Nyth y Gigfran mine

When you drive into Blaenau Ffestiniog, you see a very steep incline apparently going nowhere. It puzzles many people! The trick seems to be that back in the days, there was a wood continuation of the incline, and that lead to the entrance of Nyth y Gigfran mine. That wood has long gone. And there isn't much underground, but the views from the entrances are lovely. So when it was forecast to be a lovely Thursday Night we decided to go there! And what a good idea it was.

We went up the Cwmorthin spoil heaps we walk past so often. I had only been up there once before! And back then the weather had been quite different. I saw the view like I never had.

Llyn Cwmorthin from above

Pondering the way on near the open works

We walked to the crest of the hill and then around. We knew it mattered where we would come out; the side of the hill where the mine is is very steep and if you come out too high or too low you struggle to get to the desired level without falling off. But we got to a drum house. It was not on the incline so it was probably associated with the top of the wood continuation! Time to pack away the sunglasses, and get out the hardhats and lights. There were entrances on and near this level!

I walked to the entrance on the same level, and saw it was a vertical drop. Bad idea! But we had seen a level a few meters higher too. I climbed up to it and had a look. It was wet! And I wasn't wearing wellies. I decided to cal Ed who was. I was resigned to getting wet feet at some point, but right at the beginning when I didn't know if it was worth it and when we had a wellie-clad man available was a bit more commitment than I felt like. Ed made his way up and I went down. The others were dropping a level to a promising-looking ledge and I followed.

Finding our way along the slope

On the ledge we saw a few more entrances but they were also wet. And from a convenient ledge we saw a fence. We figured that would be the look-out point of the mine tours that had been happening in the eighties. David said he'd have a look. I thought that was a good idea. I left my bag and followed. That was a mistake! As clearly there was a level there (where else would the people come from who would admire the view?) so I should have had my hat and light with me. But David said I could just see by the light of his light. We started like that but he had a torch with him and I borrowed that. We walked all the way to where it came out in daylight on the other side. It opened up into the open quarry. We looked a bit and went back. The quarry is off-limits!

On the way back we checked all side passages. These were not extensive. We also bumped into Jason who was coming the other way. When we came out the others went in too. We went and checked the other levels we had seen. We had rather wet feet by now anyway! And not much to lose. Then we sat down to wait for the others and had a sandwich. We had an amazing view on Blaenau and it was quite pleasant!

Impressive chains in a chamber in the Oakeley level 

After a while the others showed up. Except Jason! Where had he gone to? We waited a bit longer. Just when Ed wanted to go and investigate he appeared. Good! We had a bit more of a chat but the midges were coming out so we set off on the way back. Along the way Jason and Ed did the last levels but they caught up. And we went a different way back. We just walked along the contour lines and ended up at the Cwmorthin spoil heaps. And there is a path that cuts across them, back to the main path! We followed it. 

The men had threatened to go get a kebab afterwards. I don't want a kebab. I just want to go home! But this time I had decided to just suffer the kebab so I could share a ride with David. That saves 1.5 hrs driving in a car! That's worth something. All men ordered food; all kebabs except for David who had a pizza. He offered me a slice, and I accepted, which of course resulted in a lot of hooting and whatnot from the men. Another reason I don't like this sort of thing! They make such a show of me either eating things or not eating things. Mind your own business! But then we could go home. And altogether it had been a good trip. I'd been looking at that incline (not actually in the pictures) for years and now I know what it leads to!

Bread is getting better

My first loaf was a bit lumpy. The second was a bit better! By the time I made the third I had bought measuring spoons. I had been using my own teaspoons and tablespoons but these are of rather arbitrary size. Having more precise measurements helps! And I'm still using the unsuitable flour but in spite of that, practice is making perfect! I have also been doing experimentation with additions like wheat grains, sunflower seeds, and chopped walnuts. And that's only the start! I'm enjoying this!

This actually looks like bread!

Climbing after months!

I don't think I'd climbed since October. Term was hard! But it's over now. And my visits there and other visits here are over too. I could climb again! And we would go to Penmaenmawr. It's a nice venue! I've been a few times (like here). Generally we only do tame routes. But the not-so-tame ones there look intimidating! and I knew that this week, Glyn was away, so there would be nobody pushing the boundary. Oh well! I hadn't slept well so was a bit tired and not quite in the mood to push myself to the edge anyway. I was certainly not going to lead one of these!

I met up with the others at parc Menai; we try to limit with how many cars we travel. It was a lovely day! And we walked comfortably through the beautiful landscape to the crag. And we had a look! Tony looked longingly at the 5s and 6s but we settled at the tame end after all. Eifion had suggested two climbs, and other manned them. That left Tony, me and a new bloke called Sion. We needed another route! And started eyeballing potential other routes, not hindered by actual information about them. Tony set off on something that looked OK.

