Walking in Wales

Now, don't get me wrong,walking is fine, but I like to take the easy ones, driving to a village or town and then discovering its secrets on foot, which is what I've been doing over the last couple of weeks in South Wales.

Abergavenny, the gateway to Wales and the Brecon Beacons, a staging post for those enthusiastic walkers, hikers and campers, ticks all the boxes for me! Ok, so the castle isn't quite up to the standard of Raglan, Caerphilly or Pembroke (these are the ones I've visited - I'll talk about Caernarvon later in the year after I've been there), but what's left is steeped in history and has lovely views over the River Usk. The museum inside the 19th century keep is also quite interesting, telling the history of Abergavenny from pre-historic times to the present day.

A little way up from the castle is a fantastic little music shop, Abergavenny Music, stocking CDs of all types of music, a small selection of sheet music, and a handful of music-related gifts. Lots of useful adverts for music teachers and local perfomances, as well as free catalogues from the various record labels. Unfortunately, they are not taking web orders at the moment, but keep checking back.

There seems to be something going on in the market hall every day: a general market (Tuesdays); an antiques and flea market (Wednesdays); a craft market (Thursdays). Attached to the side of the market hall is the Borough Theatre, showing a variety of local and national acts. The little side street that runs at right angles to the market hall houses a variety of shops in an interesting setting. Carry on down this road and you get to the cattle market.

Carry on up the main street and just off it, on Flannel Street, you will see a little butcher, H J Edwards, on the left who sells all sorts of things including Welsh blue Caerphilly cheese - delicious! Down at the far end Frogmore Street you'll find W M Nicholls, which used to be a "country" store selling waterproof jackets, wellies, woolly jumpers etc., but which now seems to sell trendy glassware and designer clothes (like Joules from Market Harborough), as well as having a lovely cafe with glass roof at the back of the shop. Of course, despite the individual retailers, Abergavenny has its fair share of regular high street stores - Waterstones, Woolworths, Boots, Smiths, Dorothy Perkins, Iceland etc..

I could wax lyrical about this small market town for hours, but real life beckons! Drop by again soon and read about some of the other Welsh towns and villages I've visited recently!