Bicycle path closes again for bridge removal

It has been really great to be able to use the whole length of the bicycle path for a while. But I knew that there was going to be one last interruption. Recent closures had been because of the installation of a new bridge. Now they also wanted to take the old bridge away.

One Monday morning I avoided the path on the way out. I assumed it was closed, but you can’t tell unless you try, and might get turned back. On the way back I indeed bumped into a fence that stopped me continuing on the bicycle path, and forced me onto the road. It had begun!

Closure has been predicted to only be a week. So I figured that soon, I will be able to admire the new bridge, and mourn the loss of the old one. I think the old one is a lot more beautiful. But I acknowledge that the new bridge now makes it possible for cyclists to come all the way from Bangor over the cycle path, and without having to spend as much as a meter on the A5 (the through road here), continue all the way up to Llyn Ogwen. That didn’t used to be possible. If you would go over the old bridge you would have to somehow get your bike through a kissing gate. And the path leading to that gate starts out so steep that only very stubborn and fit people would be able to bike it uphill. So in that way, it is a clear win! 

To the GP for my dupuytren

I was just talking to a colleague when the topic of Dupuytren came up. He immediately showed me his hand. He had it too! And he mentioned another colleague who did, as well. He was receiving radiotherapy for it. Radiotherapy! That interested me. He was being treated here in North Wales. 

I would like that! I had briefly researched it. It seems you can stop the process. That would be great. I have seen how debilitating it is when the disease progresses, as my father has it. He has had surgery several times. That’s a pain! But the hands you can’t open are a pain too. But I had not found any facilities who offer it in Wales. But clearly, I had overlooked something. 

I went to see my GP about it. She said the NHS wouldn’t do anything until I would lose function. I didn’t think that was a good idea. Why let it get that far when you can prevent it? And what about my colleague? The GP said she would make inquiries. 

I didn’t think it would be such a damp squib! But I will sure go and investigate going private within Wales. One would think it is possible! 

My hand with no visible symptoms (yet)

Jacko breathing session

We had had a taster session in the Presentation Night. The club had invited 'Jacko', who is a breathing coach for sportspeople. I had bought his book there too. I'm about halfway through it.

Since that session, I have been actively thinking about my breathing when I am running. And it really helps! I try to breathe slowly. Jaco had made the point that if you breathe slower, the air has time to reach all the alveoli in your lungs, and the oxygen uptake is a lot more efficient. I do that on the track, which results in more comfortable running, and I do it during races. My results since the presentation night have been quite good, so I think it is helping! And that only through slow breathing. And I knew there would be a full session for club members coming up. Obviously, I signed up for it. How much better could it get? 

It took place on the track. We had the building too. We started indoors. There were about 15 of us. But soon we went outside. 

I had sort of counted on us being either inside, or running. I had clothes for that. Mistake! There was a cold wind out there, and when we were on the track, we spent quite some time standing still. That was cold! 

On the track

The first thing he asked us to do was stand on the start line, breathe in, breathe out, then hold our breath and walk onto the track. And only stop walking when we couldn't hold our breath anymore.

Soon, people were stopping. I didn't have to, yet. I was walking out next to a lady called Emily and we got quite far. Then she stopped. Only me left! That surprised me. I never realised I can hold my breath particularly long. 

We came back. Jacko told us that the urge to breathe is not from lack of oxygen. It is just the buildup of CO2 in your blood. And you can train your body’s tolerance of that. And he said that if you breathe out powerfully a few times, you might get rid of quite a lot of CO2.

He also made us run a lap, and then tell us something about our breathing. I found that a bit hard. I have been thinking about my breathing while running for months! But most people there hadn't been to the presentation night, so they might have been thinking about their breathing for the first time. 

He then took us back inside. We did all sorts of things! Thinking about the ribs, the spine, the nose, the tongue, the pelvis, and what not. We were standing and kneeling and lying down, twisting this way and that, and feeling the difference to our breathing.

Thinking about posture 

Feeling our breathing

We went out for more laps. He urged us to start out breathing through our noses. That was less difficult than I had expected. But he made us accelerate, and you soon hit the spot where you can't breathe through your nose anymore.

He also made us think about how to synchronise our steps with our breathing. I think I do that automatically. But he made us all pay attention to it. It is efficient too line these two things up.

