WEEKLY BLOG EPISODE 145 | OUTDOOR FUN IN SOUTH WALES

This weekly blog episode has a definite outdoorsy feel to it, and I am incredibly happy about that. In my little world, a week where I can write about fun – and new-to-me – outdoor experiences, is a most excellent week indeed.

And in this weekly blog there are three outdoor activities to tell you about. Two in South Wales (hence the title), and more-or-less on my doorstep. I went for a walk to a woodland I’ve had on my to-visit-list for ages, finally went on that guided stargazing and astrophotography experience in Bannau Brycheiniog (third time lucky!), and had an incredibly fun and muddy morning driving some 4×4 trucks near Cardiff.

The latter two in that list were experiences I bought my husband for Christmas, both things I knew he would really enjoy. And it seemed only right that I got to go along as well.

Little Adventures

It’s been a couple of weeks since I had that week off in Madeira, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, that trip feels like an absolute age ago. Work is very busy, the chores are piling up, and I am as tired as usual. Normality has resumed.  

Even with being busy, I’ve been trying to make time for a bit more exercise than of late, keep my daily step average near the 10k mark, and cook tasty and nutritious dinners each evening (most evenings…). I’ve adjusted my morning and evening routines in the hope I can maintain the various good habits I talked about in this year’s bucket list reset post, including carving out time every day to write and get outside.

But you know, it’s the little adventures like the three I’ll be sharing in this weekly blog episode that make all the difference. Each experience might have been a simple one-off activity, small in the grand scheme of living an adventurous life, but each was a fun and happy memory logged.

Ad hoc experiences such as these are the things that keep me going, make life interesting, and bring a big natural smile to my face. Ensuring I have experiences like these to remember is the very reason I have a bucket list; trying all the random things that life has to offer, having adventures of all shapes and sizes, and, most importantly, creating some fabulous memories to last a lifetime.

A Walk to Warden’s Wood, Cleeve Hill

Sadly, none of my fellow OS Champions were able to join me for a walk in the Cotswolds the other Saturday in the end. I mentioned in weekly blog episode 142 that I’d been out to recce my favourite loop on Cleeve Hill in preparation for our meet up, but as often happens with these things, people’s lives got in the way and I ended up with a hiking day to myself.  

I decided to head up onto Cleeve Hill anyway, but rather than hike the same loop again – even though it’s one of my go-to walks – I chose to seek out somewhere new in this vast area of the Cotswolds. I’ve had Warden’s Wood in my sights for a while, it is famous locally for bluebells in springtime, but its location on the very edge of the Common means it takes a little extra time to get to.

Warden’s Wood is a 30-acre plantation woodland that was created in the 1990s. The name is a tribute to the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens who undertook most of the planting. It’s all native species, including hawthorn, wild cherry, oak, hazel, ash and beech.

My take-the-direct route loop started along the Winchcombe Way from the Golf Club down to Wontley Farm. Where I would normally turn left to head up to meet the Cotswold Way, I turned right along a lovely track between fields up to the woodland.

Early Signs of Bluebells

Cleeve Common Trust have set out a marked 0.75-mile loop through the woodland, which is designed to take visitors through the best bluebell glades in this area. The bluebells here are at their best in late spring, around a week or so after you see bluebells in lower areas of the county. Apparently, the harsh conditions and relatively high altitude of Cleeve Common means spring arrives a little later here than it does elsewhere. But on following the trail, I noticed the early signs of bluebells already – in early March! Scary. I will absolutely be back to look again a little after Easter to see how they are doing.

For my return route, I first started on a bridleway before using one of the many well-trodden but unofficial footpaths across the access land of Cleeve Common. It’s easy to find the way; I followed the wall to the trig pillar which marks the highest point in the Cotswolds (one of two trig pillars on Cleeve Hill), and then continued on to the pylons which are useful navigation aids when exploring this part of the hill.

From there I picked up the Cotswold Way and followed it back to the Golf Club, taking in the prettier of the two trig pillars on the way. I walked a little over 7 miles – plus the marked loop in Warden’s Wood – and was back at my car in a shade under three hours. I plotted the approximate route I took in OS Maps, in case that is of interest.

Still More to Explore

I absolutely love that there are parts of Cleeve Common that remain unexplored to me. It’s such a beautiful place to wander. Whether I walk one the routes I know super well, or if I discover a new view I’ve not seen before, I always come off the hill feeling happy that I went. It’s a pretty special place to have close enough to go even when I just have an hour or two available to get outside.

