Beaufort Hill Ponds and Woodlands

'When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season'
Anon

And even in the chill wind across the tops above Beaufort Hill it was still in bloom.  A walk with A and P today, far from the madding crowd in Cordell Country.  The spoil heaps, a reminder of the areas industrial past in coal mining, iron and steel making, form Palm like patterns when viewed from above on Google Earth.

And it was a chill wind!  But one that a prospecting Red Kite took full advantage of, hanging in the air and occasionally flapping lazily as it quartered the hillside above the carnage that is the Heads of The Valleys roadworks.  And on the top there were a few interesting little cairns, including the one in the photo that P pointed out.  Different to the ones I photographed on Lindisfarne in 2014, but fun.

Plenty of bird life on the ponds [for the time of year] to keep the lads entertained - grebe, heron, tufted duck - and a couple of mallard, goosander and swans - probably forgotten a few others too.  By now my upper lip had frozen and it was feeding time, so we headed for Abergavenny and the Tithe Barn for lunch to round off the outing.  Magic.