Travel back from the Netherlands

It would be the first time I would travel back on the direct train between Amsterdam and London. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about your connection in Brussels, but the bad news is you need to be in Amsterdam extra early, for security checks and passport control. If you change in Brussels you can just rock up at the platform in Amsterdam two minutes in advance. So I took the train from Amersfoort just before 7am, to get the 8:40 Eurostar. It was very quiet in the terminal when I got there. I had never been! But it’s just a terminal. Nothing special about it. 

Amersfoort station in the early morning 

The train left on time. But we hardly moved, or I received a text. We already had a delay; there was something wrong with the train, and it couldn’t ride at maximum speed. That would cost us some 20 minutes. That’s reasonable. 

The 20 minutes grew to 1.5 hours, for some reason. We stood still on Brussels for a long time. I was a bit fed up. My travel the other way was still fresh in my memory. But my trip had come with a generous period for changing trains in London. I managed to get the train I was booked on, even after having refilled my water bottle and buying a newspaper. The water was warm; there is a refill station at Euston, but it demanded all sorts of activities with phones and whatnot, and I couldn’t make it work. Why not just dispense water? And the toilets only yielded warm water. At least that cools down without any further input. 

Normally you can head straight for Crewe from there, but there was maintenance on the tracks, and from Euston, all trains went to Milton Keynes. From there, there were buses to Northampton. And only from there could one head for Crewe. It would be a long trip! At least I knew that in advance. 

Getting to Milton Keynes went smoothly, but there I ended up in a snaking queue for the replacement buses. That took a while. I did get a good seat, but I got to Northampton too late to get my connection. I had to take a later train. At least it was quiet in that train. And in Crewe and Chester all went fine. I was glad to finally get into a train that would actually get me to where I wanted to be! That was after 13 hours of train and bus travel. In total it was 14 hours. A lot! 

Three days later, chaos engulfed Eurostar travel. I was very glad I was back…

Big queue for the replacement buses

Christmas in the Netherlands

This year I wanted to spend time with my family, but also with Neil. I decided to book a rather short trip to the Netherlands. An advantage of that was that I didn’t need a cat sitter. For that short time, the neighbour and Chris could do the honours. And in addition to family, I would go and see Roelof and Monique. 

Seeing Roelof didn’t work, as that would take place the first evening, and that vanished into a many hour delay with Eurostar. But I could see Monique the next day, That is always lovely! 

On Christmas Day I woke up fairly early, and felt like a run. So I did a short one. It was still dark, so I stayed in town, as that was lit. It was a gorgeous morning! Then I went to my sister’s to have a bit of time with her and her family before we would all go and see my dad. There was a lot going on among them! When it was time to go I went separately, as their car was full. 

Early morning Amersfoort 

When I approached his house I saw a figure briskly walk towards me. It looked familiar. But it surely couldn't be my dad; he hadn’t walked briskly in ages. But it was him! He had a rollator now (that seems to be an English word too, even though nobody uses it) and suddenly he was fast and stable on his feet again. Amazing! 

Soon my sister and entourage arrived too. That was us complete. My sister’s father in law was not healthy enough to join us this year. We went for a little walk, and then we had drinks and nibbles. And then Christmas dinner, made by many of us. My sister’s eldest son had made the pièce de resistance. 

Christmas dinner; my sister took the picture 

After dinner my sister and family left. I stayed the night. It was nice to have some quiet time with my dad and his wife. And in the morning we had breakfast together. But then it was time to head to my mum’s for Boxing Day. 

Along the way I bought some food for in the train. It would be another long day of travel! But then I could just relax at my mum’s. With tea, and bockbier, and cheese and crackers. And another run. It was nice and relaxed! But then time came to go to bed. My visit was almost over. 

In the morning I had to get up early. I said bye to my mum, who then just went back to sleep. And I stepped into the fresh morning air, heading home again! 

Nightmare trip to the Netherlands

If I took the 7:16 train from Bangor, I would make my connection in London even if not all went well. I would then be in Amsterdam at about 8pm. Just enough time for a beer with Roelof before bedtime! 

The train was on time, and all went well. The Eurostar appeared on time. I got in and made myself comfortable. But we didn’t leave. 

After a while there was an announcement. Someone had been hit by a train in Lille or Brussels or somewhere we intended to go. We couldn't leave. They would keep us posted.

An hour went by. Sometimes we got an announcement that there wasn't any further news. Another hour went by. I was wondering if I should just give up and take the train back. I could still be back home at a reasonable hour.