In the end he asked us to run a lap where we started breathing through her nose, but to accelerate so much that in the end, we would do one breath every two steps. That was a bit exhausting! When I was breathing through my nose, which is inevitably slower, I need some five steps for a breath. When I'm breathing through my mouth, I tend to be on four, so cranking it up to only two was quite something!

Then we were done. We thanked him and wished him well on his upcoming challenge: he will attempt to run two marathons a day for 100 days. That’s quite an effort! And we were invited to run a lap with him. I might do just that. Watch this space! 

Group pic

Additional medal rack

It didn’t fit anymore! I made a medal rack less than a year ago, but it is full now. I suppose things started accelerating when I joined the running club. That makes you eligible for NWRAC medals. And I have been doing well since having started both hill and track training. So then you often get multiple medals in one race. 

When I came home from the Snowdonia Half Marathon with four medals (finisher, non-stop runner up Forest Hill, category win, silver medal) I knew they wouldn’t fit. I needed to act! And I put a smaller bamboo stick up in the storage room. I put all my pre-covid medals on it. That made good space on the bigger rack. 

The pre-Covid rack

When I had sorted that it struck me there were so many medals there that weren’t finishing medals. I did a quick count; I have 36 medals there, and only 20 are finisher medals. So almost half are things like category wins and bronzes and silvers. Pretty cool! 

Space on the original rack

The time will come when it will be full again. But I have bought myself a bit of time now. I can ponder where the next rack will go! 

Siabod with Kate - again

I hadn't seen Kate in a while, except during lunch at work. It was time we’d get out together. And one Saturday we were both available. Kate suggested Siabod. We didn’t want to make it a long walk given that it would rain in the afternoon. And Bryn, her Labrador, is getting too old to come with us, so he would be alone while we were out. 

We met up at Pont Cyfyng, and headed in Siabod’s general direction. It didn't take long before we took our jackets off because we were getting warm. And then it didn't take long for us to put them back on because it was starting to rain. 

Along the way we passed a commercial group, headed by Richard aka Rusty; it was fun to see him again. And there were some other walkers as well. The weather wasn't great, but it was a weekend, so we didn't expect to have the hill to ourselves.

Early on

We decided go along the east, past the lake, and then to do the route to the summit through the gully. We struggled to remember and when we had done it before. My memory is rubbish! But as soon as we were properly in the gully it all came back to me. We had both done this once before, together, but quite a long time ago. Checking my blog showed that that had been in lockdown.

 

Quarry lake along the way

We'd done the same hill together since, in the evening. And confusingly, I've also done it with the other Kate. I really wanted to go visit her after she moved to England, but I must admit it hasn't happened yet!

While we were in the gulley, it was mainly misty and drizzly, but not properly raining. And when we popped out we had lunch in the wind shelter at the top. There were two marshals of UTMB there too; there were several races going on. My track mate Louise was doing the 100 miler! She is tough. 

 

Kate in the gully

 

Summit selfie

After lunch we headed down. And the rain got worse. We both wondered if we should have put on our waterproof trousers while we were in the wind shelter. A bit late now!

When we got down things improved a bit. For quite a while, we could even see the lake in the valley! But by the time we got To Cafe Siabod (its new iteration) we were both quite soggy. Our jackets had held, but we had soaking trousers, socks, shoes, and gloves. And I had a soggy hat as I wasn't using my hood.

On the way down

We ordered the hot chocolate with all the bells and whistles that they offer. And we inhaled them quite quickly. That made us feel better! And then we trudged back to the cars.

A bit of a soggy get-together but really nice anyway! Soon again, hopefully…

Slim cat

The diet has worked! My little cat is back to 4.7 kg, and has an hourglass figure again. And she hasn’t run away to someone who feeds her more. I’m happy.

Now that I have the scales, I can increase her portions again and monitor when I get to the point her weight stays stable. She will like that. And I like that this is, in all likelihood, much better for her health. We can have more years together this way! 

Not the clearest picture of her figure but it gives some idea

Slim belly shot

In-person exam again

I hadn’t been involved in an in-person exam since the start of the pandemic. I can't say I am a huge fan of them but I acknowledge that they are a foolproof way of making sure the students aren't using generative AI.

In the long run, we will have to make sure all our assessments incorporate the use of AI. If the students have such powerful tools at their fingertips, surely we can ask complicated things from them. But these are not changes you make in a day. Firstly; we staff wouldn't be ready for that. It is a heck of a lot of work to make a new assessment! And if we would have to change every single one of them, that takes a lot of time. 

