Stone Age vs. Machine Age

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Definitely the warmest day of the year so far, with the temperature in the shade outside our front door reaching 30°C this afternoon. The temperature here is always elevated because of the tarmac over thousands of tons of slate waste that form our patio: it's akin to a gigantic storage heater, throwing back all the heat it's built up during the day. However, the temperature in the bottom garden has stayed at an even 27°C all afternoon, anyway. We went over to Ynys Môn earlier to take a look at a Neolithic Burial Chamber that in all the years we've lived in the area, we've never visited: Barclodiad y Gawres, between Aberffraw and Rhosneigr, which is of particular interest because of the carved rock designs found within its structure.

We figured that today being a Bank Holiday, visiting a Stone Age monument might be a way of avoiding the very many tourists that always descend on such occasions [can't blame 'em - this is God's own country, after all]; but what we forgot was that the parking for the path that leads to the place, is also the parking for the beaches there. The place was rammed and there were queues of cars really going nowhere at all. So we drove on and inland, into the uncharted hinterland of the island, where sign-posts there are none, and where even seasoned residents such as I can still get lost in the myriad lanes and byways that form the heart of this place. Proper motoring; only relying on technical aids such as sat-nav in absolute desperation, when all seems lost and life itself seems perilously tenuous.

We managed to find a shady spot to park out of the heat with nought but one other car in evidence - whose occupants obviously thought we might have broken down, due to our car's position - somewhat carelessly parked - and spent an hour in solitude, picnicking under the trees, undisturbed by anyone or anything else. We then idly traced an unplanned and unwitting route back to civilisation and to The Anglesey Arms in Menai Bridge for a sample of John Willie Lee's new brew; a cold, dark stout of a mere 4.1% ABV, which slipped down rather nicely, thank you very much. Hence back to Fairview Heights and the aforementioned temperatures. It looks to be pretty warm overnight tonight, but that never bothers me and won't cause any loss of kip, methinks. So, we'll wait for the tourist rush to subside and try again with visiting Barclodiad y Gawres in a week or ten days time...

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