2 very different weekends

Last weekend we were delighted that all our cottages were occupied- a great result in early October. What a shame that the weather was so awful on Saturday evening when most of our guests wanted to have a bonfire and fireworks display. It turned out to be a bit of a damp squid of an evening.
However on the Friday evening, after welcoming our guests into their cottages we set off to Machynlleth, to watch the Lantern Procession. We parked up by the station and walked into town where small crowds were gathering in anticipation of the annual event. We weren't expecting much , perhaps just a few children carrying some small lanterns. We had quite a wait beyond the expected start of 7pm but when the procession eventually arrived, proceeded by a percussion band, we were absolutely amazed. There were hundreds of people of all ages, carrying lanterns of all different shapes and sizes, but all linked by the theme 'things with wings'. Obviously masses of work had gone into creating these lanterns and what a spectacle they made. Well worth the wait. The participants and most of the watching crowds were then going on to somewhere, where there was going to be a grand fireworks display but we left them to it and returned to the village with a quick stop off at the Riverside in Pennal for a drink on the way.



This weekend, only Heather, Maggie and friends were in residence at Pentre Bach. A great weekend was had by all, including a rather wet walk across Barmouth Bridge, a live game of Cluedo, organised by Rick and the usual poses on Fairbourne beach.

This apparently spells TRIBE!

Meanwhile, this morning, before any of the above opened an eyelid,   Mike and I set off into the hills above Arthog in search of a memorial that we knew existed but had never been able to find before. Despite having to negociate a very muddy and prolonged landslide, we eventually came across the memorial plaque set into a wall in a beautiful spot, overlooking Fairbourne and Barmouth in the distance. Our research on the Internet, before setting off, informed us of the sad story of the American bomber , heading back to the states on the 8th of June , 1945, just after WW2 had ended. The plane somehow got lost in bad weather and ended up crashing into the side of the mountain, just yards from safety, with the loss of all the crew and passengers inside, 20 men altogether.
We sat and had our coffee, thinking about those poor men, before leaving our poppies and headed back down the mountain.

On the way back down we met a couple, probably in their 60s,  on their way up and started chatting. It turned out that they were on their way to find the source of the river Gwril. After finding that , they only had another 3 river sources to find out of all the rivers in the whole of England and Wales. They'd already climbed all mountains over 2000 feet in england and Wales. what an achievement! I just hope Mike isn't getting any ideas!