Guardian Illuminated, Six Bells, South Wales

December 10th 2014 was the second occasion that the people of Six Bells met for a Lantern Parade along the pathway to Guardian, the Miners' Memorial.

It was a fine cold evening with plenty of warm scarves and furry hats, but best of all, many many smiling faces. A brass band greeted the crowd as they arrived at the statue and everyone joined in with well-loved Christmas Carols.

Hot soup was handed out to everyone and children enjoyed decorating gingerbread biscuits. A little Christmas shopping was done at other stalls around the site and at Ty Ebbw Fach Heritage Centre and the Cafe.

Bethany Chapel organised an outdoor Nativity Play with an unusual theme of Health & Safety around the stable and Bethlehem.

Both Santa and Mother Christmas enjoyed time with the children and many families will have photographic proof that they met Santa.

A wonderful friendly evening which I hope will be repeated for many years to come. Well done everyone who helped to make it a success.

Gardening, Valleys Style

We often see images of vast flat landscapes, or gently rolling hills in the welsh countryside. We even see steep valleys and beautiful hills. But not everyone appreciates the problems of trying to work a plot on the steep hillsides of a welsh valley.  These pictures were taken in the Ebbw Valley. Unfortunately, not many people about to ask their experiences.

Anice gentle slope you may think...

Okay, perhaps it is a little steep...

Steeper

Steepest !

My camera sometimes has difficulty in revealing the steepness of our welsh slopes. I believe, this time, it has succeeded.