Sunday 27 December 2009

get thee up into the high mountain

Christmas Day dawned with not a cloud in the sky, so I headed over to Wales and Ysgyryd Fawr, just north of Abergavenny. I was up there last year, too, but it was misty and windy then. Today it was cold but clear, although the massif of the Black Mountains, just across to the west, had a great fug of fog on top of it, and the Blorenge looked like it was wearing a hat of the same stuff.

There were other walkers, and we exchanged Merry Christmases as our paths crossed, sharing that sense of felicity in being there.

But it was a bit cold for eating lunch (a big lump of tortilla in my bag) on the top, so I drank my flask of hot chocolate and came down again.

Next stop Skenfrith, and St Bridget's church.


I love this church. The windows add gentle hues of yellow and green to the sunlight on the floor's memorial inscriptions. Restoration has touched lightly upon it. And I had the place to myself, in a sense.



11 comments:

  1. Can't see the church, there is an old car in the way.

    Caroline XXX

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very pretty, honey..... :-)

    Hugs and stuff,
    chrissie
    xxxxxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks just like an English Christmas should, blue sky and a sprinkling of snow. Lovely Pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  4. A more wholesome way to spend the day than turkey and telly! That's a nice spotty fleecy, Dru

    ReplyDelete
  5. Some hoodlum dumped it there, I should think, Caroline...

    Thanks, Chrissie!

    *cough* Wales *cough*, Anji. Though v near the border...

    It is, isn't it, Suzzy. V happy making.

    Happy new year, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy New Year Dru :-)

    Lovely pics as ever.

    Thanks for your words and your beautiful photos this year, and for your friendship :-)

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy New Year Dru
    Kind Regards
    Neil

    ReplyDelete
  8. Happy New Year Dru. Sorry about the geographical slip...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you, Jo.

    Hello, Neil! Hope all's well with you.

    I get confused in those parts quite easily, Anji, slipping easily between Monmouthshire and Herefordshire...

    Happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
  10. These are beautiful photographs. Especially the one of the Sugar Loaf which is the view from my front window. (found this site via the Newport group on Flickr - cerealpkt).

    Best,

    Susan

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello Susan! Crikey, that's a good view to have from your front window. On a good day I can see Wales from the front window, or from the rooftop when the trees have leaves on them.

    ReplyDelete