Secondly; the students wouldn’t be ready for it. I think we need to make sure we actually teach them to use AI well, before we expect them to use it extensively in their assignments. And as soon as we make them a bit of a challenge even with the use of AI, they would be way, way too much of a challenge now for students who aren't particularly good with the technology.

With these considerations, I took the decision of having my first year exam, which is an MCQ test, in person again. It is very difficult to come up with MCQ questions AI can't answer. And the policy of the school is that we can bring in in-person exams again, gradually. This year we can do them for the first year students. Next year, we can add the second year to that. We are aware that it might be a bit of a shock to students who haven't done an in-person exam in years, suddenly have to do one again. Our current freshers probably have done in-person A-levels. And if we get them used to it from the beginning, they'll be fine.

That is how I found myself in a lecture room on main campus to invigilate an exam. It felt rather old-fashioned! But it was ok. If the students were particularly stressed about it, it didn't show. They just did their thing. They had two hours to complete the exam; the first student left after 25 minutes, and the last one after one hour and 40 minutes. It looks like at least when it comes to time, it is perfectly feasible.

The exam

It will probably be done less well than last year, but I don't think that's a bad thing. That probably means that last year's cohort had used AI. This time we are actually testing the students on their own insight. Not their use of tools. And sometimes their insight is what you are after.

Next exam period, there will be more like this. Back to the previous century! While getting ready to make the jump to the post-AI world…

Bridge exhibition

Menai Suspension Bridge, aka Telford Bridge, aka the old bridge, is 200 years old. The University decided to dedicate a small exhibition to it. In one of the glamorous corridors of the main building, there are some cabinets, which host changing mini-exhibitions. 

When it was announced that there was an exhibition about the bridge there, I decided I wanted to go and see it. When I had a chat with Jenny, my Welsh tutor, she also recommended it; she had already been. Unfortunately, when I am in the building, I often have stuff to do and places to get to immediately afterwards, so for months I didn't go. But then I was on main campus for the second and last round of catch up dissertation presentations, and so many students didn't show up I had time to go and have a look before I needed to be somewhere else.

This also means this post is out of sequence! I have already blogged about what happened in the weekend. I forgot this draft was there.

The exhibition is not big, but I thought it was amazing! It started with the old route between London and Dublin, which relies on several ferries, including one over the Menai Strait.  I had no idea the original ferry went from the sand flats. That doesn’t sound ideal! But later it moved to a mainland landing site that’s dry at both high and low water. 

In the 18th century already, there were goals for a bridge. There were all sorts of people who were either very much in favour very much opposed. Several different designs.

Did you get the decision to go with the particular design Ford came up with. And then the construction. And then it was done.

Bite of the process, obviously, without photographic evidence. But that came in somewhere along the way. I really like seeing the whole process develop in written, drawn or photographically documented evidence. I might just come back to admire it another time!

Welcome sign

Map with possible crossings indicated

Various proposed designs 

The design that was chosen 

Construction 

Close-up: cranes om the pillars of the bridge 

Phone charging drama

I have an iPhone. They are infamous for vulnerable charging ports. I already once bought a new one for reasons of port issues. And the new phone also had problems. But when that happened, I moved to wireless pads. That sorted me out for a bit. 

After a while, my Halfords pad started to get connection issues. Unless the cable was in just right, the pad didn’t get power and wouldn’t charge. And even if it did get power, it would complain increasingly often that the phone wasn’t positioned correctly on it. I figured I might need a new one. 

One day, I was in a shop for other reasons, and I saw they sold pads as well. Great! I bought one. But did that solve things? No! I thought a pad would be a pad, but this thing proved they are not created equal. It barely charged anything. 

Before I dragged myself past a suitable shop, I ended up with an almost empty phone, and two pads that wouldn’t charge it. What a faff! So now things became urgent. I wanted to phone people. I wanted to write my blog. I wanted to take pictures. I wanted to do all sorts of things for which I use my phone.

On Monday morning, I made sure to bike past Argos and pick up a new pad. When I got to the office, I got it out of the packaging, hoping to use it straight away. Unfortunately, I hadn't checked whether it was actually compatible with the plug I normally use for that. It wasn't! I am used to charging on USBA but this was USBC. Bummer.

