Senedd elections 2026

I could vote again! There were elections all around the UK. Local elections in England, and senate (and equivalent) elections in Scotland and Wales. And I can vote in the Welsh one. 

The electoral system has changed since the last time I did. My constituency is a lot bigger now; Anglesey, Conwy, Bangor. And we had six seats to divide. It was widely reported to be a two horse race between Plaid Cymru and Reform. Labour was expected to be obliterated.

In my constituency, polls suggested that of these 6 seats, 3 would go to Plaid, 2 to Reform, and it would be a battle between Tory and Lib Dem for the 6th.

Normally, I vote first thing in the morning (if I get to vote, that is). Then whatever ever happens in the rest of the day, that is done! But with all the stress of the dissertation module, this year I ended up voting in the evening. I got home, I started dinner, put it in the oven, and while it was looking after itself, I popped to the polling station. 

I had been struggling to make up my mind what to vote. My natural colour is Green, and they were indeed standing in my constituency. So that would make sense. But wouldn't Plaid be in a better position to keep Reform out? That's very important too. Or should it be Lib Dem, in an attempt to keep the Tories out of the last seat? I had to make up my mind on the very day.

With polling card

Polling station in old school

In England, the counting started a lot earlier than in Scotland and Wales, so that's where I had my attention first. It was scary! Reform was making such big gains. Hopefully, they will screw up a lot of local politics, and people will not be so keen on voting for them in the next general election. I'm still nervous about that! But I'm afraid that national elections might not be that heavily influenced by what's going on at the constituency level. 

Then, through the day, Welsh and Scottish results were also coming in. Plaid was, as expected, in the lead. And my constituency was the first northern one that declared. It had been true about the three seats for Plaid and two for Reform. The last one had gone to the Conservatives. The Lib Dems even got fewer votes than Labour. Only about a third of what Labour got! Predictions don’t always come true.

When the results were still coming in

 

Later on Friday the full results were in. There were 43 seats for Plaid, when they need 49 for a majority. What will they do now? My hunch is, a minority government rather than a coalition, but we'll see.

One thing that might change a bit is that with Plaid the biggest party, and the party leader being from Anglesey, there may be a bit more attention for the north in Cardiff from now on. As a northern resident, or a Gog, I think that's a good thing!

Mop-up presentations

We have 197 students in the 3rd year. They all have to do a dissertation presentation. 55 of them had received an extension. Some submitted their slides, but didn’t show up. Luckily, quite a lot of them only had extensions of a few days, so they could still present in the original session. I didn't have to deal with 65 students who had to get another chance! I still had to keep track of so many it was a bit of work.

The first challenge was: figure out who had presented. I can see who has submitted their slides, but if these slides don't have a grade, that could either mean the student didn't present, or the member of staff just hasn't uploaded the grade yet. So then you have to ask 45 people to give you these details. Not as straightforward as one would hope.

Then I needed to find time for session. This has to be before the exam period, because you are not allowed to get in the way of the students’ exams. That meant: the Thursday and/or the Friday of the week after the presentations. Then I needed to find staff for it. These presentations have to be marked by two members of staff, so I can't just do it myself. And annoyingly, the lead-up second year module, which had its presentations in March, also did a mop-up session on these days. That had siphoned off a lot of staff. But I found two who had a two hour slot free each. 

In the end I had some 15 students. That fits in 4 hours. So I was sorted! Once more did I sort out paperwork. And on Thurdsday afternoon I headed for the main building for the first session. 

Two students showed up, one of them late. Not a great turnout! But they presented. And my colleague and I had plenty of time left to agree grades. As soon as I got to my computer I placed these marks where they should go. First day done!

The second day we had four students show up. Still not a brilliant turnout. But four more students who have now fully completed this assignment. And again; we could agree marks there and then, then as soon as I got to my desk I uploaded them.

I think there are now two students or so left with long extensions that I will have to deal with later. That is manageable! So now I can focus on the written dissertations…

Looks unrelated, but there were soft corals in one of the presentations 

Ras Rhostryfan 2026

The evenings are light this time of year. And that means that people feel comfortable organising races after (standard) working hours. And the first one of the year for me this year would be the Rhostryfan 10k. The race has been going on since forever, but I only heard of it last year. Then it was the first race I did after injuring my knee during a fell race. I wasn't very fast! But I was impressed by the beauty of the route. So I was keen to do it again. I would get the same views, but this time, while being more confident in my knees.

