yesterday my lover and I had few hours together West, so went to Neath Abbey. Neither of us had been there for years and I was telling him that last time I went I was given this amazing outsized key to one of the room there. There is a little house with immaculate garden next to the abbey that sells guides. The elderly gentleman was in garden so we checked it was OK to park where we were.

And as we walked past, the lady of the house appeared with the key which she gave to us. It's a massive thing that looks like something from an adventure story. We had lovely wander around the abbey and the key was to a wonderful vaulted chamber with a collection of ancient tiles and bits of masonry. It was the monks sitting room and may have later been a servants' hall:

Only fragmented remains of the cloister and domestic ranges can be found among the ruins of the Tudor mansion, but there is one remarkable chamber of the Cistercian monastery that has survived almost intact. Originally the monks' day room, this splendid rib-vaulted undercroft was probably used as the servants' hall when the Tudor house was created. By the end of the 17th century the mansion was no longer occupied, its structure later utilised to provide basic housing for the men working the copper-smelting furnaces on site. By the end of this era, Neath Abbey must have been virtually unrecognisable.

http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/abbeys/neath%20abbey.html
http://www.neath-porttalbot.gov.uk/tourism/heritage/neath_abbey.cfm

After our mooch we had lunch and a wander around Neath.

Today I had to go into work for a few hours and my lover came down to spend time with me. I left him coffee and cakes and returned to him doing my housework! I cooked us lunch, then we looked at pics from yesterday and just gossiped and lazed for a few hours.

I shall post some pics of Abbey site. My only regret is I didn't think to take pic of key!