Belle Vue Park

“The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground..”
Gilbert K Chesterton
A bit of a trip down memory lane to start the day. K2 had a dentist appointment in Pontnewydd and while I was waiting for her I was accosted by a woman looking for a tattoo parlour, which prompted a few thoughts on what the village was like when I was young. No tattoo parlours then, tattoos were for the armed forces and people of ‘dubious reputation’, or so I was told. As kids we used to gather at the stone parapet overlooking the railway line below, and when the steam from the train engulfed us we’d run across the other side of the bridge to see the train emerging the other side, sort of pooh sticks with steam. I can’t remember ever looking out for cars before running across, there was so little traffic then. The railway line closed in the sixties and is now the main road through the town, not quite the same looking down on passing cars through safety railings. Where the barbers is (one of several now in the village) was the café where we’d gather waiting for the school bus, playing on the pinball machines or sneaking a quick fag before the bus arrived.
Next stop the Gwent to visit Grandma, so I drop off the two K’s and head off to Belle Vue park to await the summons. I’ll give the Victorians their due, they knew how to make beautiful parks. I was relaxing in the arbour next to the bowling green when familiar voices floated over the beech hedge, K1 and K2 had made their own way back to the park. Followed them back to the tea room, with a short detour to admire the watercolour painting in progress. Relaxed lunch in the sunshine before another family visit to see G and J for an hour. J suggests trying Curry’s for a new laptop for K2, so we stop off on the way back and they have just what K2 needs, just not in this store, so it’s ordered to arrive before we get back from Manorbier. After a brief stop at home for dinner yet another family catch-up for K2, before settling down for a good rest before our journey west to Pembrokeshire tomorrow.