He got a few anchors in and wavered. Where to go? By now he was feeling exposed, and he couldn't see the top of the route. Did he have enough quickdraws? He pootled and equivocated and then came off again. And drew down the rope. He thought that with the rope only in one anchor wasn't safe. Now what? And in the meantime it had also gone from sunny to cloudy and windy. I made sure to put on a jacket! And I figured the difficult routes were off; if Tony was so spooked already nobody would be leading 5cs tonight...

We saw that there was one route in a series of three (or four) was rigged. We could climb up that route and rig the next one from there. And then climb it! So we did. Then some really easy routes were free. We did them too. And stripped them. Then we could do the route we had rigged, and the one next to that. One of them had a difficult start! So there still was some challenge. Apart from staying warm. At least there were no midges in these conditions!

When all was stripped we quickly packed up and left. Back to the warm cars! And I have broken my long spell of non-climbing!

Little puppet people on the crag

Two people on the row of three or four routes

Teach physical oceanography in Welsh

I've spent five years learning Welsh, heavily subsidised by the university. And what has the university got out of it? So far not much! I've talked Welsh to some Welsh-speaking families on Open Days, and pointed out to them that there were financial rewards to doing some of your education in Welsh. But did any of these then yield a student to Bangor University? I have no idea! So maybe the impact so far has been zero.

Then I got an email from Stella, the lady whose job it is to lure Welsh-speaking prospective students to SOS. A Welsh-speaking school would visit our lab. Was I willing and able to help out? I said yes! Even though it's a bit scary. 

The school visit would be Monday. The week before I mailed Stella. What was the idea? What would we do? I like to be prepared for such things. I might need to look up some terminology! But Stella was away. Luckily Dei, our Welsh academic, was around, and on Friday afternoon we went through the experiments we have. In Welsh, of course. All experiments were physical oceanography! With wave speeds and density contrasts and whatnot. There even was one with fluorescence and microplastics but we left that. I don't think even Dei had ever done it! 

That weekend I made a cheat sheet. I wrote down how all experiments worked as it is amazing how fast you can forget such things. And I made a vocabulary list. Lots of terms I don't use every day! Density contrast, Equator, evaporation, etc etc. Useful stuff! And then it was Monday. 

I made sure to get in early and bumped into Dei. He was already doing more setting up! No sign of Stella. Our Welsh-speaking student, Dan, was there. (I think we have two!) And there was work to do: we use water tanks for the experiments, and Dei had started filling them. A bit too vigorously! One was overflowing and flooding the lab. Oh dear. Luckily I know a place where the cleaners keep their stuff. I nicked a mop and set to work. While I was doing that we distributed the experiments. Dan got salinity-driven circulation; I got temperature-driven circulation; Dei got wave speed. 

While I was still mopping Stella showed up. She would just scamper around a bit. I asked her to assist me the first time I would do my demo. It would be nice to have back-up for the first run! Doing this sort of stuff when you are a bit uncomfortable with the age group to which you do it, in a language you're still far from fluent in, is a bit trying. And she was OK with that. 

I checked my cheat sheet one last time and then the guests arrived. Time to perform!

Stella and Dei did the welcome and told the pupils what we would be doing, and subdivided them into three groups. And one group was mine! 

I subdivided them further; I had five tanks, and about 15 pupils, so three a tank. I had them use ice and food dye and warm water to create some temperature-driven circulation. And we related that to what happens in the actual ocean, including linking it to biological processes such as coral bleaching. Stella butted in from time to time. I think it was OK! And then time was up. The pupils tidied up. That's always interesting; firstly, it's hard to empty the tank without splashing water everywhere. That works well with teenagers! And we had been working with food dye, while the school uniforms featured a white shirt. Oh dear! But they seemed to have an uncanny talent for keeping their clothes clean...

The second round I did on my own. And I was too fast! I had time to spare. How to keep 15 teenagers entertained? Not easy! But then we had a break. I got ready for the third round, got me a coffee and listened to Stella doing a presentation about SOS. 

Then it was time for the third round. This time I was prepared for being done too soon! We had a spare experiment set up and I added that. And it worked! Then we had to tidy up again. Stella and Dei rounded off the day with thanks and goodbyes and then they were gone. I survived my first ever outreach event in Welsh! And I have a chance again as the next school was booked for only two weeks later! 

(ps I was so focussed on getting through the day I took no pictures at all!)

Family history on both sides

Years ago my dad wrote a document about how our surname came to the Netherlands. And that involved family history, of course. There are only few leaves on the Dutch branch of the family tree and my dad is the oldest, so he is in a good position to document such knowledge (it was his dad who had come tot he Netherlands) before it is lost. But one thing lead to another and before you know it, he had greatly extended the text, one of my cousins had dug out illustrations from who knows what archives, and my uncles had also pitched in. And the whole had become a book! Very interesting. For descendants like me. I had intended to blog about it at the time but it must have been a busy time and I never got around to it.