After two hour and 15 minutes we could finally set off. I figured that I could still make it to the Netherlands. Probably not to see Roelof, though. But I could probably get to where my mum lives. I have the key; I can just sneak in and go to bed without disturbing her if needs be.

We got to Lille without any further problems. But when the people who wanted to get off there had got off, we didn't leave. After a while there was another announcement. There was another problem! This time it was technical. The announcer mentioned that the train driver was going through the repair manual and was hoping to fix it. Christ. 

Eventually, we could leave. There was a cheer through the whole train. So we were on our way to Brussels. We could even go over the high-speed line; I had the impression that that one had been closed because of the accident. But we weren't very speedy. And then we stopped, we were in Ruisbroeck. Not Brussels. There were more announcements. We were getting fed up. This time the issue was that there wasn't a platform free in Brussels. We had to wait for one to become available. That took a while.

By the time we finally rolled into Brussels, we had a delay of about four hours. And it was unclear how much more it would be. Train travel around Brussels had been quite disrupted.

I saw on a board with departures that in about an hour’s time, there would be a Eurostar to Amsterdam. It was the Eurostar of an hour earlier, being delayed. That would be fine for me. To my surprise, there was already a train at the platform. It was a Eurostar. I tried the door. It opened!

A creepily empty Brussels South with creepily empty Eurostar trains

The train was eerily silent and very messy. Not everything felt right about it. And it didn't have Internet. I wanted to let people know what my situation was, so I decided to disembark again. I was looking for signal, and doing so came across two Eurostar employees, who unfortunately didn't seem to speak anything other than French. But they did tell me that the train was actually not going to leave. They told me to take another one. It wasn't clear which one then.

More looking at departure boards revealed a train to Rotterdam. I decided to just go for that. I found a ticket machine and was glad to see that it was a reasonable price to get to Rotterdam. And I checked: it would be possible to get to both Amsterdam and Amersfoort from there. It would be late, but I wouldn't be stranded!

I got into that train, which also looked eerily empty. But that changed. Soon it filled up with tired Dutch people. And a confused man who didn't speak English (or Dutch) who wanted to know if this train went to Gare du Nord. We said no, because we all thought he was talking about Paris. But he was talking about Brussels. The correct answer was yes. We apologised…

We got to Rotterdam, where I knew there was a chance I could get the train to Gouda, if all went well. It didn't. The next train was a direct train to Amersfoort, which would still get there later than the Gouda one. I got in. And it went.

When the ticket inspector came along it turned out I had needed a surcharge for this train. I hadn’t realised that. I had never been on one before! And I had also been on trains since 7:15. It was now 23:11 local time. But she had mercy on me and only gave me a warning. That was kind of her! Otherwise, nothing went wrong during that trip. It wasn't even raining when I got to my destination. And 00:15 local time I got out in Amersfoort. When I got to my mum’s, she was still awake. I had made it! Finally! 

Ladies’ trip to Cwmorthin

I saw on WhatsApp that the lady who organises the female-only underground trips wanted to go into Cwmorthin on the first Monday of the Christmas break. That sounded good! I only later realised that was the day before I would travel to the Netherlands. But that’s ok! 

We met for breakfast at the lakeside cafe. I had already had first breakfast; we met at 9:30, and that is too late for me to break my fast. But a second breakfast would conveniently fill me up so I would manage the trip without getting hungry five meters from the entrance. And it was good to see the ladies! There were seven of us. Sharon would lead it. She sometimes works for Miles, leading trips, so she knew what she was doing, whatever we would choose. 

We had all been told to bring tandem pulleys, so ziplines were in order. Plenty of those down there! And we chose the route of one of the commercial trips. I had tried that when it was new. We started with the steps followed by the catwalk. Then we went down the incline, and to the corkscrew. I hadn’t done that in years! 

Catwalk 

Corkscrew

After the corkscrew we hit the remains of a bridge that now functioned as a balance beam with a safety line. And then we got to the first zipline. A big one! And it was at a funny angle so you had to get onto it from what was known as the diving board; a beam sticking out into the void. It felt very exposed. 

Beam

When I pushed off I rather hesitantly started trundling towards the other side. I got about halfway. I had to grab the wire and pull myself along. That was ok; I made it to the other side. Everybody else just zipped across. 

At the next zipline, there was space to take a run-up. I did that! It didn’t help. It was starting to become clear my pulley is a bit stiff. But that’s ok. I can pull myself across on the wire. And I am at no risk whatsoever to go too fast and crash into something on the other side. 

Zipping

There is one zipline on that route that is known for being slow. It has a rope rigged next to it for pulling yourself in. But I only got halfway! I couldn’t reach the rope from there. Someone managed to flick it, though, and then I could pull myself across. 

