The last few days we have been off work, yes again but don’t forget we worked between the last days off for eight days. And now it’s back to work tomorrow for another eight days.

This few days we planned to go away because it was Nikki’s big birthday although she would not own up to it and insisted that everyone had got it wrong by ten years. It was also our ten year anniversary, apparently that’s Tin. The camper also needed a run out.

We could not decide what to do or where to go. There was a campsite we wanted to go to but by the time we made up our minds it was fully booked so we needed another plan. I tried once more and the dates we wanted came up, well almost we could only get the Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday so I hit the book button and it was done.

Red kite touring park was the site we were heading for at Llanidloes in mid Wales. An adults only site with great views and only a short walk into town for a drink or two and a meal. We arrived at the site in glorious sunshine and pitched up with great views down the valley.

The next day we walked into town which was about twenty minutes to see if we could book somewhere for a meal for Nikki’s birthday. Things weren’t looking good, all the pubs were closed Monday and Tuesdays and the ones that were open were not doing food. All the shops were closed or most of them. That was good news as Nikki could not go in them. Nikki’s birthday was on Wednesday the day before we set off back to base so we really didn’t want to go out then. We wanted to go out on the Tuesday. Eventually we found a pub that was open all day and did food. The Red Lion had good reviews so that’s where we ended up on the Wednesday evening. And a good time was had.

Back to our walk into town with all the closed shops. In the centre of town is an old market hall which is a loverly old building built in the early 17th century. Must have been the hub of activity in those days.

The campsite has some nice walks from it around some fishing lakes and up in the woods. I got up early one day and went for a walk around and found a load of dew covered cobwebs glistening in the morning sun and the fishing lake also looked so calm.

About four miles from the campsite is Clynedog dam and reservoir and some old building left over from the lead mines. Nikki did not fancy a long walk so I went out on my bike to see the old lead mining buildings and the dam. Good excuse to get out on my bike and stretch my legs.

The lake surface covers an area of 615 acres about the size of 230 football pitches, and is 216 ft deep at its maximum depth. The dam itself is very impressive also.

The old buildings left over from the lead mining days are at the bottom of the dam. They closed in 1884. The remains are of crushing houses, roasting ovens, not the Sunday roast versions, ore bins, smithy, and the mines managers house/ office. Must have been hard work and all that lead getting in your lungs and on your skin would have been bad.

That was our few days away which we really enjoyed. The weather was fantastic so we had a BBQ and chilled in the sun while having a nice cool drink, beer for me and wine for Nikki. We had a laugh in the pub as we always do and now we are back and I got out on my bike for a short ride. Back to work tomorrow.