Having left Sheffield we headed for Tredegar House caravan site, where we have stayed before. Turns out it isn’t in Tredegar, who knew? In my defence I wish to put it on record that it wasn’t me who left the book with the directions in at home. To add to the problem, we had accidentally pressed mute on the new satnav without realising it (this probably was me), so lacked verbal instructions. The Welsh detour was to see the Strictly Professionals Show (this time I was delivering a birthday present), so more angst about finding the venue. I was a little less concerned about accessing tickets via my phone this time, having cracked it in Sheffield. Instead, the major stress factor was, will there be a parking place? This was exacerbated when we learned that Beyonce was playing to a 74,000 strong crowd in Cardiff on the same evening. We did have to wind our way up to the sixth floor of the multi-story car park but we did find a space. The main drawback of the evening was the people sitting next to me who chatted in very loud voices the whole way through. Perhaps they thought they were auditioning for Gogglebox. Hard stares from all around made no impact. They also decided they couldn’t wait until the interval to get drinks – cue squeezing past from the middle of the row along the very narrow gap between seats. This was followed by the slopping of cider over a few hapless audience members on their return journey and yes, the inevitable results of copious amounts of cider consumption, which couldn’t wait until the interval either. Maybe people should have to sit an etiquette entrance test before being allowed in to theatres, sporting or concert venues.

Concert over, we went to play find the car. The lift queues in the multi-story car park were impressive, so we opted for the stairs. By the fourth floor this seemed like a less good idea and I debated whether it was time to remember that I allegedly have a heart condition. Fortunately we weren’t amongst those who didn’t realise that you had to pay on the ground floor before finding your car.

Time in Wales allowed us to pay some return visits, first to Tredegar House, which was on our doorstep and was home to the Morgan family before more recent generations squandered the assets on partying and the house became home to a convent school. Not sure how well the ‘classical’ wall paintings would have gone down but apparently they remained on view.

We also went back to St Fagans. You really do need more stamina than we have to see all it has to offer in one day, so it was a good opportunity to see bits we missed last time. There was an excellent exhibition about Welsh life, with artefacts representing several thousand years of history. Next we went to the weaving shed, where today’s activity was spinning on a loom that spun and wound eighty bobbins at once. We walked round the lovely gardens and looked at several of the reconstructed buildings that have been brought on site from all over Wales. My favourites were the row of miners’ cottages that were each furnished to represent a different era. Now home and with a busy time ahead.