We also came across a commercial group. We let them pass. It was actually quite fun to see them zip along. And Sharon knew the trip leaders. 

After the last zipline we were almost back at the incline. We tried to do a group picture by the cart. Sharon took it with a tripod, her phone on timer, and a torch. The first time she hurried over to our side and fell down a hole. The second time she obscured me. Third time was lucky! And then we headed back up and out. 

The group pic with Sharon (far left) vanishing into a hole

It had been a lovely trip! Even with my slow pulley. I think the others had a bit more of the intended experience. But that’s ok! I am hardly a speed freak. And it was nice to see all the ladies. But I didn’t go to the pub with them. I had to go home, pack for my trip, feed Chris’ cat, and spend a last evening with my own! 

Additional group pic (with Sharon) by the entrance

First weekend of Christmas break

The university was closed! I was supposed to not work. Of course nobody can stop you working at home, but I had little intention of doing so. It was time for some relaxation! 

On the Saturday I went for a sizeable run on the Roman Road between Abergwyngregyn and Rowen. It was a lovely clear day! It was a bit windy, so when I decided to turn off and head up Drum I decided to turn back before I reached the top. I wasn’t going very fast but I enjoyed the surroundings. And there barely was anyone else out there. 

On the (aborted) way up Drum

Run selfie

On Sunday I went for a walk with Neil. He figured we’d have a look at the active quarry above Penmaenmawr. We had explored the abandoned bits, but on Sunday the modern quarry is not active, so you can walk around there. There even is a stile leading into it!

On our way

Quarry in the distance

Quarry up close

Mine relics seen from above (and the Orme in the distance)

It was again cold and a bit windy. It was ok but I ended up with cold hands a few times. And the quarry is impressive. We also scrambled the remaining ridge of the hill above it. And there are more remains on the other side. 

When we were almost out of the quarry area we saw a little field. When we got closer we saw a sheep lying in an uncomfortable position in a corner. Dead? No, it moved! We went in to investigate. It looked like it had been grazing on a slope above the fence. And managed to somehow fall over the fence while getting its front legs entangled in it. Not good! 

Neil tried to pull the wire up so the sheep could free itself, but that was a non-starter. I figured the only other option was to not move the wires, but the sheep. This was a big ewe, but there were two of us! I grabbed the sheep’s shoulder and started pushing her up. She looked at me as if she knew I was trying to help. Maybe she did! 

When I had only moved her a modest bit it must have made a significant difference, because she started to wiggle her front legs again, and actually managed to pull them free. Success! She tried to run away but her front legs weren’t very cooperative. They didn’t look injured, but I figured she wouldn’t have had much blood circulation in them for however long she may have been there. I thought she would be fine in a while! I do hope so. 

We then finished our walk. It had been a success before we could help that poor sheep! But now we had not just had a good time but also made a difference. Even better! Not a bad start of the holidays…

Last teaching of 2025 done

It’s done for 2025! I’ve had my last in person student interaction for the year. The last thing I did was have a chat about one of my assignments with a student who had had some outside stuff to deal with, and had to do this assignment late. Before that, I had a whole load of student presentations. And that went quite well. 

A mud volcano. There was a student presentation about them. Picture by Nick Taylor.

When it was done I had to make sure all marks and feedback for the presentations were online and available. And then I could spend the last working hours of the year getting to the backlog of other things that needed doing. A lot of that was to do with academic integrity. But also some other things.

By now the University is closed, and it won't open until January 5. Then there will fortunately be a bit of time to prepare for the new semester, because the students first have their exams. Lectures will start after that, in late January. And then it's full on until the end of term in spring! And then we'll have done another academic year!

The infrared story still continues (and how)

Well! The story, that should have ended in August, is still ongoing. The last thing I blogged was that the initial appointment for finishing it, in mid December, had been postponed to January. But then I got another phone call. Could they move it back to December? There had been a cancellation. That was fine with me. And I hoped that would be it then. I made sure the electrician would have full access to the cupboard with my consumer unit in.

He showed up very punctually, and set to work. I was working upstairs. And without further issues, he wired it all in. Success!

The wiring in progress

The next thing on the agenda was installing the thermostats. That’s easy; they link in no time, and then you only have to screw them into the wall. Job done. You would think. 

The first thing that happened was that the electrician realised that several of the panels were a different model to what he expected. The thermostats he had with him were not compatible with them. Oh dear. More bad preparation. But at least he could sort out thermostats for three of the rooms. 