With my phone out of business and my computer still not having dictation software, I could barely get any work done in the office. I had been writing text so far by dictating to my phone, and then transferring the text to my computer. That was not going to work today. So I hadn't been in the office very long, but my best bet was to leave it again. On the way back I biked past Halfords to pick up a plug that can do both USBA and USBC. 

In the shop they handed me the box, with the receipt taped to it. That obscured the front of it. It was only when I got home that I realised they hadn't given me a normal plug, but a car plug. That was not what I wanted! That made me quite grumpy. I considered my options. And I decided to drive to Halfords to get the proper plug. Why am I burning fuel for that? But I didn't want to make the ~1.5 hr round trip on bike. I had more things to do.

The lady at the counter was properly apologetic. And I took the opportunity to pop by a big supermarket for groceries. Soon I was home, finally able to effortlessly charge my phone. I've chucked the first pad away. I might do the same thing with the second one. It only managed to get my phone up to 10% after a full night charging! That's no use. The third pad is just doing what it should do. It might be a while before I start taking that for granted...

The full set of pads

Furry suit makes it back

Mines and caves can be quite cold; they can be wet and even windy. I really like that I have a rather thick furry suit for underneath my oversuit. It keeps me warm on all sorts of trips. And then I was so stupid as to leave it in the Yorkshire Dales.

The other ladies on the trip immediately jumped in to help. One lived locally, with her husband; he was going to be in the hut where I had left it soon. And it seems that he was working with North Wales cavers. So he could handily hand it over to them. One of these then met Sharon. 

The Snowdonia half marathon is set in Llanrwst; that is only 15 minutes away from where Sharon lives. So after the race I didn't go straight home; I popped over to her place. She wasn't in, but she had pulled it by the front door. I could go and pick it up.

I admired her amazing view! I had suspected she lived somewhere very beautiful. Now I know for sure.

The suit is back now! And I think there is a rather cold mine trip on the cards in the not too distant future. I will be ready for it my lovely snug suit! Thanks to Caver Mail! 

Snowdonia Half Marathon 2026

I like this race! The route is beautiful, and with all its ups and downs it never feels like you’re doing the same thing for a long time. 

I had first done it pre-Covid, and loved it. Then I did it two years ago, and ended up with clanging IT band problems. I still snaffled a category win, though. Last year my IT bands held, and I had another category win. I wanted another one this year. And the weather would be a lot better for it! Not as hot as last year. 

I rocked up and bumped into the organiser. He greeted me by my name. We had a little chat, and he said "see you at the presentation". I like it that I have the reputation of almost standard being presented a medal!

I got my number, had a last sandwich, drank my energy drink, took off all the layers I wouldn't be running with, and then handed in my bag at the bag drop. Time to do a warmup! And have a last convenience break.

When I trundled up the hill I saw that the marshal at the first junction was already in position. That was a bit early! We had a nice chat. His name was Wayne. Then I sneaked off for a leak, and headed back. I then tried to organise a club picture with the other Harriers. I found four! There were more but we didn’t spot them.

Phil, me, Evan, Sion, Robin

I also found Ann, who had been my rival last year. We battled it out over the entire race, but on the famous hill 11 miles in I got ahead of her, and she didn't manage to catch up on the way down or the last flat bit. I beat her by 11 seconds. She is 18 years older than me. And a toughie! 

It was time to line up at the start line, and soon we were off. I knew to take it easy on the first ascent. It’s long, and there are more to follow! I waved at Wayne and trundled on. I also passed Ann. I expected her to overtake me multiple times on the downhill. And after some 3.5 km, I passed a marshalling station, where a lady said I was currently second female. What? This is a sizeable race! And I didn’t think I was going very fast. But I liked it! 

I trundled on. Soon Llyn Geirionydd came into view. The route is flat there. I just thought of my breathing and kept a decent speed. More people along the course confirmed that I was in silver position. Lovely!

Quite unlike last year, I ignored all the water stations. I had a little bottle myself, and it wasn’t very hot. And I trundled up the hill between the lakes. All went well! Even coming to the top and heading down. The gradient is mild, so I can go quite fast and not be scared. And there had been quite some logging there, so views were wide. And the path is bendy, so you can see a bit before and behind you. No women to be seen! Not even Ann.

Running around Llyn Crafnant I went back to thinking about my breathing. All went well! I was feeling relaxed. And then I came to the sort bit of road where you meet the runners coming the other way. I saw one of the Harriers, Sion, and could shout him on. A lot of people shouted encouragements at me. Especially the women. But then the route went somewhere else and I was pretty much alone again. 

