THE BIG PIT !

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Hi Friends and Family!

Wake up!

Its time to move out and won’t I be glad.

The Starbunk House was well located, cheap and great for groups but was one of the most deserted places that I have ever been to except for the weirdo couple that owned a large castle in the Black Forest of Germany in which my ex-husband, my new-born baby and myself were the only guests!

We were out of there pronto!

So this morning we packed up loosely and had our breakfast of toast, cereal and jam across the road the “The New Inn / Beacon Backpackers” and then proceeded to “move-in”!!

After handing the barman (Andy) the key of the Bunkhouse, we drove to “The Big Pit”.

“The Big Pit” is one of the last of the coal pits to finally close due to cheaper prices abroad and mechanization.

“The Big Pit” is run by ex-miners who show various groups around the mine. They were friendly and knowledgeable. In fact, they were great!

We had to wait in the miners lounge for a while and then they kitted us out with hard hats, lamps and emergency gas “stuff” thereafter, we had to give up our mobiles, cameras and car keys as they had micro chips in them, then we were taken 90 metres down the shaft into the various tunnels where we were told and shown the history of the Welsh pits, the men, women, children and horses!

After our tour, we went to the gift shop for some touristy stuff and then were directed to a film exhibition which was so good that "The Small Young Gentleman" and I watched it twice!

We were planning to go on a Steam Engine but it was late afternoon already and likely to take up more time than we had so we decided to drive to the historical town of Brecon instead.

Brecon right now was hosting both a Jazz Festival and a Fringe Festival Weekend. We wouldn’t be able to see the Acts but we could certainly walk around, have dinner and generally “feel the vibe”! As such, we stopped at the very grand Wellington Hotel where we ordered from the “Brecon Jazz Menu” with jacket potatoes for £9.95, macaroni cheese and veg ("The Small Young Gentleman" actually left the chips!) for £3.75 and 99p ice-cream and jelly whilst I had Steak and Ale pie with mash and veg for £7.25 and a 99p apple crumble that didn’t really look or taste like crumble so I just had the custard which was really yummy and for 99p who could complain LOL!!


PS. We’re having a lovely time. See you tomorrow.

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