I so far have my thermostats by my light switches, so I suggested we continue that way. The electrician was happy with that. So he drilled a hole for a screw. And then we heard a funny sound. And then water started gushing out of the wall. He had hit a water pipe! 

We stampeded downstairs to close the stopcock. I was so happy now I had spent considerable time back in the days making it more accessible! And oiling it, as it was rather seized up. We could close it. And I was glad I had some water in a flask. I could still have a coffee! The electrician got on the phone to his employer to request a plumber. One was going to get to us in about half an hour. 

We started mopping up the water by the drill hole. And I checked the kitchen. Water was coming through the ceiling. It wasn’t good. 

Dripping kitchen ceiling

While we were waiting for the plumber I continued the mopping, while the electrician did some testing. I also asked him why he wasn’t using a pipe detection device. He wasn’t sure. He started googling how expensive they were. Not very! I said he could make a good case to his employer they should buy him one. 

Soon the plumber arrived, and he set to work. He needed to replace the piece of pipe, and in order to do that, he needed to expose it. Cue a big hole in the wall! But it had to be done. And the electrician finished off his stuff and left us to it. No need for him to hang around. 

The culprit 

The plumber, who turned out to be a former Cybi Strider, put a new piece of pipe in place. Then he had to solder the junctions. Doing so immediately set off the fire alarms. I hate these! I was glad he was tall enough to switch them off standing on the ground. With all windows open he finished the job. And then he left.

I had to do a bit more mopping. It was supposed to be finished now, but instead I still had three rooms without a thermostat, and a big hole in the wall. Oh well! Bring on January. Surely it would get finished then? 

TNH: Christmas version

Dyfed and Rhian, who organise the Thursday Night Hill sessions, had to put some runners’ advent calendar online. Items in it were things like run up a hill, eat a mince pie, and then run back down the hill. Or run in Christmas socks. This is a bit more specific than they normally are; they can be quite cryptic about what they have in mind. Dyfed never wants to disclose where we go if it is summer and there are options.

For this week’s hill training, they had said we should bring a head torch, come in fancy dress, and bring £5. But they weren't going to tell us what we would actually do.

I have some fancy dress items; in the past I have shown up at fancy dress parties as people such as Empress Elizabeth of Habsburg, or a Victorian lady. But these are not outfits that go together well with hill running. I thought maybe I should go and just get myself a Santa hat or something. Just to show my good intentions! I figured a local big supermarket would sell tat like that. 

They didn’t seem to have Santa hats, but they did have Christmas pyjamas, for children. That could work. I bought an elf version for boys up to 163cm tall. Should be ok! And it indeed fit. But it was cotton. I hoped it wouldn’t rain! And to finish it off I put some green tinsel around my ponytail, and red tinsel around my head torch. The green tinsel was shedding quite a lot, so I am finding little bits of shiny green material absolutely everywhere now. That will teach me.

When I drove up it rained. Absolutely torrentially. Luckily it wasn’t so bad anymore once I got to Llanberis, but it still rained. While I got ready I could feel the rain soak into the cotton. Unpleasant! But I figured more of us would have that problem. 

There was a big variety of costumes. From none at all, via the odd Santa hat (or roast turkey hat with cheerfully flapping legs), to full Santa outfits, but also all sorts of stuff that was not related to Christmas, like a Teletubby, a criminal, and something that I figured was probably a blueberry. That was an inflatable costume with a little inbuilt pump! Some people had clearly not given much consideration to how comfortable their costume would be while running. And Dyfed was in a dress while Rhian was in a suit. I think Rhian wore it better. If only because Dyfed was putting well-being over glamour, and put a little running jacket over his outfit.

I was glad we got started. I was cold in the rain and the wind! And we headed for what normally is the end of our run. And soon it became clear we were more or less doing the normal route, but backwards. Luckily, it stopped raining. And that meant I was comfortable, but some of the people in the warmer costumes were getting a bit hot!

On the second-last hill, one of the runners revealed to me why we were bringing a fiver. On the slope of the last (normally first) hill there is a café, and we would go there! That explained things. 

I thought we'd run up the hill first, and go to the café later, but we already went in on the way up. Well that's fine with me. We came in in a very small room with a roaring fire. We barely fit! And then the proprietor said we should also go in a tiny little side room, that looked a bit like a museum exhibit. A Welsh living room from the 19th century! I thought it was absolutely gorgeous. But we were really allowed in, and could sit down, so we did.

When we got in, with the lens still a bit steamy

The gorgeous side room

We got tea and Bara Brith. Very nice! And then it was announced there was going to be a raffle. That was what our fivers were for. And the raffle was basically a way of raising money while getting rid of things such as race prizes that had remained unclaimed. They were also some race registrations on offer! Very exciting.