I knew I now had a flat few kilometres before the big hill. I kept my speed up! And was a bit worried that like two years ago, I was feeling my IT bands. I had intended to have paracetamol before the race, and bring straps that might help the symptoms, as I had done at the Conwy race, but had completely forgotten. Oh dear. 

I made it up the hill without stopping, and while trying to convince my body all was well. And once on top, I tried to run with big strides, as that fights symptoms too. And the downhill is always difficult. 

On the big downhill, past a cheering Wayne, I was overtaken by several people, but luckily all men. Some furtive looks behind me didn’t reveal any menacing females. The last man overtaking me said he was aiming for a time of 1:45. Ambitious! But well, if it was doable for him, right beside me, then I was clearly on course for a faster time than last year. That had felt fast!

On the flat bit I I tried long strides again. And I was trying to go fast enough to not let any unseen women get past. In spite of my knee. And then I finished, in 1:44:37. 

Finish

I saw a lady standing there already. She must have won! I congratulated her. And then another lady appeared. She must have been right behind me. Oh dear! I escaped a late disappointment. Even though bronze in a race like this is still amazing. 

I went to get my medal and T-shirt, and my bag. Then I went back to the course. I had my recovery drink, and more liquids. And I cheered on the runners. Robin, one of the Harriers in the race, and Sion’s brother, came past like Usain Bolt. Amazing! 

After a while I went back to find the Harriers that had finished. Along the way, I bumped into Paul, of NWRAC, who has assembled the North Wales team for the 10 mile inter-county championships. He was impressed with my time. Maybe he’ll invite me into his team again! And soon after, the presentation started. I was chuffed to get a silver medal! And in this race, they even give you a category win if you have already won an all-out podium position, so I came back for the 50+ medal. The bloke handing it out asked how many of their medals I had by now. Many! 

Proud as punch with my second place

I in turn cheered on the other runners. Winning woman had been some 10 minutes faster than me! And Ann had a category win. Of course. 

After the presentation we all went our separate ways. I walked back to my car over a field, and found Sion and Robin there. We had a little debrief! And then I really left. 

I still can’t quite believe I came second! In a popular commercial race! Although I have managed that before, Twice. And once in a slightly less popular commercial race. And without feeling too wrung out about it! But it was a bit of a bummer my IT band problem had returned. Later this year I want to run a half marathon PB. That is hard if your IT bands are not collaborating! 

Marshalling Moel Eilio

I think it's important to marshal once in a while. Without marshals, no races. And I would really be sad if there were no races. If I'm happy to accept the services of other people marshalling, I should be willing to do it myself as well! And Ras Moel Eilio was coming up. I had quite enjoyed marshalling that the previous year. And I volunteered again.

The previous year I had been on the ridge. It takes a while to get there, but then you get great views. This year would be different; they stationed me at a gate on the Maesgwm path. By coincidence, it was the same gate where I had marshalled the Pedol Peris two years ago. Not a spectacular location, but still beautiful. And that low down, the weather tends to be good.

Walking in

Initially, I would walk up with Steve, the marshal who would be one gate further up. He was not quite sure which gate was his, but when I got to headquarters, they had explained it to him, and he had set off. So I walked up alone. But I was quite early; I just walked the extra kilometre to his gate, and had a chat with him. That was nice!

We had radios, so you could hear where the runners were. So I had a bit of an idea when I would have to make my way back to my own gate. That worked out. And I wasn't very useful there; that gate is generally open anyway, and it is absolutely obvious where the runners have to go. But at least I could shout encouragements, and tell them how much further it was. 

With Eryri Harriers high viz vest. The stripy band is for radio; the blue one for cow bell. All kitted out! 

The first runner was Owain, an Eryri Harrier. He was quite a distance ahead! He would indeed win. Our own TNH Dyfed was, as expected, very fast as well. And a fair while after the first man I saw the first woman appear. It was Elliw, who has just won the Rhostryfan 10k three days before.

At some point, the trickle of runners became a bit less. And over the radio I could hear several marshalling stations pack up. Once the sweep has come through, you can leave! At some point I saw him approach myself. It was Marcus, a TNH veteran. When I saw him appear I threw my stuff in my bag. He invited me to run with him. I said I wasn't dressed for it. He said it didn't matter. I was mainly thinking about my running bra which I wasn't wearing. He said he wouldn't look. I said running bras are not for looks. The civilian bra I was wearing was not too bad though, so I just ran. The backpack wasn't ideal either, but doable.

