Brecknockshire 1/ - Brecon/ The Promenade/The Royal Welsh and the Zulus /Black Bangers

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Thich Nhat Hann says "Each moment of our lives, each moment that is given to us to live, we have to live very deeply" Not a bad philosophy. We have decided this week to do just that. Strata Florida was no Jumiege nor a fancy abbey but it was a very lovely place to while away an hour or two in the beauty of the Welsh countryside.

Gabby the motorhome is parked up almost correctly lined up with the white pin on hardstanding at the Brecon Caravan and Motorhome Club site. It is expensive. £26 for one night and it is very regimental. You know what you get with them - a neat pitch, your own little slot , grass to put your chairs on, immaculate toilets and showers and tuggers. Yes tuggers - many of them. Caravanners - the bane of the motorhomer. Unlike the motorhomer who picks his plot fairly quickly , parks up with little fuss and gets the kettle on or the wine out the tugger pulls up and blocks the road with his large oversized car and his massive caravan. You have to wait for him to manoever the caravan onto the plot. This goes on for a while whilst you wait patiently. Eventually he parks up and then unhooks his van. He is still blocking the road. You still sit there now a little less patient . After unhitching sometimes but not always he parks on his plot. Most of the time he leaves his car in everyones way. Eventually you get passed him. He then spends half an hour levelling up, connecting his electricity , his water and everything else known to man and then and only then he settles down and gets his brew on or his wine out. Sometimes I wonder why we end up on these sorts of sites. Some perverse sense of wanting to put ourselves through it. The sites are too busy for us, too fussy , too full of rules and regulations. We could have parked for free on Brecon car park had we realised . We could I suppose have contacted the site and cancelled at short notice but we would have been shouted at . Warned that if we did it again we would be black balled. But then that is another story .

The day had started off trying to park in Brecon car park suggested to us by Campercontact at a fee of £6.40 for over 4f hours . Within easy walking distance of the town it seemed perfect. It should have ticked every box. When we arrived there were vans parked up but the board told me in no uncertain terms we were not welcome . Not in the day nor overnight . Thankyou Brecon. No suggestion of an alternative either. We had little choice but to traverse the busy town centre in search of the Holy Grail - a car park that would let us park up. Eventually we found the Promenade. Almost empty we were allowed for £6 to park for over 4 hours and stay from 6 overnight for free. No sea by this promenade just the river Honddu which meets the Usk near the town centre. The river gives the town its Welsh name of Aberhonddu - the mouth of the Honddu . With over four hours to explore the town we set off walking alongside the river. The walk was gentle following a line of gardens and a number of cafes . With a population of just over 8000 it was yet again a town which made our small village with a bigger population seem almost pitiful. The shops were full , the streets crowded . The remains of a castle protected the town. The inevitable question came up "Could we live here?" We are asking this more and more as we travel . The answer came back from the two of us " Not sure " "Probably not" We couldn't say why . It was just a feeling. I wonder if our For Sale board has gone up again. Would that generate some passer by interest?

We were heading for the museum . Something different to our walk around Welshpool and our visit to the abbey . The Regimental Museum of the Royal Welsh known formerly as the South Wales Borderers was located at the far end of the town. The regiment had a 300 year history and this collection of artifacts were made up from items from all around the world . We entered next to what had originally been the barracks , through a small garden turned over to a display called Dig for Victory. An Anderson shelter had been erected in a corner . I doubt it would have provided much protection the corrugated sheets would have given if a bomb had landed nearby. It was £5 each to visit. The lady on the desk was a veritable Jack of all trades. She was giving the gardener instructions, taking the entrance fees, guiding visitors around . Although to be fair we were the only visitors and it seemed that not many visitors found the place. She told us where the toilets were - very important , that there was one of the finest collections of weapons to be found in any regimental museum. The collection displayed guns which showed the development of weaponry from the 18th century to the present day. Uniforms were displayed from the foot soldiers to the officers. Cases full of artifacts , flags, Xmas cards and letters from the Front. Bullets and bullet cases, jewellery and even biscuits fashioned by the Japanese in the shape of the Chrysanthemum,.

The museum's Medal Room contains about 3,000 medals. The Victoria Cross case contained sixteen replica VCs which represent the originals which are owned by the regiment but which cannot be displayed because they are too valuable. We only found that out later and felt a little saddened not to see the real thing. Photographs of battles , of soldiers and models were scattered all around the rooms. It does make you realise just how selfless and brave these men were. Did they fight because of a sense of duty, did they think it was the right thing to do? Did they crave adventure? Perhaps this sense of duty is missing in the young these days - a snowflake generation who struggle to be able to do anything. . It was a hell and they probably wished they never had enlisted in the end . War wasnt all it was cracked up to be but they did it and I always feel grateful to them when I read their stories.

The other cases contained medals from the Second World War which we were more familiar with. The museum's greatest attraction is its Zulu War Room which displayed through pictures, artifacts and medals the story of the Zulu War. There were paintings on the walls dioramas of the battle scenes, drums, ammunition and uniforms and also a great collection of Zulu material . Ceremonial clubs , clubs that were used by the Zulu to stove the heads in of their enemies, Zulu tribal jewellery and art . Although a small museum it was fascinating and we have managed as well to bring the sunshine with us. Well worth the £5 and an interesting way to spend a couple of hours.

And what about the name of the county - Brecknockshire sounds almost old fashioned but was one of the thirteen historical counties of Wales . Sometimes called Breconshire - this somehow sounds wrong , sometimes known as Powys . So much choice in what you call a place . Brycheiniog was the independent kingdom in South Wales in the Middle Ages a sort of buffer state between England and the kingdom of Deheubarth . We came across the princes of Deheubarth at Strata Florida. And so to Powys - for me this brings back memories of houses at school . Dyfed - a blue badge , the best house in our school as it seemed to attact the best singers, the best piano players , the best writers and the best girls at sport . Dyfed always won the house cup every year. Gwynedd the house I was in with its Green badge. The second best house - always the bridesmaid and never the bride . Ceredigion - a yellow badge and then poor Powys with its red badge. Always at the bottom of the pile, always last , always with the fewest points at the end of term. Breconshire is called Powys sometimes . Powys was one of the preserved Welsh counties of the Middle ages formed after the Romans left Britain . Resurrected in the 1970's the name Powys rose again .

Black bangers - go on I know you want to know - the Cadac came out and was fired up. The sausages (the black bangers ) were cooked and a lovely pork steak all washed down with a nice wine -This trip is turning out allright you know.

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