My number actually came up! By then, there were only three prizes left on the table. A bag, a box of mince pies, and a handmade plate from the Snowdon Marathon, with the route on it. I took the plate! I have not run that race, and don't think I will anytime soon for reasons of my knees, but I like a handmade plate. And we decided the proceeds would go to Llanberis Mountain Rescue. 

Posing with my plate

Soon after that we called it a day and ran back to our cars. It was a bit weird to run with a piece of crockery in my hand. Not as weird as running dressed as a blueberry is, though. And then on the parking lot we all wished each other Merry Christmas and went our way. I think it was a very successful run, in spite of the rather unpromising cold and wet start!

Winter graduation 2025

If there’s a graduation ceremony I tend to go. It’s expected of us, and it is highly unlikely there isn’t a student getting their diploma who means something to you, like a former dissertation student or a personal tutee. So after all the marking I headed for main campus in a dress, and went to get my gown. 

I never know what I am going to get, and this time it was a number in red and white. I thought it looked very Christmassy. Very nice!

Seasonal gown

The ceremony was like most others. Lots of proud students we clapped for. And a musical interval. And there were two people who got a special award. Both of them were a bit emotional about it.

When the ceremony was over we were led into the public courtyard of the university. It was quite windy there! Some pictures were taken, but a lot of people got cold. And a lot of mortarboards flew off. I had a bit of a chat with a few students (including a fresh Doctor!) I knew better than most, but I decided I was not going to go to the reception. I had other stuff to do.

Staff group pic

I handed the gown back and headed to the office. So for me, this wasn't a spectacular occasion, but I really hope that for those who were there to celebrate, it really was!

New Head of School appointed

There had been rumours going around about our current Head of School (HoS), John, retiring. And then the moment came he announced that that was indeed going to happen. But there wasn't much talk about a replacement. Or rather; of course there was talk, but nothing official. John would leave in January, and it was only on November 18 that we got an email informing us that there was a vacancy, and we could apply. The deadline was November 26. But I suppose anyone who was considering taking on this job would have started writing a letter long before. 

It’s not a popular job! It’s hard work. You are the highest authority in the School, but you have all of the management of the university above you. They make the decisions, which may well involve budget cuts for the School, and you have to implement them. An excellent opportunity for becoming unpopular. And you have to sit through buckets of meeting about things such as strategy documents. That sounds so dull! 

A long time ago, when the HoS who was in place when I arrived at Bangor University retired, there were actually several people who were keen to take over. The position went to a bit of an outsider candidate. Chaos ensued. My then line manager James left, and in the wake of that, I got a permanent job.

When the outsider quit, there was no crowd wanting to follow in his footsteps. But John ended up doing it. He has done two stints. 

On Monday the 15th we received an email that a new HoS had been appointed. It was Stuart Jenkins. That won’t mean much to my readers I suppose, but it means something to me. I am cautiously optimistic. 

From Stuart’s public profile on the University website 

John was what you imagine some old-fashioned Oxbridge-educated Englishman to be. Stuart is a Yorkshireman. He is much more loud and direct than John. So much more my style! So I’m sure we’ll disagree on plenty, but at least we will probably be communicating on the same channel.

He will officially take over by February. Time will tell how his tenure develops! 

Weird local tradition?

I was at home, preparing for my sister's visit, when I heard lots of honking. I had no idea what this was about, but it was so I opened the curtains and had a look. And it turned out to debate some sort of a Christmas procession with Luis. They were all decorated with fairy lights, and came through the High Street honking festively. I had never seen anything like that before.

When I drove to the railway station to pick her up I came across them again; now going in the opposite direction. I got cheerfully honked at! At least, I interpreted it as cheerful. 

When we did a nice late afternoon walk, we heard sounds on the way back. Initially, it sounded like a trumpet. But when we got closer we realised it wasn’t. It was another Christmas parade! Of tractors, this time. And people had clearly made an effort on their vehicles. We stood by the road to let them pass. We got quite honked at again. We waved at all of them. 

Not easy taking a good picture

This parade phenomenon is clearly a thing! Strange I can’t recall having ever noticed it before. It would surprise me if this was a new invention for this year. But maybe I’m just not home when it happens. 