My paternal grandparents

Then a distant cousin on my mother's side, whom I had never heard of, had a book published that was half novel (with imaginary protagonist) and half family history on my mother's side. He had gone back a long time! All the way back to the 17th century.

My mother had seen the book and she knew the cousin. And she was not unreservedly positive! She had some not-necessarily-positive memories of that branch of the family, and she also had spotted inaccuracies. But I was intrigued anyway. I know very little of the family history on that side! And what happens with distant ancestors in, say, 1689 is of only tangential interest, but this also deals with my maternal grandfather who I never knew. And it had pictures! Of my granddad and great-grandparents (among many other things, of course). And the book mentioned events my mother was still grateful for; my granddad and his siblings had become orphans quite young, and a relatively well-off other branch of the family had stepped in to give that batch of kids a future. They did things such as pay for education, or buying small businesses for the youngsters so they could fend for themselves. And that is indeed a beautiful act!

My maternal grandfather and his siblings (I don't know which one he is!) as children

When I visited my mum she had the book lying there. I read it in a jiffy! And then she let me take it home. One of my sisters is interested too and she'll be visiting anyway. So then she can have a look too! I think it's cool to have both books. One is but a small episode in a long, long story. And now I know a bit more of what happened before!

More pictures still!

I had been spending a lot of time on choosing pictures to print, having them printed, and framing them. I had done round after round after round! And now I had done a round big enough to finally fill the staircase. So far that had been empty and dull! But not much longer. I had dedicated two big frames for the corners, but after I had actually put them up (with help from the neighbour’s ladders) I deemed that set-up too busy. So I took them down again and put smaller ones in! And I put a picture of a train on the wall in the middle because we used to have a poster of a big intimidating train on the wall of the stairs to the attic in my parental house. At least, that’s how I remember it. And now I’ll nod to that memory!

When I was done with the high bit I could do the easy part. Hang up pictures at eye height (my eyes, anyway) above the stairs up. It looks cool now! And I can still do another round as I also have stairs down. These can do with some pictures too! 

Ready to be hung!

Top of the staircase: dull!

First attempt: too busy

Better?

Pictures all the way down!

And seen from below

Newly inspired in the garden

When I had my mother on the phone before she would visit me she warned me I should have enough to do in the garden for her visit. I told her not to worry! There really is a lot to do. But I made sure not to go weeding just before she came. And when she came, she weeded like the clappers. And we planted new plants. And she advised me on other changes. And when she left, I was still extra motivated to do things with the garden.

I had several plans. One was to find plants for the raised bed next to the river. One was to make a small bed in which I had planted only two types of plant a bit more interesting. And I wanted to prune a rose bush underneath the crab apple tree. And I wanted to dig out almost the entire bed that used to have another rose bush (and poppies) in. And I wanted to get rid of a big pile of soil under plastic that had been colonised by ferns. And I wanted to do a bit of adding and reconfiguring to the central raised bed. And I had already done some on the day my mother left (it was a bank holiday): I had tentatively started on the pile with the ferns but it was difficult and hard work. And I had pruned back the rose bush in the same way as the other one: pruning until I figured it should go altogether. It was entwined with a holly tree and I figured that should go too: it was standing underneath the crab apple tree so could never properly grow up.

In the next weekend I continued my efforts. I went to the garden centre and bought more plants. And then I set to work! I moved two plants from the boring bed to the central bed, and put a contrasting plant in its place. I attacked the rose and the holly. It was hard work but I got rid of them! Then I picked a different bush to replace it. And I added some lady's mantle my mother had found. The shrub could grow biggish and the lady's mantle could cover the ground. I shuffled stuff around in the central bed. Then I also managed to get rid of the first two clumps of fern. Still quite a lot to go! And I stuffed everything I had removed in the designated bin. Success! The garden is looking better every time. There still is a lot more to do; I still have entire beds I haven't started on but I don't want to overdo it. One at a time! I now already have five beds that either only have in them what I put there, or are dominated by what I put there, and that's good going in my book. Let's now see if all my plants like where they are. And then the next step is continuing on the bed that had the rose bush and now only has poppies, and the fern clump!

The reduced-to-stumps rose and the holly, before they were uprooted

The dull bed, now less dull with a new plant in the middle!

A plant that now adorns the riverside bed

The shrub now occupying the bed vacated by rose and holly

A start has been made on removing the soil heap and its ferns

The central bed; now still on the dull side but I hope it will all grow together, like the succulents bed has already done

Said succulents bed, a lot more inhabited now than it was at the start (and I've even removed clumps of the fast-growing species)