Week 119 · Wales & Devon · The English Riviera
Wales
Back to the UK this week — took care of some medical issues and getting settled. Most of the week was in a conference room. Most of the weekend free — made a quick trip to Wales for lunch then down to Devon. Spectacular scenery.
Again most of the week was with my colleagues in a conference room — of course US politics came up and luckily I could counter our situation with Brexit (Britain leaving the EU). Professionally, we developed different scenarios for energy policy and the matrix of Trump/moderate GOP/Hillary/Bernie versus Brexit (yes/no) was pretty much meaningless because of the wide ranging variation, especially when the participants are from different countries. President Obama was here too — he had been pretty popular until he dipped his toe in the Brexit fight.
Although most experts agreed it would be an economic setback for the UK, it is the self-governance issue that upset the Brits, as the USA would never agree to the same terms. An analogy — and maybe not a good one — is if NAFTA was converted from an economic agreement to a political agreement where small countries could band their votes together to force the USA to change their laws. That is why even people who were against Brexit were not happy with President Obama — the USA would never stand for it.
Made a quick trip to Wales for lunch — Cardiff is only about an hour from the Cotswolds and worth the detour. The old and new assembly buildings sit alongside Cardiff Bay, and scattered throughout the Welsh countryside are random castles that appear completely without warning.
The Senedd (Welsh Parliament building) and the Wales Millennium Centre visible in Cardiff Bay were built following the 1997 devolution referendum in which Wales voted narrowly for its own assembly. The National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd Cymru) was established in 1999. Cardiff has been the capital of Wales since 1955 — making it one of the most recently designated capitals in Europe. Wales has the highest concentration of castles of any country in the world, with over 600 recorded sites.
Most pictures are from Torquay to Salcombe on the southwest coast — facing France. It is called the English Riviera — on a sunny day it is not an overstatement. Although chilly in the high 50s and low 60s.
The English Riviera is the collective name for the coastal resort towns of Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham on Torbay in Devon, facing south toward France across the English Channel. The area has the mildest climate in mainland England due to the Gulf Stream, and palm trees grow along the seafront. Torquay was the birthplace of Agatha Christie (1890–1976) and the area inspired several of her novels. Dartmouth, at the mouth of the River Dart, has been a Royal Navy training base since 1863 — the Britannia Royal Naval College sits on the hillside above the town.
"It is called the English Riviera — on a sunny day it is not an overstatement."
