Hafod is Calling Our Name
It has been over six months since our last adventure back in November and over eight months since we had been home to Hafod!!
We call it home as that is how it feels when we arrive and receive such a warm welcome and we always leave feeling refreshed, although we wish we could stay a little longer!
For this trip we stayed on a busy Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May, there were 300 people there over the weekend, however you would never have known as there is so much space, everyone has their own little spot.
On the drive up on the Friday evening we were met with thick fog and so a slow drive up to the Hall. On arriving we were stopped in our tracks by a resident Ram, who had decided we could not pass! After a little encouragement we were let through and were met on the drive with 'yes you know were you are going and what you are doing!'
Finding our own little place on the field in front of the house we set up our tent, home for the next four nights.
It was late once we had settled so we had some tea and bedded down for the night
Saturday morning was misty and cool so we decided to stay around camp and had a short walk up the lane to collect some wood. It was a lovely time of year as there were lots of lambs about who were enjoying playing in the fields, bounding through the longer grass and running about bleating for their mums.
It had started to warm up a bit and all the bugs and butterflies starting coming out. We found a tiny beetle who had a little ride on a stick and little man had a butterfly land on his shoe, which he was made up with.
The farmers were moving all the sheep around to different fields, a task that took all morning! We saw the dogs at work moving the sheep to each field with such precision.
Heading back up to camp, Pete found a big stick which he wanted to use to make a bow, always a must on our adventures. Back at site the afternoon was spent relaxing and whittling. The bow was made and tested with various arrows and Pete was quite proud of his skills!
For tea we had a nice camp stew followed by toasted marshmallows on our little camp fire. We were treated to a wonderful sunset across the hills which shows off the stunning scenery and tranquality of being there.
Thunder and Lightning, very very frightening! (Not really)
Sunday morning and we are woken to an approaching thunderstorm! It rumbled around the hills that surround Hafod and got louder and louder until it was upon us. It is great having the tarp on this tent as we can have the front door open, although on this occasion we should have left it closed as it was raining the heaviest we had ever seen it!
Three hours past and the storm started to move on, unusually this meant another day around camp for us as there was still rain and another storm predicted, being so remote we didn't want to be getting stuck out anywhere as there is a lot of moorland and very little in the way of paths or phone signal.
We decided to treat ourselves to lunch from the snack van. We can recommend here for a quick bite to eat with burgers, hot dogs and chips along with hot & cold drinks, with more planned throughout summer.
The children were having lots of fun playing out for as long as possible in between showers and downpours and then running for cover in the tents! It was nice for little man to be there when other children as we are normally the only family camping. He made lots of different friends over the three days and enjoyed playing different and imaginative games with them, no pads or computer games involved!
As we know what the weather can be like, we decided to invest in some camp games that can be packed away small and something a little different. I had asked a friend, who has her own crafty company, to crochet us some games. We went with naughts and crosses and a magnetic fishing game for the rainy day times.
These were a hit with little man and he also enjoyed showing them to his new friends. We will write a separate post about these games with information about where you can buy your own, and ideas we have for future ones.
After dodging rain for most of the day it started to clear up and we could finally see some blue skies! We decided to take a little wander down the back of the site to stretch our legs, this short route takes you down to the pond and bottom camping fields. The pond was filled with thousands of tadpoles and we thought it will be interesting once they have all hatched and there are frogs hopping about all over!
We also caught a glimpse of a Damselfly with such pretty and vibrant colour.
Monday - Finally a good day for a walk!
We set off early so that we could get the best of the day, taking on Alwen again as it has such nice views around it and lots of woodland walks, little man was hoping to spot some tadpoles in the small puddles around the paths.
We headed down towards the reservoir and past lots of spiders webs shining with the dew in the morning sun.
The reservoir path is connected at each end by a bridge, the first a long wooden one that is used by both people and the local sheep!
Crossing over there is a climb on the other side up the hill, this is the only climb on the whole route and although we walk the 'wrong' way around it is nice to have it first thing rather than when you have trekked around for most of the day! It is here that you start to appreciate the tranquility and picturesque nature of the walk as there is no sound of traffic and little in the way of other people who you pass on the trail.
After reaching the top of the hill we stop for a quick snack and sit down. This is a chance to admire the view looking out towards the hills in the distance and across the open moorlands, if you are lucky you may be able to spot a grouse that roams among the long grasses.
Continuing on the path it winds down among the trees where you can grab some cool shade for a while. The path takes you over little streams that lead to the reservoir and because of the rains on the day before they were flowing quite well and had small waterfalls to admire.