I managed to find a parking spot near the school, which is race headquarters. It was gorgeous weather! I went to get my number. And had a chat with other runners. And did a little warming up. From the finish I ran a bit of the route backwards. That would help me to have a good idea of what to expect in the last few hundred meters. I also went to the loo. Given that the headquarters were a primary school, the loos were hilariously small! But that didn't matter; they worked.

When it was time to lineup we did a club picture, and then set off. I saw fellow Eryri Harrier Jen run in front of me. I know she is a very strong runner, so I didn't expect to keep her in sight for very long. And I knew another female Harrier, Elliw, was somewhere in the crowd, and she is much faster still.

On the first hill, with my track mate Elfyn

I didn't want to start too fast, so I kept a relaxed pace. We ran from Rhostryfan to Rhosgadfan and then y Fron. And I enjoyed the weather and the view and my fellow runners. But that slightly changed about 3.5 km in, on the outskirts of y Fron; as had been the case in the Trawsfynydd race, a spectator told me I was in 4th position. That always spurs me on! I accelerated a bit.

Running in the sun in the gorgeous landscape 

It wasn't an awful lot further, on the road between y Fron and Carmel, that I spotted the woman who I assumed was in 3rd position. A Cybi Strider I didn’t personally know. And when we turned right in Carmel I passed her. I got a kind ‘well done’ from her. 

The field was quite spread out by then. I could see three men in front of me. Overtaking men is not a priority. I just wanted to make sure I kept my speed up, so the Cybi Strider wouldn't manage to catch up. I had the impression it went well. I didn't do too much looking behind me. The sun was in our eyes and quite low, and sometimes behind the trees; I was keeping my eyes on the road.

I ended up overtaking all three men. One of them was a tattooed Cybi; that made me think of Richie, with whom I have a running rivalry. But Richie has an injury and wasn't there. 

When I was about 8 km in I saw another Cybi in front of me. There was no way I could still catch him. I just tried to keep my speed up. That was a bit hard! The last kilometre is uphill, and I had got a bit ambitious around 8k. It is easy to think it is only two more kilometres; you can start throwing it all out. Maybe not.

Almost there

This time I knew where the finish was, at least approximately! There is no line on the road or anything like that; basically it finishes just where the sisters are standing with a stopwatch and a clipboard. It does give a bit of confusion. A lot of people don't know when to stop running.

I was knackered and thirsty by now. So I got my breath back, and got me some water. Then I joined the other spectators to cheer people over the finish. And a dozy blonde labrador licked the sweat off my legs. 

After a while we went in for the presentation. I had sneaked a peak at the prize table; I had a good feeling about winning a category win. And it’s that sort of race where you pick your prize from the table when you’re called forward. I liked a little bottle of rhubarb gin. It’s nice to win something you might enjoy but wouldn’t buy yourself. 

It turned out I had really been third. Hurray! Chuffed with that. And I got my rhubarb gin. And who had been second and first? Jen and Elliw! The Eryri ladies were sweeping the board. 

I had been 2.5 minutes faster than last year, with a time of 45:22. It had been gorgeous. I had my first podium place of the year. Eryri ladies ruled. There was a cute dog. What a good evening! 

Cnicht with Mike

I thought I would be spending quite some of the bank holiday weekend with Neil, but he had other plans. Fortunately, some miraculous succour came falling out of the sky: Mike, from Cornwall. He was one of the guys who was always on the most interesting underground trips in the southwest, when I lived there (like this one). He comes up quite regularly. Generally, he is with his friend Darryll, another mine explorer, but this time he was alone.

On Saturday night we had dinner together, in my garden. We had plenty to catch up on! I see him about once a year. And I suggested a particular walk. He agreed with that. So he showed up again the next morning and we got into my little car.  

My plan has been to park up in Blaen Nantmor. The road there is so tiny it seems the best idea to go there by little Corsa. From there we could walk in the general direction of Cnicht, and over the summit, if we felt like it. And then back via Llyn yr Adar and Llyn Llagi. 

I started out in trousers and with several layers on above the waist. The forecast has been a bit cold. Reality was different! In no time I changed into shorts and a vest. It was a glorious day, and there was nobody else. And the landscape is gorgeous. I also like the little lake that doesn’t have a name on the OS map there, so we had coffee and cake there. 

How it started

Coffee break lake in the distance 

Cnicht coming into view

We did go for Cnicht. That meant meeting other people, but that is OK. We had lunch at the summit. More people were that way inclined. But as soon as we came down on the other side, all other people vanished again. The warmth temporarily did too, so the multiple layers came back. 

