in General Elections – for various reasons – but this time around it’s been different.

I watched all 3 of the leader’s debates on television, read various online sources of election information and news, picked up numerous ‘tweets’ about it and pretty much soaked up any other media source of election titbits that came my way.

Why? Well quite simply for the first time in my life I actually feel the outcome of this election will affect not only my life for the forseeable future but that of my family as well.

What did I learn from the televised debates? Very little if I’m honest (did anybody?). We had what I personally felt was expected…

Gordon Brown bombarding us with facts and figures or ‘substance’ as the media moguls kept calling it;

David Cameron playing the ‘pick me for change’ card, but without actually really telling us what that exactly would mean to the average person in the street;

Nick Clegg happily playing the waiting game whilst G&D exchanged verbal blows before swanning in-between both and appearing as the solution to everything (but again without actually telling us anything!);

As for the minority parties well I didn’t really see or hear enough about them – or rather their policies – to really make a judgement. A fact which I thought was rather surprising, especially here in Wales as we have Plaid Cymru. I wonder if any Scots reading this felt the same about the SNP?

Much of the media hype surrounding the debates focussed on what they wore, how they did their tie, did they look at the camera, did they address the person in the audience asking the questions, etc, etc – did anyone really give a rats arse about this stuff? Surely it’s the policy details of each political party that we’re interested in, after all that is where the devil is… isn’t it?

I was brought up in a working class environment – my father a lorry driver and my mother a shop assistant – money was hard to come by and my parents worked very hard.

Growing up I remember the Thatcher years and the stories my Dad would say about the miner’s strikes and in particular the violent scenes at the now former British Steel Plant in Port Talbot. Scenes which were replicated across the coalfields of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire – remember Arthur Scargill?

I can also recollect the privitisation of British Rail – another wonderful Conservative government idea. I’m sure there are other bones of contention for those of you with better memories that I.

But all that is in the past now and I’ve kept an open mind – or at least tried too – for the 2010 General Election. I’ve focussed on what affects the house of DDWT now.

I am a married man with two young children and work in local government. These facts alone make me very wary of the Conservatives.

The proposed £6 billion savings that Mr. Cameron would look to slice off ‘Government’ immediately if he came to power worries me – how many jobs and services does that equate to? Then there’s the debate of tax credits, oh and the inheritance tax thresholds to help the more economically stable individuals within the UK. I won’t even be drawn into the debate over immigration….

Mr. Clegg was refreshing and offered – I felt – less of a gamble than a Tory vote but at least they appeared to be on the same lines (‘ish) as Labour when it came to tax credits and the NHS. The only bone of contention for me was/is the immigration amnesty policy – the least said the better probably.

And finally Mr. Brown, whom basically gave it to us as it was – complete with his facts and figures (again!). He is no prime minister though and lacks the charismatic charm that goes with the territory. You only had to see Tony Blair in action earlier this week to confirm that. GB was a good chancellor, but not such a good PM.

So who did the house of DDWT vote for? My wife made no secret of the fact that she didn’t have the same interest or indeed inclination to be interested (her words not mine) in the election as I did, and as such we had our own views on each party and their policies.

Having said that we both voted and given the information at our disposal and considering our own circumstance, we both decided that it was very much a case of ‘better the devil you know that the one you don’t‘.

Only time will tell of course if that remains the case, but I’ve little doubt that whomever is the power holder in British politics some turbulent times lay ahead.

With my 5 mile Monday run out of the way by 11am this morning, we thought we’d make the most of the remainder of the Bank Holiday weekend and head off to a local country park.

It had been many years since I had been to Llyn Llech Owain Country Park and I was keen to show it off to the rest of the family whom had never had the pleasure of seeing it previously.

Llyn Llech Owain is situated in the village of Gorlas, near to Cross Hands in Carmarthenshire and is easily accessible from the nearby A48. Here’s a link to the park on Google maps.

The park is essentially a peat bog, lake and woodland reserve of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and has a wide range of interesting wildlife in its different habitats.

A modest £2 all day parking fee applies and there is a visitor centre, café, childrens play area – one for toddlers and one for the older kids.

There are numerous picnic spots dotted around for you to enjoy the different scenery on offer – whether it be the lake, nearby woodland, foresty or even the distant views of Pembrokshire’s Preseli mountains.

The choice of several different walks around the lake and surrounding woodland making it an ideal destination for nature lovers and especially families with children.

Access to the walks is pretty good with the lake being circled by a boardwalk and the other paths suitable to pushchairs – with a wee bit of effort.

A well positioned bird watching hut – with views over the lake – will be a favourite with both ornithologists and part time birdwatchers. It also provides a tranquil spot in which to fully enjoy nature’s beauty.

There is also a man-made bog pool in the park, which was created in order to provide a rich habitant for the various insects and amphibians which live in and around the lake.

The kids were drawn to the visitor centre (shame it was closed) or the mini tower as DDWT Junior refered to it!

They also liked the Welsh water pumphouse which meant they could get an even better view of the lilly pads on the lake – we didn’t see any frogs though unfortunately.

Several of the boardwalks have sections which border the lake’s edge thus allowing you to scrutinise the water for sign of wildlife.

At one of these sections, we were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of dozens of tadpoles merrily swimming around just inches away.

We probably spent the best part of 2 hours wandering around the park and I’ve no doubt that we’d have been there longer if it wasn’t for tiny feet and tummys starting to ache and rumble.

I’m sure that visiting the park on a Summer’s evening with the sun setting – or even sunrise perhaps – would provide an even greater insight into the full range of birds, insects and other wildlife in their natural habitat.

So if you’re stumped for something relaxing to do one weekend afternoon or even weekday evening – then head off the Llyn Llech Owain Country Park, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.