Hey Muck - I am finally coming over to Wales, arriving mid-day on March 18. Is there anything interesting/special happening in Cardiff around that week? I am thinking of taking a drive along the coast. Is there a coast road? I would ask the friend I am staying with but, he's a bit of a homebody...

Thanks!

If you are interested in castles and abbeys then the south coast of Wales is wonderful. Particularly Caerphilly Castle, Carregg Cennen, Kidwelly Castle, Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey. There are many more including Cardiff Castle.

Rick

Hi Fairfax,
Good to hear your going to get here again. I remember your friend lives in grangetown?
I will check to see whats happening not sure at the moment.
How long will you stay?
You can drive to West Wales along the coast but its not all along clifftops but there are some interesting villages and places to see along these roads.
What kind of things do you want to see along the coast and I will try to head you in a good direction.
I remember you were drinking Brains beer last time in Penarth?
There are plenty of Brains places to choose from.
Keep an eye on this site and I will do some hunting for you.
And I hope your health is ok this time !!
If you want to e.mail any questions direct please feel free to do so.
Bye for now

Muck

Thanks, Muck. I am well now! I will be in Cardiff from the 18th to the 24th, then up to London for a couple of days.

One thing I really want to do is to go to the hunt races at Chepstow. Have checked their site and found a race on the 24th. Maybe we'll go to Chepstow Castle in the morning and the races in the afternoon. I am disappointed to miss Cheltenham Festival.

Went to Tinturn Abbey the last visit, so probably won't do that again, but loved it and got some wonderful photos. We were there in November 2002 and the weather was very moody.

Here's something odd: I run an architectural antiques & salvage business, so am wondering if there's a salvage yard around Cardiff. Also like to do "low end" antiquing. Maybe a jaunt up to Haye, where I've been before. But I'd like a drive along the south or west coast.

I'll be staying with my pal in Grangetown and be based from there. His family lives in Penarth, so will be there, too.

Any rugby going on then?

Thanks for y'alls help!

If you are driving from Cardiff to London, then you might find it worthwhile to stop in Bath, to visit Walcot Reclamation, where you can find everything from an entire wood-paneled Jacobean room to a single reproduction window lock.

http://www.walcot.com/

Hi Fairfax,
It would appear that the 21st March is LDV Vans trophy final at the Mill .
This is a soccer cup final for the lower league teams is normally a good day and the stadium is usually around 2/3 full, tickets are probably available, search on the Millenium stadium website and I think its possible to buy tickets there, however the teams are not yet decided so it may be in a week or 2.
At the end of Penarth Rd is a place called the pump house it is a salvage and antique center, I am surprised if you have not been there already but it is the kind of place to interest you.

If you want to drive 100 miles, then Tenby and Saundersfoot areas are lovely and won't be too busy in March.

I am still looking so keep watching the site.
Bye for now

Muck

Gosh, didn't log on yesterday, and had to go all the way down to posting 300+ to find this (of course, i could have searched!).

Anon - Thanks for the tip on the yard in Bath. I am not sure I will have time to detour to Bath. This is supposed to be an R&R trip, so I don't want to be zooming all over looking at salvage yards. Here's our website (which doesn't begin to show what we've got in our 80,000 square feet of space): www.secondchanceinc.org. I will check out Walcots site.

Muck, I will look for the yard in Penarth. I am sure David knows where it is. When I was in Cardiff last, I wasn't doing the salvage as a business, and had already found enough stuff to lug home (Travel motto: have an adventure and lug home something unmanageable!).

I will ask David to check on tickets to the Mill. match. That might be fun. Is this one where the fans sing the whole time?

Thanks!

Hi Fairfax,
The Mill will be pretty lively but unlikely to be a full house as fans for these finals are from the lower clubs and don't have a massive following. However I think Queens Park Rangers are still in the competition and they have a huge following. I suspect the Mill will be 2/3 full and a pretty good atmosphere. If David can get tickets that would be good.The sad thing is that tickets may only be available to tthe final teams when they get past the semi finals, unfortunately in football the powers to be like to segregate different supporters and don't usually allow Cardiff fans in for fear of trouble.
I think its daft as these are great carnival atmosphere finals and people just go to enjoy themselves.
Anyway I hope you can get there.
Its a great day.
I remembered Ikea is open now so you could get there too andits only about a mile or so from the power house antiques place.
Bye for now
Muck

Hey fairfax, have you considered checking out the local tip, wherever you'll be? In addition to all the usual glass/paper/cardboard, etc recycling and garden refuse, the local tip in my town always has great old doors/sinks/garden gates, etc, that people clean out of their garages and houses. You could get some great stuff there, if you have the time to look!

B-Rocks - The tip is a great idea, but have to schlepp whatever I get home to the states! We like "bulk trash" day here for good finds, or "dumpster diving". Maybe if I find something REALLLLY worthwhile, it would be worth the shipping... Otherwise, have to think about that restrictive luggage allowance on BA!

I hope to take in a car boot/church jumble sale or two, and when I am in London, Portobello and Camden Locks. Of course, I am being way ambitious about all of this.

Muck - maybe I can order tickets from here instead of David getting them from over there. We've got an Ikea where I live, so will probably take a pass on that! There's a huge one outside of Washington DC!

Thanks for the advice. Keet it coming!

Hi fairfax,
Just sampled your interesting website, its exactly what the pump house does. Iam sure you will enjoy.
Checkout this site:
http://www.purecardiff.com/whatson

You should be able to see whats going on to help you decide what to do.

Muck

Thanks, Muck! Disappointed to see I will miss both Six Nations games. Was in Rome for Scotland/Italy a couple of years ago and it was great.
The link looked good, but will wait a week or so for the update.