Peaks, Pints and Pub Food - Part Two
The Castle of Brecon Hotel was our treat for the next two nights, and it’s a lovely place. A slightly elevated position means it has great views over the valley and out to Pen Y Fan and it’s relaxed but beautifully done out to reflect its Norman roots. Our room was ready slightly early so we went up and unpacked our bags and then headed to the lounge bar for a pint - Guinness for H and a local dark fruit cider for me. It was busy so we asked if we could take a sofa opposite another young couple who H recognised from Pen Y Fan earlier, so we said hello and chatted a bit about the climb and then travelling in general. She was German and he American and they seem to love the UK so we shared tips for great places to go. They seemed pretty cool and so I took my chance and dropped in the question that puts everyone on the spot - so who do you think is the younger of the two of us? After some comedy shock and laughter she said she thought I was a couple of years younger, so I’m taking that as a win. She then made me guess in return and, although it was hard to tell, she was also four years older than her husband. Shout out to all older women in couples!
At 6 o’clock we walked into Brecon town to find dinner and ended up at a pub which did decent pub grub and a nice selection of desserts. There was a Baileys chocolate cheesecake and we both ordered a slice. But the waitress came back and said there was only one slice left, so I changed to sticky toffee pudding with custard, which gave us the chance to try something H had decided would be amazing - cheesecake with custard. H swore it was indeed amazing so, although sceptical, I did try it and, do you know what - it was pretty blooming good! Try it sometime - you might be a convert too… We stopped for a drink at a Conservative club H had been to before, where there was a pool tournament on and a grumpy bar lady and curry by ‘one of the country’s best chefs’ (although served out of a plastic bag so we did wonder.) And then we were going to try one more place that had advertised live music, but it was so quiet we ended up in a working men’s club just round the corner from the hotel. There was a serious game of pub quoits going on, followed by dance hits from 1996/97 on the big TV screen - my party era and a musical genre I still get lost in, to H's great disappointment. I was trying not to make eye contact with the poor guy in the corner who looked to be silently asking the universe some really deep and essential questions but we must have intimidated him because he got up and took his pint to the opposite corner of the club as far away as he could get from us… until a more intimidating group of four sat by him and he brought his pint back over our way. We had a very restful night in the hotel, albeit with the window wide open to cool the room down. It’s nice having the same requirements for comfort.
H had decided that we'd done enough walking for one weekend, thankfully, so he took me for a drive around the reservoirs of Elan Valley. The scenery was beautiful, lush and green and the skies were stormy with sunny spells - my favourite kind. We stopped at the visitor centre that had an exhibition explaining the building of the dams and then continued on to Devil's Bridge waterfall for a short circular walk to see the three bridges, stacked one on top of the other over the years, and the fierce roiling waters of the river than ran beneath the bridges. You could see where the water had worn away the rocks into smooth, deep channels over the years. We crossed the road to the Hafod Hotel for a drink, sat outside in the cordonned off area watching the traffic navigate the sharp bends over the bridge and listening to the waterfalls beneath us.
We continued on to find more dams along the narrow, winding, remote route we had chosen. The Elan Valley reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes in the Cambrian Mountains of Mid Wales. Built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, these Victorian and mid-20th-century reservoirs provide clean drinking water to Birmingham. The estate covers 72 square miles and six dams and each dam is different. We finished off with Llyn Brianne dam and spillway, which looks like a giant waterslide. Each dam was impressive even though only one was overtopping (see the photo of H below) and the decorative pump houses are lovely.
Dinner that night was Ghurka style curry at Himalayan Herbs, and it was excellent - an interesting fusion of Chinese and Indian flavours that are unusual and delicious. Then we walked a few doors down to The Muse for live music organized by the Mid-Wales Rhythm and Blues Club. Aled Clifford was the pretty decent warm up, followed by Jack J Hutchinson and a bass guitarist called Greg, I think. Jack was great and played mostly original material including a couple of songs on a beautiful resonator guitar. It was a very small and intimate gig for about 30 people all sat at little cafe style tables for two. H bought a few raffle tickets and we walked out with a bottle of wine, although the signed album by Jack was the most coveted prize I think.
Sunday morning we had breakfast and then chilled in the room until exactly check out time at 11am, navigating a discussion on religion sparked by a news article we were watching. As we collected our things ready to leave H said he was a bit sad the weekend was almost over - I wasn't quite expecting that, but it was true as always: it had flown by, although this time it was only a week until he was up in Scotland with me again, so I was feeling surprisingly upbeat about saying goodbye. I didn’t ask what the plan was so that there was no pressure from me, but H had said maybe we could drive back via his place, so I left it in his hands to decide. We drove a circuitous route through some stunning countryside, failed to find an old hill fort but enjoyed the walk in the warm breeze, and checked out a waterfall walk but the carpark was full - maybe next time. Eventually we got to his home village and he didn't ask me to hide in the footwell or wear a balaclava! He pointed out where he grew up, and where he used to play rugby, and then we stopped at his Dad's house to collect his post. His Dad and his partner were away for the weekend, which was good because although I had met his Dad briefly, his partner still didn't know about me, although she was beginning to have her suspicions. The post was a surprise he had ordered for me, which he thought wasn't coming for another few days. And it was a lovely surprise too - he had got my favourite selfie of us so far printed out on canvas for me to put up when I got back home - so now I can see the skallywag every day and it'll make me smile every time!
Next stop was his allotment round the corner - a big plot split between veggies and storage with parking for his van. We emptied the camping stuff out of the van and then had a picnic lunch on deck chairs looking out across the valley and enjoying the quiet. Then we did some work in the warm, dry poly-tunnel as it drizzled outside and I realized that I miss the simple work of pulling weeds and harvesting the edible rewards of your hard work. We seem to work well together too, in easy companionship, so once we had dug up onions and potatoes and garlic we turned our attention to the warning light that had appeared on his van and tackled that together as well. When that was solved too H asked if I wanted a cup of tea, so I said yes expecting him to stick the kettle on in his storage unit, but instead we got in the van and drove back to his Dad's house and so, without any prior warning, now was apparently the time to meet his Dad's partner. We went down the driveway and they both said how nice it was to meet me - H's Dad maintaining the secret that he had already met me. And I guess, seeing as I already told you all that as well, that you have all been in on the secret too! I shook their hands but as soon as she had gone inside to make the tea his Dad gave me a peck on the cheek and a knowing smile, and I'm suddenly already very fond of him. I found something in that gesture that meant he was pleased that I was there - I guess he must think I'm alright, but also that I'm alright for H too, and that means a lot to me. We had a cup of tea and a lovely chat and it wasn't as scary as I expected. Now she will also have to keep the secret for a while as H has not yet told his children, and that is still feeling a bit too much for him just yet. As we left I got hugs and hopefully that means it went well - I'll have to ask H what they thought...
We had a last, rushed meal at a pub close to the airport and then H dropped me off at departures for the flight home.
By the time I was home late Sunday night H had posted some photos on Insta, including the feet pic from the top of Pen Y Fan, and so he must finally be feeling OK about soft launching our relationship to a few more people. Each of these seemingly little gestures - the photo, meeting his family and sharing my existence on his modest socials have a huge and very touching impact on me, and maybe even more so because they have obviously been carefully considered by H, because it's only a matter of time now before I'm no longer his little Scottish secret, but a more permanent and well known fixture in his life - and that is quite the feeling...
I wonder how long before he finds the little surprise I left him in return, breaking the one promise I made to myself - I'll let you know if it turns out alright...
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