Looking around into the woods on the path, your imagination can run away with you, creating stories of woodland creatures that could be roaming around!
I was particularly fond of this small log that had fallen over a stream, creating what looks like a fairy bridge. This would be a wonderful place to come to gain ideas for a story!
The trail is easy to follow as it is just one path with signs pointing you in the right direction when you come to the forest roads (there is rarely any traffic and so is a safe route if you have children)
There are lots of view points along the way where you can stop for a rest and take in the scenery and peaceful environment.
Carrying on you come to the bridge named by little man as 'Dragons Bridge', this is how it will be affectionately known forever more.
Crossing over, it began to feel rather hot in the sun, so on the other side we found a shaded spot for lunch which overlooked the reservoir. Here we had a little visitor join us!
There are lots of butterflies around here, on the first part of the walk they are all white ones and further along they are white with orange tips on their wings. Little man found his tadpoles in lots of different puddles and small ponds, he was made up but disappointed as there were no frogs yet!
Continuing on, Pete found a tree that he liked the shape of, it had grown at the side of an old property with a lot of other trees around it that had been felled as part of the forestry management programme.
Being such a warm day we were drinking more and having to find more shaded spots for breaks. The path leads away from the reservoir for a short time and around an inlet. We carried on and I mentioned to Pete that I didn't recognise parts of this trail, but we remembered passing an area where the trees had been felled, so we continued on in search of it.
There was a long walk up a hill where we could see the shade of the tress at the top and decided we would stop for something to drink and a cool down.
There was a little stream that ran beside the path so little man and Daddy decided to build a little dam and play in the cool water.
After little man completed his dam, he tried it out as a bridge!
After a nice rest and cool down we continued on up the road where the trees started to clear and out to our left was moorland, I looked at Pete and said this is definatley wrong, we never passed this last time!
He agreed and so we turned around and headed back down 3/4 mile that we had walked up. When we got back to the bottom we turned right, this looked more like it as it was running alongside the reservoir. We followed the path up the hill and Pete went out ahead as we were starting to get low on water and little man was getting tired. At the top of the hill Pete stopped and called me up, he said 'look over there, aren't they the diggers from by the camp site?' Looking over, it dawned on me that we taken a wrong turn yet again however not quite sure how as there was no other path!
This pretty much summed up how we all felt at this point:
Back down the path we went at a quicker pace and keeping to the shade as much as possible as we knew how much further we still had to go with so little water left between us.
Back at the bottom Pete found the route we should have taken and we couldn't understand how we had missed it as it was sign posted just like all of the other turns!
(We even knew the turn was here as it was just after where we sit on the old log pile, I blame it on the heat!)
We like this path through the pine trees as it winds back down towards the reservoir and finally in the right direction.
Back on the right track we quicken our pace as we don't want to be out in the heat longer than necessary and know that towards the end of the walk there is a lovely shaded area to walk through that gets a lot of shade and remains amazingly cool all day.
The final push and we were heading back towards the camp which felt like the longest part of the walk, little man had done so well walking the whole way. We arrived back and grabbed some cold water, such a relief after 12.6 miles!
After a short rest little man was off playing with a new friend, I needed a little longer! Pete was busy showing one of little mans new friends how to use the bow whilst little man was taking their dog for a walk around the site. He is a big animal lover and wants to get a dog, we have said another couple of years and we will think about it, to be honest we would love one now but don't have the time to give that is needed.
Out on our walk, Pete had found a nice piece of wood that he wanted to use to practice carving his own bow, one that he did not allow the kids to use. The video of him testing it at home shows that it is not for children!
After tea I took our remaining fire wood up to the little girls mum were they invited me to sit a while. It was nice to sit and chat and find others experiences of camping with little ones. The kids were having loads of fun with the bows and waging war on Daddy! We said our good nights and settled the kids down, then set about packing some of out equipment away as our adventure was drawing to a close.
The next morning was leisurely as we weren't leaving until 11am, this left time to relax and take in the surroundings one last time. I had been watching a bird for the past few days that had been hopping into a tree that was close by. I managed to get some pictures and when I returned home found out it was called a Nuthatch.
Once again a fantastic adventure at Hafod, it never fails to bring joy and smiles and it made a change being there with others, especially for little man as he lots of friends to play with.
We will be back but want to try another spot to camp in and one of the newly built camping pods for a change of scenery.
Thanks once again to Sue and her family who go out of their way to ensure that everyone is okay and has everything that they need, nothing it too much trouble for them.
Already missing being here and wish we could come more often to just relax and chill out in the wonderful peaceful countryside
Until our next adventure......