And with that, I am very happy to have ticked Warden’s Wood off my ‘to explore’ list. It’s different to any other part of the common, and even though there is a little car park right by it, I had the whole 30-acres to myself for the time I was there. Just me and the trees. It was a perfect little adventure for a Saturday on which I might have otherwise been a bit sad because none of my Ordnance Survey friends were able to come out and play.

I am quite tempted to update my favourite Cleeve Hill walk to include Warden’s Wood. It would only add a mile, and so would still be a pleasant half-day walk.

Guided Stargazing and Astrophotography Experience

Spending time outside isn’t confined to the daytime… and my second little adventure of the last week is an example of that. I mean, you can’t exactly go stargazing in the daytime, can you?!

The stargazing and astrophotography experience we had with Dark Sky Wales in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) last week was absolutely fantastic. It was every bit as interesting as I’d hoped it would be – my curiosity felt utterly massaged.

This was one of two experiences I bought my husband for Christmas. I searched this one out because he’d enjoyed the quite simply stunning starlit sky in the Sahara Desert, and knowing that there is a Dark Sky Reserve in South Wales, a little over an hour’s drive from home, it had to be done.

It was worth the wait; as you will know if you regularly read my weekly blog episodes, this was third time lucky for this experience. Our bookings in January and February were both called off by the guide due to thick cloud cover (no point going stargazing when it’s cloudy!). Thankfully, this time the sky was clear, and once our eyes had adjusted to the dark, we could see loads.

From a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Our guides were incredibly knowledgeable, and the equipment was very fancy – which combined to make a perfectly geeky night outside. Our two guides from Dark Sky Wales made it very accessible. Even though the chatter was all about the science of space and the technicalities of astrophotography, it was an informal experience with plenty of time to look at the stars and ask all our questions.

It was SO cold, and I don’t mind admitting that by 1am (our experience started at 10.30pm), we were suffering from particularly cold toes. But it was worth it. It really was a fun and fascinating way to spend One Hour Outside (well, three), and I would highly (highly) recommend Dark Sky Wales to anyone looking for a similar experience.

Having the opportunity to look up at the night sky and see other galaxies up close was a real privilege. I learnt something, too, and it’s made me want to learn more. I can definitely see us booking another session.

The galaxy photos shared in this weekly blog episode are the ones we took with our guides on their high-end camera mounted to a very fancy telescope. See what I mean?!

The Morning After the Night Before

Given the timing of this little adventure, we booked into the Premier Inn at Merthyr Tydfil for the rest of the night, as well as arranging the following day off work. I mean, I’m not 20 years old anymore, these days I need a recovery day after being out all night! The Premier Inn was a 30-minute drive south from the activity location, and had a 24-hour reception, and so checking in at 2am didn’t cause anyone an issue. And as checkout isn’t until midday, we were able to switch the alarms off and enjoy a much-needed lie in.

We headed into Merthyr Tydfil for brunch – well, it was lunchtime, but we it was breakfast we were after. Merthyr was once the largest town in Wales thanks to being a major centre for coal mining and steel manufacturing. It’s known for the invention of the steam locomotive (did you know that?!), and was home to the world’s most important ironworks during the 19th Century. These days the town itself feels a bit rundown, which is a bit sad but a sign of the times.  

We found ourselves in The Hideout, a little greasy spoon serving all day breakfasts, amongst other things. It was clearly a local’s favourite, and we were made to feel very welcome, and our food was great value – £12 for two cooked breakfasts and two mugs of tea. If you ever find yourself in Merthyr, then you’d do much worse than heading to this café. I certainly will do.

Off Roading with 4×4 Driving School

The third and final small adventure I had this week was the other experience I bought my husband for Christmas. We weren’t meant to do both in the same week, but that’s just the way things ended up with having to rebook the stargazing a couple of times. No bad thing – it means we’ve had a particularly fun week!

This time it was a little more, er, motorised. We spent an incredibly fun few hours with 4×4 Driving School near Cardiff, messing about in the mud in their (highly customised) Land Rover 90s.

I booked this because my husband has always enjoyed off road driving, and we would go and mess about in his Suzuki Samurai back in the day (when we were young…). Sans 4×4 these days (it’s been years!), we have done one or two off roading experiences, and while they have been good, you are never really fully in control of the vehicle.

