On the weekend just gone, I got out of Oxford, hiring a car (including fuel, only a little more expensive than travelling by train) and driving to South Wales for a bit of hiking.

The roads in Britain are busy, and everybody speeds. I tried not to, but may have inadvertently done so on occasion, due to the ambiguous signage (ambiguous to a foreigner, at least). Most urban areas have a signposted speed limit (e.g. 30, 40, 50 mph). Open sections of road, however, are delimited by a white circle with a black line through it. For those in the know, this means 60 mph on single carriageways, or 70 mph on dual carriageways. I found this out upon doing a google search when I got back home last night. Why they couldn’t just put the numbers up, I don’t know.

The weather on Saturday was miserable, but I ignored it and headed up Pen y Fan, the highest point in the Beacons, for an inspiring view of clouds and sideways showers. The approach and escape involved some slightly sketchy driving along single lane country roads, enclosed by two metre high hedges on both sides - this seems to be a thing in Wales. If you come across a car travelling the other way (which, being Britain, you undoubtedly will), somebody is going to have to reverse, possibly quite a long way.

Sunday was much nicer, so I went for a wander on the ridge above two lakes, Llyn y Fan Fach and and Llyn y Fan Fawr, getting some impressive views along the way.