Running to the finish together 

With the three of us we trundled on, with some 2 km to cover. We came past three more marshalling stations by gates. And then we reached the finish. I had a little chat with those who were there. Then Arwel asked if I would walk down with him. Of course I would. He was walking with a bit of asymmetry; he said he had done his legs in at the Rhostryfan race. Oh dear!

When we got to race HQ, the presentation wasn't far. I stayed for it. And I thought I'd have a bit more water while doing so. So I rummaged in my bag. No flask! Oh dear. I must have forgotten it at my marshalling station. That sucked! I would have to go back. I briefly entertained the thought of driving part of the way. But it was only 3 km (be it with 160 m ascent), so I dismissed that thought. And just walked up! With some jogging.

It was still there. I emptied it while making my way back down. And I was back at my car a few minutes after my parking ticket had expired, but nobody had noticed. So I could go home.

I prefer to be a little bit more useful when I am marshalling, but in spite of that, it had been a good day. And the next day, I could race again myself!

Squirrel

When I moved here, I didn’t see many squirrels in the garden. In recent months, this has increased a lot. I see a squirrel in the garden really often. And I see what they leave behind; I don't grow any peanuts, walnuts or hazelnuts, but I find lots of empty shells thereof in my garden. I suspect that is just a squirrel not tidying up after their lunch. And I find lots of little holes. They are too shallow to be mouse or rat burrows, so I figured they were probably places where the squirrel had hidden a hazelnut or something, and dug it up again.

Not my food waste! 

Little holes in the lawn

Most of these holes are in the lawn. But some of them are in flower pots. One of the flowers I had bought for the front of the house is looking miserable. The soil it was in had been very disturbed. The pepper plant had also had a treatment. That is a bit more unfortunate.

Ravished plant

One day I was outside, and I heard a strange noise. I wondered what it was, and my surprise, it was a squirrel running around on the wall of Neuadd Ogwen, shouting at a cat (not mine!) in my garden. It looked like the squirrel wanted to chase it away. It even worked.

That looked very territorial, so that made me believe that it is not that I just see lots of squirrels in my garden; it is probably just one squirrel I see very often.

Notice the squirrel on the gate keep an eye on the cat

 

I have later also spotted a squirrel (the squirrel?) shouting at my cat who was just lounging in the garden. I really think the squirrel is territorial! In the end, the cat got tired of the noise, and indeed went inside, mewing plaintively. 1-0 for the squirrel. 

I think someone is feeding this squirrel somewhere. Where else would you get so many unshelled hazelnuts, walnuts and peanuts from? I struggle to imagine that people are just trying to enjoy these outside, only to have them stolen by an adventurous squirrel. And then this squirrel takes them to my garden, hides some, and eats others. Well, they are welcome! But don't expect me to accept your territorial claim over that of the cat. And I have put protection around some of my plants. Let's see if we can establish an equilibrium here…

Squirrel protection 

Written dissertations ready for marking

In the middle of all the hassle about the dissertation presentations, I also had to look after the dissertations themselves. This is again a case of making sure 45 members of staff know what to do and how to do it. Ideally, they not only know it, but also do it. It is a bit of a case of cat herding. 

I made sure I assigned a second marker to every dissertation, and that the online forms were ready where the first and second markers upload their marks and feedback. And I sent all the instructions on how to go about it to all academic staff.

It wasn’t even that much work! That was great. But there might be a bit more work involved in checking everyone is indeed doing what they should do. If they are not, not only might we get in trouble with the students, but also, the external examiners might moan at us again. They really want all the students receiving feedback in the same way. It's not so easy to make 45 stubborn strong-willed people do the same thing. But all the external examiners look at this module. It is heavily scrutinised! The students only get to see their own marks and feedback, so they might not realise if they get their feedback in a different format from their mates, but the externals certainly will. 

But with that all sorted, the big thing now is actually doing the marking. I won't get to it right away! First I want to do the first year essays. The second year essays were also submitted before the dissertations, so I might do these first too. Before I even get to the dissertations, the exams may well have come in. That's life at the end of the semester! Marking-tastic. Wish me some well-written texts! 

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!