I think it’s quite charming. Is that condescending? The former inhabitant of a national capital who observes some rural event and finds it sweet? Maybe. But either way; apparently, Bethesda has Christmas parades with big vehicles! I learned something…

Finishing the birthday

When my sister, Neil and I left Martin, they was still most of my birthday to go. And we headed for Neil’s. First, of course, we greeted the cat. It was nice to introduce my sister to this house I visit quite a lot. Neil gave me his birthday presents, and then we went for a little walk. The weather forecast had been rather atrocious, but it wasn't very bad! It was dry, we even had some sun, and although it was windy, it wasn't anywhere as windy as it had been the day before. And the Orme is reliably beautiful. 

View, with goats. From the landward end of the Orme

Windy Orme selfie

We went over the top, past the church, and past a bay festooned with seals. And then we got peckish and went back via Happy Valley. And after lunch, my sister and I left. Back to Bethesda! For a last evening together. 

Loads of seals! 

We went for another walk there, and then we had dinner. Nothing spectacular, but we had to get up early as my sister had a flight to catch. But it was good to have some time together. Even after all those decades, we still have new things to talk about, and things to find out about each other.

The next morning we had our last breakfast together, and then I drove her to the railway station. The visit was over! Thank you sis! See you again over Christmas…

50!

I am scared of birthdays. And I don't like the date of mine. It's always in such a busy part of the semester that you're just marking and marking and marking and absolutely have no bandwidth left for thinking about your birthday. And the weather is often quite bad. My sisters have their birthdays in June; I think I've been envious of that since my early youth. But what can you do!

Many months ago, Martin, with his big new house, had said he could host my birthday. And I thought that was a splendid idea. So I later asked him if he still stood by that offer. He did!

Given that hardly any of my friends live at either walking or biking distance, if I organise anything in the evening, by nine everyone is looking at their watch, and probably getting ready to leave. It could be still quite a drive, and I think our night-crawling days are behind us. Martin has such a big house that everyone would be able to stay over. And then you can just have a nice beer at 10 pm if you want, and not worry about anything!

It also helps his living room is (much, much) bigger than mine. I have managed to squeeze seven people in in the past, but that is about the limit. And I didn't intend to invite an awful lot more people than that, but it just is a lot more relaxed at his place.

I was also hoping we could do a walk. It is always nice to get a bit of fresh air and exercise in, and lovely landscapes. And the weather didn't seem to be so bad! The forecast for my actual birthday was rubbish, but not for the day before that.

We would gather at Martin's at noon. My sister and I were the 1st to arrive. Martin was waiting for us in the courtyard. He must have seen us come up the drive! It was good to see him.

Soon after, Susan and Dean showed up as well and a bit later Neil. Unfortunately, Kate texted me to say she was having a stinking cold. That made me sad! I had really hoped she would be there. But if she's ill then that's the end of that.

It was fun to introduce my sister and Neil to the other lot, and each other. They hadn't met any of them! And I think both sides have been a bit curious. But because daylight was short, we just filed into two vehicles and headed for Cwm Eigiau. I had hoped to walk to Llyn Mellynllyn. But it was really windy! Soon it was clear it was a struggle, and we wouldn’t get that far. We made it to the mining related ruins, and sat down there for a bit of lunch. And from there we just went back. We didn't reach the lake. But we had had a bracing walk!

Windy walk selfie

Lunch in ruin

We did not go there

When we got back we had a nice cup of tea. Martin and Sarah had to do some things related to the horses. We just sat in the living room. And what a living room it is! And we started on drinks. I had brought a big bag full of fancy beers.

Later we started on the food. Martin had suggested a bbq, potentially in a barn if the weather required it, but it ended up just being Martin grilling some stuff right by the front door, and bringing it in. And Susan had prepared a beautiful birthday cake, complete with pyroclastics. They sang for me! 

Beautiful cake! 

After dinner, Susan and Dean left. Those remaining had some more tea, but we didn’t make it a late night. We made ourselves comfortable in one of the annexes. 

The next morning I was the first person awake in the annex. I got dressed quietly and sneaked into the house. Sarah was up too. I started preparing breakfast; I had brought croissants-in-tin. Slowly everyone else appeared, and I got more congratulations. Now I was really 50! 

Making breakfast 

A beautiful start of the day

After breakfast it was time to leave Martin and Sarah to their busy lives. I had had a lovely extended birthday! Even without Kate. But I could now just cruise into this new decade…

Sister arrives for birthday visit

My sister would come over for my 50th birthday. That was fab! I had planned a small celebration and she would fit right in. 

She would arrive the day before. If all went well, I would pick her up from the station at 17:41, or maybe 18:20. 

She sent me a message just after noon. There was a delay! And it kept getting bigger. Oh no! Finally some progress was made, but she wouldn’t arrive in Bangor until 20:11. 

