Month: December 2012

So another Christmas comes close, which means its time for the regulation Non Electricity Day, still not sure why we don’t call it No Electricity Day but anyway.. So the purpose of the day is to have a day with hardly any electrical powered devices and exists with gas and candles. We have done it for a number of years now and is a bit of a Christmas event, even though most of the children now have other things to do…

So it begins in the morning, with no TV, no kettle – use the gas and light with a match. Luckily I can use my watch as it is clockwork and no battery. We use the heating, even though strictly speaking it uses electric, and we keep the fridge on (but remove the light) and turn the oven and microwave off so we have no electric light in the house at all.

We mostly drive somewhere for a walk, which is a bit cheating again, but this year we decided to keep more in the spirit of things we would walk to the next village. We only had Kate and Becs with us, as the boys were revising, Sian gave them dispensation to use a calculator. We set off around 11:00 to walk the three miles or so out to Redwick, and had a beer in the Rose. They were only doing Sunday Lunch, so we ordered one each and sheltered in the pub. It poured.

Luckily after food (the beef was good i thought) it had stopped the torrential rain and we went down to the sea wall to walk back. It was quite muddy on the way down, and unfortunately it was right next to the farmers slurry pit and he didn’t care where he spread his sh1t. Anyway, soon on the sea wall and a fine view of the Severn Estuary.. For some reason running along the edge of the sea wall made me run like an “old man”, oh dear it might just be me now.

It rained a lot and we got wet, but we were soon home. Then it was time for Pictureka, then frustration whilst I had a doze like an “old man”, then a couple of games of Uno. It was dark now and the candles were lit and all was good. But before we knew it, it was time to go down the village for one before ordering a take out. The joys of non electricity day.

Nosh, noshed and then I had a little sit down, Ant went out and I think I must have fallen asleep again.. Kate wasn’t feeling too good and was sick, so she slept on the floor for a while. Then at about 9:00 I had to go to bed, and that was that for non-electricity day. I actaully am an old man by the looks of things…

So the folks were up this week, so we looked at a little bit of the culture and industry of Wales which doesn’t really exist much any more – mining.

First up though was a fantastic Christmas Fair, well when I say fantastic I mean small, it was run by the scout group Kate is part of, it consisted of five or six tables with some second hand toys, second hand cakes, a tombola  and a hoopla game and a great smell of bacon. We bought some stuff for a quid, won a couple of drinks and were out of there – perhaps we were too early, perhaps it was just rubbish.

Off to Abertillery then to see the Six Bells Guardian. This was a memorial commissioned a few years back to commemorate some real grafters at the Six Bells colliery at Abertillery. It is a massive steel statute made up of “slices” of steel in the shape of a miner. From a distance it looks almost transparent, up close it is solid, and quite remarkable. The definition of the miner is amazing, its pretty large, one finger is the size of your arm, and it stands proud over looking the valley. It was a chilly, frosty morning and it was magnificent.

Just across from the car park is Ty Ebbw Fach, which is a little tea house and small museum which served a selection of hot and cold food and coffee and stuff – really nicely made out, all good.

After this we headed over the hills Blaenavon and “BIG PIT”. Big Pit is a museum which is a mine. 300ft pit which you tour around, for the princely sum of no pounds – now that’s value. Even the parking was on £2. We ambled though and within 5 mins we were being kitted out with our helmet and light, then told we could no bring any contraband into the pit – this is mobile phones, lighters, smoking materials, watches anything like that – even though they are not in production they still have to adhere to the rules on mines. Into the tight lift and down we went.

Rob was our guide and a very pleasant bloke he was too, the tour just really walks around in the mine and he regales us with information and stories – some a little fabricated I figure. But it was great. I had my comedy moment when he pretended to electrocute me – I made a comedy howl, and my wife got it, but it would appear I was too good an actor and the rest of the team thought I was a gaylord.

Once out of the pit we continued over the hills and down into Abergavenny. We had a look around and some nosh in the Hen and Chickens again (Taverners Chicken this time) and bumped into Paul who was down for a Christmas sleep over. Back to the car then headed home.

Really good day, a couple of fabulous things to see, and all for no money – now that’s incredible.