The Great British Cheese Festival, 2008

This was its first outing to Wales and it made its debut in the fabulous surroundings of Cardiff Castle. Luckily the weather was with us and the 7,000 or so visitors enjoyed the real ales, ciders and perry, as well as the cheeses and other delicious artisan foods on offer, in warm golden sunshine.

Despite its distance from the Castle we elected to stay in our favourite Cardiff hotel, Jolyons (www.jolyons.co.uk) with its delicious wood-fired pizzas in its cosy bar Cwtch.

The Bay is certainly lively; I was awakened at 2am one morning by a drunk hitting the side of the metal fence surrounding a nearby building site. Our host remonstrated with him, not particularly for making a noise, but for his racist comments- an impressive upholding of The Right Way To Behave.

On Friday evening we took advantage of cheap seats at the Millennium Centre (www.wmc.org.uk) and enjoyed an OUTSTANDING performance of The Barber of Seville by the hugely talented Welsh National Opera. We were so full up with music we didn’t actually need to eat that evening, but on Saturday we had a first class steak at Garcon in the Bay (www.garcon-resto.co.uk).

After the show on Sunday we had a little stock left and the hosts of the venue liked our gift packs, placed an order and we delivered it same day with no carriage charge. So to all those who say there is nowhere in Cardiff to buy Halen Môn please visit the Castle in the centre where there is a good range of gifts. With an almost empty car we next drove to Aberaeron, where we stayed in the Harbourmaster Hotel (www.harbour-master.com). This gem of a place is a perfect mix of comfort, style and astoundingly beautiful views. The staff were universally welcoming, the service was excellent and the food, well, it deserves to be written about in full. The portions aren’t so big as to preclude eating 2 or even 3 courses. This is a definite advantage as far as I am concerned as I am often reduced to stealing the odd spoonful of someone else’s pudding or cheese. I started with a simple green salad, impeccably dressed, and accompanied with home baked bread and delicious butter served on a small bread board.

I followed this up with our knowledgeable waitress’ suggestion: roast hake. This came with chorizo, black pudding and butterbeans and was delicious. We shared a cheese plate, choosing from a good selection of Welsh farmhouse cheeses including some unpasteurised ones, and they were served with candied red pepper and onion marmalade and homemade oatcakes. Finally we shared a plate of roasted fresh figs with a vanilla cream and honeycomb pieces.

What a meal! And they serve Halen Môn sea salt! This was research at its best, eating a lovely meal after a second successive week end of working, and enjoying every morsel. Our dreams were lapped with the gentle sounds of waves and boats bobbing around in the harbour and we enjoyed an excellent Welsh breakfast the next morning before we set off to drive to Aberystwyth. We had a long term appointment to look round a private, beautifully engineered hydro electric power scheme in Mid Wales, and spent a happy few hours on a guided tour followed by a swim in the stunning pool which acted as a heat sink. Many thanks to Charles George for his time and generous sharing of knowledge; we hope to use as much as possible to make our own processes more economical and sustainable.