Summit selfie

It was lovely and quiet by the lakes. And sunny and warm again by the second lake. We happily trundled back to the car. Almost all of the route had been new to Mike! He had been coming to Wales since he was a child. Finally he has done Cnicht and some of its hinterland. And it was great to see him again. I hope he keeps visiting for years to come! 

Llyn yr Adar

Almost back

Start of 2026 vegetables growing

I've been struggling a bit finding time for all sorts of things. I surprised myself a bit with at some point reserving some time for planting vegetable seeds. Fairly soon, some seedlings started to appear. I had planted beans, beetroot and kale. Quite quickly, small bean plants appeared. And tiny, tiny beetroot seedlings. The kale was largely unresponsive.

The idea is that they will move to the garden. I have a whole vegetable bed ready (well, in theory) for them, and for potatoes. I figured they needed to get a bit bigger and stronger before I could put them there. But they would need something more substantial than the little tray they were in to grow big enough to be able to survive outside.

In the early May bank holiday weekend I found some more time. I took all the bean and beetroot seedlings and gave them individual little flower pots. I hope they will cope with that. And that they will grow big enough to go into the garden. And I hope for nice crop! 

Beans

I have never grown beans before, but I suspect it is not fundamentally different from peas. With those I have had modest success in the past. And I have had a tiny little bit of success with beetroot before. And quite some with potatoes. I don't know how this year will turn out, but so far it is actually going quite well!

Pizza with old bike mate

In my 20s I liked bike packing. The most spectacular trip I did was spending a month biking through Romania, with my boyfriend at the time, making sure we got a good view on the 1999 solar eclipse. In 2001 I wanted to go too, but I didn't have a boyfriend to go with me. In the Netherlands, however, there are ways of advertising yourself as someone who seeks bicycle company. And I found three men to go with me to Slovakia. We had a great time! 

This week I suddenly got a message from one of the three: Ronald. He happened to be in North Wales! Was I around? I was! 

He was on holiday with his 13-year-old daughter. They had come from the Lake District, and after Wales they would head back home. And we decided to have dinner together on the Friday. They came to my place, and after a drink in the garden we went to the pizza place by the cheese shop. We took the pizzas back and ate them while catching up.

A lot had happened since we were biking through Slovakia! The fact that he had a 13-year-old daughter illustrates that well. He didn't have contact with Eling anymore, the bike companion who lived quite far away, but he still sometimes saw Simon, the other one, who actually lived quite close to him. He sent him a text to say that he would never guess where he was. And then sent a picture. Simon found it quite funny, and said that he actually had been entertaining the thought of travelling through the UK himself; maybe he’ll be appearing on my doorstep one day as well! 

Pic from our Slovakia trip: me, Simon, and Ronald. Eling must have taken it.

TNH on Hoka’s: up the incline

It’s not unusual for the Thursday Night Hill to end up in Dinorwic Quarry. We often start in Llanberis, and given that we are hill training, you can then choose between the hills on the southwestern or northeastern side of the valley. If you choose the latter, you almost inevitably end up in the quarry. And there is plenty of vertical to increase your fitness on. A lot of that is in the form of inclines.

The place is riddled with them. But there is one special one. I am convinced it is by quite some margin the biggest. And it has been repurposed by the power station situated in the quarry now. There is some electrical infrastructure that runs all the way down. I have never run on it. I had never even walked on it.

This week there was another demonstration event, so that meant we were again starting in llanberis. The demonstration was for Hoka Speedgoat 7. It made me feel an old-timer! I remembered the promo event for the Speedgoat 6. 

I got to the shop and got my pair of shoes. They were comfortable! And it was busy. It took a while before we left. And from the shop we headed for the zigzags. At some point we turned right to go a bit deeper into the quarry and went up some inclines. Then Dyfed, who organises all of it, shouted to the front they should wait. 

We waited, as we regularly do, because we don't all run at the same speed, but then we went off to the left. To the big incline! I got my camera out.

Getting onto the incline

Most of it is fine for running on. But at some point it changes steepness, and there most decided to walk. And in places, the original incline probably had wooden bridges, which are not there anymore, and then you have to go around, over beautiful slate steps.

The incline changes angle

Up some slate steps

Lovely views

I really enjoyed it! And then we headed for the view point on a spoil heap, and then for the little road out of the quarry. I was glad, as I know that there was a stream there, and I had only a rather small amount of water with me. I was getting thirsty!

From there we went back to Llanberis over public footpaths. And back in the shop there were the usual drinks, nibbles and a raffle. It was a nice night! And the first time in all these years I was on the big incline…