Horizontal Rain
In my earlier blog, Windy Anglesey I referred to our house hunting day when the wind and rain conspired to put me off moving to Anglesey. Well, yesterday was another day just like it. We experienced a lighting circuit fuse and needed a special fuse for the consumer unit. The local supplier in Amlwch was closed for the half day so we had to make the journey over to a company based in Rhostrehwfa, near Llangefni.
As we were in Amlwch it was necessary to take the road to Llanerchymedd, running past Parys Mountain, the site of Anglesey's former boom industry of the 19th century. Climbing the hill I could see across to Llyn Alaw, the huge reservoir that supplies so much of the local water. I have to say that it was best described as a very bleak view. The whole feel of the weather was doom and gloom. There seemed nothing to look forward to as we saw the heavy clouds scudding along in the direction dictated by the wind.
When you look upwards it is not uncommon to see occasional Hawk jet trainers zooming along as the young pilots are trained to fly fast jets. There were none to see yesterday. The only birds seemed to be seabirds which are plentiful here. But the inland birds seemed conspicuous by their absence. The previous Friday, we had taken my mother in law to Church Bay to sample the seafood at the Lobster Pot Restaurant. Driving there in darkness had been an experience because there are just no street lights on our narrow country lanes! It seemed just as desolate a landscape yesterday in daylight hours.
Having bought our fuses, bulbs etc, we returned home. This time we drove first to Maenaddwyn via Tregaian and Capel Coch. It is quite a good fast drive, even taking into consideration our many speed restrictions around the island. At Maenaddwyn we crossed the Benllech road and continued up past two small lakes as we passed the foot of Mynydd Bodafon (Bodafon Mountain). This really did take me back to that day when I experienced the horizontal rain and asked myself why I wanted to come and live here. The reason is that it was in just that place that I stood and encountered the rain flying at me.
When you drive over Mynydd Bodafon in poor weather it always seems bleak and uninviting. Yet, on a sunny day, it is absolutely charming. On the larger lake all I saw were three coots swimming around, looking for food beneath the surface. The other birds must have been sheltering from the wind and rain.
I remember that, after the snow of last winter, I took my wife up to Mynydd Bodafon to take some photographs of the scenery covered in snow. I drove up the road with the tyres very firmly remaining in the tracks left by earlier traffic. When I pulled over into the snow by the roadside to get some shots my wife got very worried that the car would get stuck. It was only a few inches of snow but she reacted as if I had driven into a snowdrift! I did take some lovely photographs that day and one of them was borrowed by Pauline for an oil painting. She painted a wonderful scene and the man at the gallery where she had it framed wanted her to leave it to be sold! It now graces our hallway and we are pleased to see it every day.
To return to yesterday, the light was failing rapidly as we drove back home over the "mountain" which is only about 700 feet above sea level. We got home and I installed the cartridge fuse and the kitchen lights came on again. All was well.
As we were in Amlwch it was necessary to take the road to Llanerchymedd, running past Parys Mountain, the site of Anglesey's former boom industry of the 19th century. Climbing the hill I could see across to Llyn Alaw, the huge reservoir that supplies so much of the local water. I have to say that it was best described as a very bleak view. The whole feel of the weather was doom and gloom. There seemed nothing to look forward to as we saw the heavy clouds scudding along in the direction dictated by the wind.
When you look upwards it is not uncommon to see occasional Hawk jet trainers zooming along as the young pilots are trained to fly fast jets. There were none to see yesterday. The only birds seemed to be seabirds which are plentiful here. But the inland birds seemed conspicuous by their absence. The previous Friday, we had taken my mother in law to Church Bay to sample the seafood at the Lobster Pot Restaurant. Driving there in darkness had been an experience because there are just no street lights on our narrow country lanes! It seemed just as desolate a landscape yesterday in daylight hours.
Having bought our fuses, bulbs etc, we returned home. This time we drove first to Maenaddwyn via Tregaian and Capel Coch. It is quite a good fast drive, even taking into consideration our many speed restrictions around the island. At Maenaddwyn we crossed the Benllech road and continued up past two small lakes as we passed the foot of Mynydd Bodafon (Bodafon Mountain). This really did take me back to that day when I experienced the horizontal rain and asked myself why I wanted to come and live here. The reason is that it was in just that place that I stood and encountered the rain flying at me.
When you drive over Mynydd Bodafon in poor weather it always seems bleak and uninviting. Yet, on a sunny day, it is absolutely charming. On the larger lake all I saw were three coots swimming around, looking for food beneath the surface. The other birds must have been sheltering from the wind and rain.
I remember that, after the snow of last winter, I took my wife up to Mynydd Bodafon to take some photographs of the scenery covered in snow. I drove up the road with the tyres very firmly remaining in the tracks left by earlier traffic. When I pulled over into the snow by the roadside to get some shots my wife got very worried that the car would get stuck. It was only a few inches of snow but she reacted as if I had driven into a snowdrift! I did take some lovely photographs that day and one of them was borrowed by Pauline for an oil painting. She painted a wonderful scene and the man at the gallery where she had it framed wanted her to leave it to be sold! It now graces our hallway and we are pleased to see it every day.
To return to yesterday, the light was failing rapidly as we drove back home over the "mountain" which is only about 700 feet above sea level. We got home and I installed the cartridge fuse and the kitchen lights came on again. All was well.
posted by Keith Alexander at 9:37 pm
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