Welsh travels

Spent a quiet evening down Barry Island after work late last week. Away from the chavs and hot hatches that occupy that main funfair area, the walk around the coastal path is a very pretty one. Here’s a picture of the sunset over the Bristol Channel.

Swansea Notes

Spent the weekend at the future in-laws in Swansea. Went into Swansea on Saturday night for a meal and witnessed umpteen stag and hen night groups stumbling down the street. Wind Street seemed to be awash with these groups, with almost all of them in some sort of fancy dress. I’m sure they all think they’re being original, but…

Sunday was more chilled out. Went to the National Waterfront Museum on Swansea Bay for the first time. I was very impressed (although others were less so). You can learn a lot about the Welsh people and Welsh history, but just maritime history. (www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/swansea/) And as a bonus the Tardis and a dalek were on display.

Outside was a BBC Wales open air concert featuring cutting edge musicians such as Shakin’ Stevens and Dave Edmunds. Nice to see the beeb so bang up to date.

The afternoon finished up with a visit to Joe’s Ice Cream Parlour, a Swansea institution. On a hot day the place was doing a very brisk trade. Excellent ice cream, but I’m biased and I think Carini’s is better.

Home & Garden Notes

Score one for the anti-squirrel league. Got home from the weekend away to find a dead squirrel in the street outside the house. Must have got run over. He’s off to that great bird table in the sky – well actually he’s in the bin on the way to the tip!

Rugby Notes

Last Saturday’s game was New Zealand vs. South Africa. Both teams made a bunch of changes, but for different reasons. NZ rested 8 while the Boks made a bunch of changes. South African tactic was to harry and chase everything. Almost paid off but an All Black try on the stroke of half time took the wind out of their sails. 19-7 down at half time was too big a mountain & NZ ran out winners 35-17.

Ebbw Vale's fixtures for the upcoming season have just been published - first home game is the Evil Empire, Newport on 9 September. Use the link on the right to get a full list. Patrick Horgan has been added as backs coach to Alex Codling's staff - everything's falling into place and I'm full of confidence (as always) for the new season.

Cricket Notes

The Haddocks had a fine maximum points win last week when the opposition failed to show. That stunning success has propelled us to second in the table, and worryingly in the promotion places. Another win Monday cemented our spot in the promotion places.

Glamorgan had a last ball win at Middlesex on Sunday in the 40/40 competition. Jamie Dalrymple did well with bat and ball for Middlesex, but Mike Powell’s 81 (following up his 202 in midweek) did just about enough to see Glammy through.

The competition is properly called the Natwest Pro40 League, but to me it’s the John Player League reincarnated – for those old enough to remember John Arlott commentating on Sunday afternoons. There used to be the occasional opt-out when BBC Wales showed Glamorgan games with two cameras, Peter Walker and Wilf Wooller commentating.

At least you get a result in the one-day games. The last two Glamorgan County Championship games have been tedious draws with the two sides unable or unwilling to made declarations to create the possibility of a win. It seems not losing is more important than winning (as England found out against Pakistan in the 1st Test).

Restaurant Notes

Went to La Tasca in Wind Street, Swansea on Saturday night (http://www.latasca.co.uk/). It’s an authentic Spanish tapas bar. OK, I know it’s a chain restaurant, but even the waitress was Spanish. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and the sharing nature of tapas means that you get to sample a whole collection of different tastes. Well worth a visit – there’s one in Cardiff’s Brewery Quarter too.

Travel Notes

School holidays start today, and with it the short period when the morning commute is bearable. Package holiday prices seem to go up this week as well. The two stories can’t be related, can they?

Drove to Mold, Llandeilo and Llandrindod Wells last week. Did 500 miles in the service of the Assembly, spreading the word to new staff due to join the Assembly this year. At least the hire car had air-con.

That’s where the plus-points ended. I share your pain – anyone who has to drive a Vauxhall Astra. Irritating pings to remind you to do or not do a hundred different things, yet the indicators had entirely a mind of their own – sometimes cancelling the second you put them on and sometimes not for several miles down the road.

Go on, do a survey. Next time you see someone driving down the road with the indicator flashing for no reason it’ll be either a white van (naturally) or else a Vauxhall.

Link of the Week

The famous footage of John Redwood failing to sing the Welsh national anthem has been posted on the YouTube website, one of the fastest-growing websites (youtube).