Things wot I have seen.

[Benjahmin]

Bike riding season is suddenly in full swing. We've been having some great weather here in the west and I thought I'd show a few pics of some rides through a landscape I'm coming to appreciate more and more.

Aberbanc junction - note the lack of traffic, this is a feature of my rides.



This fantastically restored mill is a B+B in Cwm Morgan. Yet to see it turning but the leat looks intact and also restored.


The waterfalls at Cenarth, all this plus a tea shop, pub and greasy spoon - what more can you ask for?


Having climbed out of Cenarth valley, this is what you get. Wish I had a drive with a view like this.

The hinterland of Lampeter. This climb was so long and steep and the day so warm my bike went into 'limp' mode. Controller box (mounted under the front edge of the rack) was noticeably warm. Turned the power off and used old fashioned leg power to get me the last couple of hundred yards to the top, damn nearly killed me.


And finally a shot of the latest regen motor undergoing field trials!


This bad boy is 220ft high and 500Kw. I thought about sticking the bike under it to see if the battery would charge by intimidation.

I feel very lucky to live where I do, Brummy born and bred but now an adopted welshman.

 

[flecc]

Bike riding season is suddenly in full swing. We've been having some great weather here in the west and I thought I'd show a few pics of some rides through a landscape I'm coming to appreciate more and more.

Aberbanc junction - note the lack of traffic, this is a feature of my rides.
View attachment 24683


This fantastically restored mill is a B+B in Cwm Morgan. Yet to see it turning but the leat looks intact and also restored.
View attachment 24684

The waterfalls at Cenarth, all this plus a tea shop, pub and greasy spoon - what more can you ask for?
View attachment 24685

Having climbed out of Cenarth valley, this is what you get. Wish I had a drive with a view like this.
View attachment 24686
The hinterland of Lampeter. This climb was so long and steep and the day so warm my bike went into 'limp' mode. Controller box (mounted under the front edge of the rack) was noticeably warm. Turned the power off and used old fashioned leg power to get me the last couple of hundred yards to the top, damn nearly killed me.
View attachment 24688

And finally a shot of the latest regen motor undergoing field trials!
View attachment 24687

This bad boy is 220ft high and 500Kw. I thought about sticking the bike under it to see if the battery would charge by intimidation.

I feel very lucky to live where I do, Brummy born and bred but now an adopted welshman.

Thanks Benjahmin, great photos of a beautiful area.
.

 

[mike killay]

Thanks Benjahmin, great photos of a beautiful area.
.

Soon to be plastered all over with wind generators.
(For them folks in the Cities)

 

[Benjahmin]

It's already been done. Strange thing is you rarely see them all moving at the same time. There's one that I can see from my kitchen window, I reckon it's only been working for about 6 months out of the last 3 years. It's currently got a crane up there and the blades are off. As far as I can see they're the most innefficient form of power generation going.

 

[Benjahmin]

Me, Ive got solar panels, must have charged my bike nicely after todays ride - for free.

 

[EddiePJ]

Always a pleasure to see ride photos.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Deleted member 22539]

Soon to be plastered all over with wind generators.
(For them folks in the Cities)

You dont have electricity in your house then LOL

 

[Nev]

Nice set of pics Behjhamin thanks for posting.

 

[Benjahmin]

Went to Llangranog for lunch the other day. This is taken from the perch of saint Grannog himself ( some 5th century Irish geezer) looking down on the cafe where I had my repast.

The climb out is a leg burner.
I went along the coast with a thought to go down onto Aberporth but changed my mind when I saw this:

The box cove is full of fog, I was in bright sunshine. You can just see the masts of Aberpoeth drone testing station on top of the hill. I shall probably now have to be shot for revealing our countries secrets.

 

[flecc]

I shall probably now have to be shot for revealing our countries secrets.

My "Like" is for the photos, not approval for you being shot!
.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Don't touch any doorknobs!

 

[Danidl]

It's already been done. Strange thing is you rarely see them all moving at the same time. There's one that I can see from my kitchen window, I reckon it's only been working for about 6 months out of the last 3 years. It's currently got a crane up there and the blades are off. As far as I can see they're the most innefficient form of power generation going.

.. disagree with your wind turbine stance.. . There is a lot of ignorance about the efficacy as opposed to the efficiency of wind power.

 

[Benjahmin]

One positive from austerity is that the council now only cut the roadside verges once a year, resulting in an explosion of wild flowers.

There's miles of this stuff, much to the delight of this chap

As a result, the English (or is that British) Bluebell is alive and thriving in the verges and woodlands of Ceredigion.
Does anyone know what the white flower is in this picture?

It's all over the place. It has 5 petals that look like a double.

I think that this now annual blooming is leading to a much needed increase in polenators, judging by how much I'm getting smacked in the face. However, still nothing like years ago, remember when you used to have to stop and scrape dead insects from your headlights so they worked properly?

 

[flecc]

However, still nothing like years ago, remember when you used to have to stop and scrape dead insects from your headlights so they worked properly?

A long running German study shows a 75% loss of all insects over a 27 year period up to 2015.

The total loss since those days you mention must be over 90%, one very rarely has to scrape off an insect now.
.

 

[Deleted member 22539]

one very rarely has to scrape off an insect now.
.

Bloody hell
They must have all migrated to Pembrokeshire then
The place is littered with them

 

[flecc]

Bloody hell
They must have all migrated to Pembrokeshire then
The place is littered with them

Splattered all over the front of vehicles? That's something I haven't experienced for many years anywhere I've travelled.
.

 

[Deleted member 22539]

Splattered all over the front of vehicles? That's something I haven't experienced for many years anywhere I've travelled.
.

Yes mate
Especially late evening
May be they like the sea air

 

[flecc]

Yes mate
Especially late evening
May be they like the sea air

Good to learn somewhere is a bit better, the population declines have been depressing, most parts of Europe including the UK suffering very severe losses of all small arthropods. Many species of birds too in consequence.
.

 

[Benjahmin]

Such devastating decline in insect numbers yet the powers that be continue to debate whether insecticides should be controlled or not. Surely 'tis bleedin obvious. If we continue to use them then food will soon be in very short supply. A friend of mine was recently on a bussines trip in China. He said his train went through a huge area where people were out in the fields pollenating plants. I have two huge flowering brasicas in my back garden, normally a huge magnet for all sorts of bees and hover flies. It has been strangely quiet, even in this sunny weather.
Perhaps the prevailing westerlies in Pembrokeshire blow enough of the poison away to allow more of the little fellas.

 

[Nealh]

Benjamin your chap on the Bluebell may be female or male, but most likely at this time of year a female forager.
The white flower looks like a wood anemone, not clear from your pic but the centre anthers are usually yellow. Leaving verges etc to flower provides fabulous areas for declining insect species to forage and can only help with specie proliferation following decades of decline.
Also allows dormant plants to naturally flourish which often they never had chance to due to, too many cuttings. Nature knows best.
There many area's now that don't cut until late summer and the natural flowering affect is quite a sight, national parks like the South Downs have an array of stunning flora esp off the beaten track of the SDW.