When I had finished all the work that really needed to be done before the weekend, I decided to go home and get some light dinner ready. And then I went to pick her up. Finally she was there! 

We only had a little bit of evening left to catch up before it was bedtime. Delays are annoying! But also something you just have to put up with. And the next day would not actually be my birthday, but would be the day of the celebration, as that is better done on a Saturday. I was looking forward to it!

Last of the three piles of marking done

My brain was mush but I got it done! On the Friday before my birthday, I sat down in the home office (cat next to me) to mark the last scripts. Then I went into the office for the final touches. The thing was that this was the field trip report; the students were also marked on the data they had gathered. These grades were already in a spreadsheet somewhere. But in order to add them to the scripts, I needed to know which group the students had been in. And I was doing anonymous marking. 

Pic from the field trip

Some students put their name on the script anyway, or only plotted the data of their own group. Then I could just add their mark for the data. Most didn’t. Fortunately, you can de-anonymise the scripts, but you have to do it one by one. 

It was also the day of the Christmas celebration of the School. Don't imagine anything too laborious; just our coffee area filled with food, and lots of people eating. And some mulled wine. I popped in to show my good intentions, but was gone after half an hour. Then I went back to my desk. 

When it was done I sent it off to Jaco. He was the moderator. And I didn’t have to publish it until Wednesday, but he would go off to a conference, so it would have to be sorted before then. 

By then it was only mid afternoon. My brain was fried! But I also knew I would have a whole day of student presentations on Monday, so I had to prepare for that then. And preferably also for the presentations the day after that. So I did. 

Then it was time to go home. A long period of marking had come to an end! I could go and celebrate weekend now. And more than just weekend! 

Slightly confused social dinner

Marjan had contacted me to ask if we could have dinner together before the end of the year. It would have to be in the week before my birthday. That would be tricky; it was very busy with work, and I also had that birthday thing to prepare for. But it was then or not at all. So I said yes. And the previous time they had hosted, so I had to think of something to cook. And I remembered something really nice and quite fast that I had before made for both the usual suspects, and also for Neil. 

It got to 6pm, the agreed time. Quite often they are a bit early! Not this time. And it got to a bit beyond 6.  That’s unusual. And then the phone went. It was Marjan. Hadn’t we agreed on today? At 6? I said yes, but wasn’t it at mine? They thought it was at theirs. Oh dear! Now what? I suggested I just jump in my car, and they agreed. And by half past six I was there. We could have our dinner after all! 

Ready for non-existent guests

We had dinner, and then Jaco improvised a dessert, as neither of us had made one. All was well! And then I went home at a reasonable time as I still had a lot to sort the day after…

Year in sport

I love sport (doing it myself, anyway) and I also love data. So I quite like it that Strava does a ‘year in sport’ overview every December. And it came again. 

So how did I do? Well! It looks like I did more than last year. When it comes to running, that is hardly surprising; I started track running, after all, and I did a lot of races. I seem to have biked less, but I'm not quite sure how that happened. My commute didn’t change. 

So what are the numbers? Well! This year I seem to have logged at least one activity on 290 days, vs 250 last year. In total I logged 465 hours, vs 414 last year. 

In total, I seem to have covered 5638 km, with 109 km ascent, vs 5193 and 98 last year. 

Most of it, obviously, was biking; 4176 km vs 4252 km last year. And I ran 1143 km, vs 763 km last year. 

I think it will have stabilised. I suspect next year I may get similar numbers! With continuing Tuesday and Thursday running, and lots of races. And a commute. Time will tell! 

More panel delay

While storm Bram raged over the country I got another phone call. It was the infrared panel people. This weather had caused a delay, which was understandable. I was booked in for finally having the work, that had started in August, finished on December 18, but they wanted to move that appointment. Well so be it. It’s been pushed to January now. One day! One day it will be done… 

Still not connected 

Public lecture about mining in the valley

I am on the mailing list of the historical society of the valley, and from time to time they have interesting lectures (like this one). And there was one announced about mining in the Ogwen Valley. That sounded good! And on the day it was held, I had just finished a big pile of marking work, so I could afford to go. I got home, I had my shower and my dinner, and then sneaked out of the house. I was just on time!

The man who held the lecture had had a varied career, and now he was retired. And he was still interested in mines.

Spoiler alert: there hasn't been much mining in the valley if you count by how many tonnes of actual metal were retrieved, or how much money it made anyone. This valley belongs to slate. But if you count the sheer number of little scratches in the rock where people have tried, it is quite a lot!

