the best pubs, restaurants, hotels and places to visit
The village of Sigginstone (or Sigingstone) near Cowbridge is famous for two things – the Victoria Inn pub and the Llandow Plane Crash.
On Sunday March 12th 1950 an Avro Tudor V was returning from Dublin with 78 rugby supporters on board. The previous day Wales had won the coverted Triple Crown in Belfast. 75 passengers and all 5 crew were killed.
The light was pretty amazing in Cardiff Bay today especially at sunset. I wandered out in front of the Senydd and took a few shots of the sky and the setting sun.
The clouds had some pretty amazing shapes and the St David’s Hotel and the surrounding apartment blocks looked great in silhouette.
We had a quick run down to Llantwit Major beach last night. It was probably one of the best evenings that we have had for quite a while, and the evening light was amazing.
The beach was quite quiet which was surprising considering that it was the start of the holiday weekend. There were a 3 or 4 camper vans parked up in the valley leading to the beach, and just a few cars and that was it.
Yesterday we visited Ogmore Castle. The castle dates from about 1116. It’s pretty unusual as it is low-lying and right next to the river Ogmore. There is a moat that apparently used to fill at high tide (the River Ogmore is tidal here). Not much remains of the castle now but it’s still worth a visit.
We went a bit further afield today to the Newbridge Inn in Tredunnock, near Usk (map). The Newbridge Inn is a pub / restaurant and hotel owned by Chris Evans of Radio and TV fame. The head-chef is Iain Sampson. We had booked for lunch, but there wasn’t any need as it was very quiet. It’s in an ideal location right next to a wonderful bridge over the River Usk.
Somewhere a bit different today – a visit to a Neolithic burial chamber right in the middle of the Vale of Glamorgan. I’ve always seen the signs to Tinkinswood but have never visited. It’s pretty amazing and compliments the nearby St Lythan’s Dolmen – you can visit both in a couple of hours if you wish. No need to travel to Orkney to see some really impressive Neolithic archeology.
The burial chamber is big and dates from around 4,000BC. You wonder how they managed to get the 40 ton capstone on top.