Venturing into the Valleys
What I got up to in Wales 🏴
A place I have always wanted to visit: the heart of Wales. I've been to Cardiff, Newport, and swung through Wales to get to Gloucestershire, but I had never seen the rolling hills or mountains that Wales is famous for.
On Tuesday, I finally got my chance… and it did not disappoint.
Lovely the woods, waters, meadows, combes, vales,
All the air things wear that build this world of Wales.
- Gerald Manley Hopkins
For context: my husband works away in Wales every Tuesday. I was in desperate need to just get lost for a while and focus on my writing, so he offered to take me to Aberystwyth and drop me off at the National Library of Wales to do some writing/exploring. I jumped at the chance.
With my ticket for the reading room saved on my phone, passport and driving license in my bag (as you need two forms of ID to use the reading room), laptop, notebook and a heart full of excitement, we set off.
As we delved deeper into Wales, the greenery stunned me. It was so quiet. There were hardly any houses around. And I loved it. At one point, I found myself winding the window down to listen to a river rush by beside us, inhaling the wet earthy scents. Yes, I actually smelled the trees, like a labrador. And it was divine (don't judge 🤭).
Eventually, we arrived at Aberystwyth, the home of the National Library of Wales. When we pulled up I said to my husband “you can't leave me here! I'm not smart enough for this place!”
It was a palace of knowledge. I wasn't there to study or research. I was there to write a fantasy novel. I found myself briefly degrading my own work just because of the grandeur of the building before me.
After my husband coaxed me out the car and I had managed to get through the automatic spinning doors, I felt lost, intimidated and out of my depth. I feared that someone would point at me and say “you're not a scholar!”
But that didn't happen. After wandering down a few wrong corridors, and some right ones, I found the reading room. Silently placing my laptop and notebook down, I took my place at the long table… and started to write.
Being Content
On that marvelous Tuesday in Wales, I finished writing Chapter 39 of my novel. I also rejigged the ending around a bit, and decided to include another love scene 😍 (because you can never have too many 😏).
But more importantly, I got out in nature. I got lost. I felt completely content with the day, despite driving for 8 hours.
I didn't realise how much I needed to get lost, just for a day, to recharge my batteries and reset my mindset for the summer holidays.
It's funny how something as simple as hearing the flow of a brook, or the scent of wet grass, or the happy content silence between a husband and wife as they drove along mountainous roads, munching on croissants from Greggs, could do wonders for the spirit.
In Wales, I found my sacred place. My place of healing. It felt like coming home.
So, thank you Wales. For everything 🏴❤️
X