There are traces of iron mining, and lead, and copper, and arsenic, and ochre, and manganese, and molybdenum in the valley. And that has resulted in little trials by the river, gashes in the big hills, barely recognisable remains in copses, hills with a multitude of little holes in them, the occasional passage that even seems to go somewhere, and some innocent looking scree slopes that turn out not to be natural. And more!

I recognise some of the locations, but quite often I barely know anything about them. (Posts about some mentioned locations are here and here and here and here.) I feel like I know a lot more now, even though I must admit I struggled a bit to understand the man’s Welsh. It didn't really help he was speaking into a microphone, but I was close enough to hear him directly as well, so I heard him twice with a tiny delay in between. Well worth it anyway!

Big pile of marking done!

I had worked on my big pile of marking for weeks. And when the deadline came close, I had resorted to working in the weekend as well. That was dull, but the result was that on the Monday I only had a few scripts left. Fortunately! I also had a guest lecture, a drop-in, a student presentation, and a fair number of emails to answer from students about other assignments. And I had to get some stuff ready for one of these assignments. Maybe more about that later. But either way; there wasn't that much time I could dedicate to it on Monday. But I did get it done! And I immediately emailed my moderator to say it was ready for her.

I had emailed her on Friday that that pile was on its way, but she hadn’t responded. That was not a good sign.

When I had finished it I breathed a sigh of relief, and went home. It was nice to have that off my back! Even though the intermediate pile of marking was still there, of course. But that deadline wasn't for a few days. It felt easier than last year, when I had turned into a marking zombie. 

By the evening I had a response from the moderator. She would do it the very next day. And that meant I would probably be able to release it then. And that was within the deadline! Success!

My deadlines were a bit earlier than a few years back. And they came in short succession; too short. But at least this means now that I won't have an enormous pile hanging over me over over the Christmas period. And that is nice!

Marquess of Anglesey

If you are ever on Anglesey, it is difficult to fail to notice that there is a big commemorative column there, with the statue on top. The statue is of the Marquess of Anglesey. It's located near Britannia Bridge, the main access route to the island. And it towers over the landscape. I had been aware of it, obviously, since I moved there. But it was closed. It used to be a tourist attraction, where you could walk an internal staircase to the top, and then stand underneath the actual statue, and have an amazing view. Lack of maintenance had put a stop that, though.

The column from the copse underneath it

Then it was renovated. And last year it opened again! I thought I'd like to go, but it never actually happened. But now that I happened to be on Anglesey with Neil anyway, we could give it a go. He is up for that sort of things as well.

It wasn't perfect weather, but it wasn't the worst either. We decided to go for it. The original column keeper’s cottage has now been turned into an office and a café, and there we bought tickets. A young lad stood by the actual column and wanted to see our tickets. And then we went in.

The new staircase is very respectful of the surroundings. You wouldn't know that it is new! And we were up in no time. We could hear the wind howl from a bit of a distance. It wasn't necessarily very comfortable up there, but we could see Britannia Bridge quite clearly, and Telford Bridge with some difficulty. And we got a good look at the actual marquess. I thought it was worth it! And I spotted some nice fossils in the limestone of the column.

The new staircase

The marquess from as close as you can get

The view

Column selfie

After a few minutes we went down again, and had a little chat with the young lad again. Then we all together went to the café. We probably were the last visitors of the day. Not only were they closing in about an hour, but also, the weather was turning quite bad. Not very many people would want to pay to get to a very exposed location in weather like that.

The café has a bit more information about the marquess, the column, and all of that. We didn't think it said enough about the actual marquess: Henry Paget. We supplemented the information given with some googling.

It turned out that this man had been born in London, and at the age of 22 had for some unexplained reason been parachuted in to stand for election in the constituency of Caernarfon, and had been elected. That was his linked to Anglesey. In the Napoleonic war, he has been second in command to the Duke of Wellington, and had apparently lead a very successful charge on the French troops. That sounded like plenty of reason get him a statue. And be given the title of marquess. 

The statue was decades younger than the column, by the way; the latter had been raised straight after the napoleonic war, but the statue had only been added to it after the Marquess’ death. Which was decades later. This probably meant he had been lucky; during the aforementioned charge, he had been hit by a cannonball, and his leg had to be amputated. That's not a trivial injury. And he was a rather rich amputee, and had been able to commission a rather good prosthetic leg. That seems to then have turned into a bit of a prototype for prosthetics for generations to come.

On the way back I briefly pointed out the blueschists the column stands on. They are special! 

Altogether we had a rather successful addition to our outing to the racetrack. We had had views about as good as you could have had on that day, we had learned some local history (and geology), and we had supported the local economy. Not the worst score if I may say so!