A sharing by Ling Sing Lin
After almost 3 years of not seeing my daughters and grandchildren (who do not live in Singapore) because of Covid, my first trip outside Singapore was to England and Wales, the latter because I had not visited Wales before. Most Covid restrictions had been lifted, and aside from masking on the plane, there was little difference from traveling compared with preCovid times.
Why is the title of this post ‘British’ country side instead of ‘English’ countryside? In case you are not aware, England and Wales make up Britain; England, Wales and Scotland make up Great Britain; and England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland together form the United Kingdom.
Springtime
This is a very pretty time with cherry blossoms, and many wild flowers like dandelions and daisies carpeting grass everywhere. The daffodils reminded me of the William Wordsworth poem
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
As we were avoiding crowds, most of our activities were in the countryside.
The Richard Jefferies’ Museum is a favorite with the family. This is a 17th century thatched cottage of Richard Jefferies, who was a renowned nature writer who lived from 1848-1887. It displays exhibits of Jefferies’ time and life. It also has lush gardens which are open to the public.
Castles
We saw two Welsh castles which are in ruins (Chepstow Castle and Caerphilly Castle), and Castle Coch (also in Wales) which had been almost completely rebuilt in the 19th century. The original castle was built by the Normans after 1081. Castle Coch is open to the public for a fee, and is worth a visit. The fees obviously help in the upkeep of the castle.
These castles reminded me of what I had read years ago, when HDB flats were cheap. At that time, we were informed that it was cheaper to buy a castle in Europe than an HDB flat, as it is the maintenance cost that is prohibitive. Imagine how many castles you can afford to buy today for the price of an HDB flat! You can impress your friends and social media followers as the owner of many castles.
Rhossili Bay
This is a 3 mile long beach with very fine sand, a very gentle slope to the sea making it shallow at high tide for something like half a mile, and good for water sports and enjoying the beach at low tide. From the carpark to the beach though is some distance, walking between sand dunes. This reminded me of Namibia, with its huge sand dunes which are slippery and so difficult to climb. You descend quite safely by sliding down on your bottom.
Plymouth
We drove to Plymouth, a port city in Devon, which has many narrow cobblestoned streets, with the primary purpose of visiting the National Maritime Aquarium. My six year old younger granddaughter had joined the Young Marine Biologists which entitles her free entry to the aquarium. Her daddy drove 4 hours from South Wales just to avail ourselves of this benefit.
Tea with alpacas
One does not usually associate alpacas with England, but there are alpaca farms where you can walk the alpacas or have tea with them. I marveled at their non stop grazing. They actually have dedicated toilets in each field, so you don’t have to fear stepping in poo.
Family time
My granddaughters informed me that the Covid lockdown resulted in the development of a firm friendship with Hey Google. I watched them and marveled at their familiarity with the various electronic devices. I tagged along for their swimming lessons, gymnastics and Ninja Warrior activities. That is the purpose of my visit, just to spend time with family. I was so glad that despite the passage of three years, my granddaughters are still adorable, affectionate and cuddly. They made smoothies for breakfast. Twice! And cried buckets after my visit ended and I had to fly home to Singapore.
My next trip will be to visit my elder daughter and her family in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US.
lingsinglin
Dr Ling Sing Lin is a medical doctor by training. She worked in MOH HQ for many years, in policy making and administrative positions, until her retirement.