This one looked different. Claiming to be the UK’s only off-road experience where you’re fully in control of the cars, it just looked like ridiculous fun. And it really was. We both giggled like children, scared each other equally, and had a thoroughly good time. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to get to drive – this was my husband’s day, and I was very happy to be the passenger. I’m so glad he insisted I had a turn.

In the Mud Pits

Based on a farm in Taffs Well, not far from Caerphilly and a little north of Cardiff, the School has 40-acres of dedicated off roading available. The course had tough terrain, steep embankments, mud pits (LOVED the mud pits), and rutty and rocky sections. We got the cars – and ourselves – absolutely caked in mud.

It felt like the right combination of safe and adventurous. After the obligatory safety briefing, we got to go out and play. For the first half of our time, we drove around various loops at the top of course, getting a feel for the cars and how they handled. The second half was more of a ‘follow the leader’ type ride in a bigger and steeper section of the course. All the while we took it in turns to drive.

It was genuinely a really fun way to spend the morning, and was also a proper workout – we both ached the next day!

An unexpected bonus was that the team, whilst making sure we went the right way and didn’t do anything too stupid, took a bunch of video clips, which they sent us. I published an Instagram reel and a YouTube short showing our experience in under one minute…

If you like this sort of thing, then I would definitely suggest you look at booking a half-day experience with 4×4 Driving School.

A Night in Caerphilly

As with the stargazing experience, we decided to make an event of this little adventure by spending the night in Caerphilly. We booked a night in the Premier Inn at Caerphilly Crossways, which did the job of providing us somewhere to sleep to avoid what would otherwise have been a very early start on a Saturday morning.

You always know what you’re getting with a Premier Inn, we use them quite a lot. This one was about a 30-minute walk from the centre of town, close to a McDonalds and Costa, and had free parking. At only 15 minutes from the activity site in Taff Wells, it was a decent location.

There are a few restaurants to choose from in Caerphilly. We decided to try the Consurio Lounge, opposite the castle. We were fortunate to arrive at just the right time to get a table. It was a good experience; the restaurant was a little hectic, but the service was friendly, and the online ordering system seemed to work well. I had the Bombay Fried Chicken Burger, which was delicious, followed by churros – I was very full and was very pleased for that walk back to the hotel!

Doughnuts and Pies

After our driving experience we decided to head back to Caerphilly to seek out The Cheesecake House, which promised homemade cheesecakes. However, it turns out the business closed in January – ah. So, it was onto our back up plan – Doughnutters – and what a find that was! I consider myself a bit of a doughnut fan, and my eyes popped out at the display. I went for the caramel one, and my husband chose the Biscoff one. So good.

But we didn’t actually eat those for lunch…

Next door to Doughnutters we found Hancox’s Pies, which is where we ended up for lunch (we took the doughnuts home and had those for supper). This is a really cute café set up in an industrial unit serving pies and all kinds of other meals, and a wide variety of cakes and sweet treats. I had a ham, potato, pea and parsley pie, followed by a slice of passion cake – a most excellent lunch. We did very well.  

Both places have been marked on the map for future trips to Caerphilly. I would happily visit either again, and recommend them to you for when you find yourself that way.

On Booking Experiences

The likes of Buyagift and Red Letter Days are fantastic places to find and book experiences. There’s so much choice and inspiration on those sites, and I use them quite a bit for helping me get my bucket list ticks sorted.

But it does pay to ‘shop local’ when you do experiences like the ones mentioned in this week blog episode. I booked both the stargazing and astrophotography and 4×4 driving experiences directly with the relevant business in the run up to Christmas. This meant the booking – and therefore the money – went straight into the pockets of these small business in South Wales. Of course, it helped that I knew what kind of experiences I was looking to buy for my husband, as I could search specifically.

See You Next Time…

You see what I mean about it being a fantastically outdoorsy week? Little adventures make life more fun. Here’s hoping there are many more weeks like this in 2024!! Look, I know they can’t all be like this, but one can hope.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the brief little adventure reviews in this weekly blog episode. I intend to publish full bucket list style articles on both the stargazing and 4×4 driving experiences next month, so if you have any questions on either activity please do drop me a line in the comments below.

And if you have some of that cuppa left that you made before reading my weekly blog episode, please do head over and read the final part in my Cumbria Way Adventure Journal series.

I hope you have a most excellent week… see you in my next weekly blog episode.

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Buy Me a Cuppa?

If you enjoyed this weekly blog episode and fancy supporting me and my mini adventures this year, you can “buy me a coffee” for £3 (well, a cup of tea, if that’s okay?). Head over to Ko-fi to find out more. Thank you.