The weather was
definitely warmer in Wales, still cloudy and sometimes rain but a
warmer breeze. We found the countryside very pretty and the towns
very charming. Since now we had a few extra days we drove to the
nearest bigger town called Harvestfordwest and went to a tourist
office to get information on what was on in Wales. We found that
there was a big music week going on in a place called Llangollen
(sounded Lhangolhen, yes it is possible to sound an H straight after
an L but only just). It was 175 miles and we took the route up the
coast and through Snowdonia most of being scenic roads. On the way we
kept ourselves occupied by having turns at trying to pronounce the
Welsh place and road names, try these – Mynydd Preseli, Eglwyswrw,
Bryhoffnant, Ysbyty-Cynfyn, you get the idea!
Unfortunately we
arrived right at the end of the Eisteddfod and all the events had
finished except for the grand finale of Nigel Kennedy in concert.
However Llangollen is a very pretty town and we found a nice park to
stay in and went for a walk along the canal which runs alongside the
river. This canal was originally built to carry minerals etc to a sea
port but is now only used for leisure boats. It travels across two
amazing viaducts of stone and steel about 130 feet high.
We had the good luck to
go to a small motor museum there also and Carol got talking to the
owners and they told us about a guy living in a nearby town who had
all sorts of old motorbike parts. Kent has a 1949 Norton ES2 which he
wants to restore in the future, he has almost all the parts and just
needs a magdyno and clutch in the main. We headed north to Wrexham
where the guy lives and he said to come tomorrow so we nipped up to a
lovely city called Chester to fill in our time.
Chester is a walled
city full of tudor style buildings and very picturesque. We arrived
there at 8pm and walked about the city and walls until it was dark
(it gets dark at around 10.30pm). Next morning we headed back to
Wrexham and met Eldon Owen who has a huge shed full of old motorbikes
and parts. He knew his stuff and soon had Kent sorted with each of
the things he needed, old parts in need of restoration but good as
they could be considering their age. He had fully restored parts but
they were a bit expensive for us, he gave us a great price on the
parts and the only worry we now have is what we have to throw out to
be able to get the weight of them home! Anyone needing parts for old
bikes whip us a quick email and we will send you his info.
From there we drove
back down the centre of Wales over a beautiful moor just before the
Brecon Beacons and stopped a night in Brecon, a town where the
buildings were built and the streets added as an afterthought. We
woke to find a food caravan (piecart to Kiwis) knowing we would need
early refreshment had conveniently set up nearby, in the drizzle we
stood under his shelter and chatted about travel while having bacon &
eggs and coffee. Onward to Swansea. Kents drivers license this time
is running out so we thought we would change it for an English one
but when we got to the DVLA it was too expensive so we drove, in
yukky weather, through and out to Mumbles on the peninsular then went
to the excellent museum near there.
Eastward ho toward
England again, we headed up a 'B' road (they are usually more
interesting) and found ourselves climbing way up high (England high
you must realise). We got some beautiful views before the weather
suddenly closed right in and we found ourselves driving in low
cloud/fog. We pulled over for a faster driver to pass us and a few
minutes later met him again when we found him stopped on the side of
the road having hit and killed a sheep and damaged his car. We were
headed for Tongwynlais as we decided on our last day in Wales to see
a few of their 641 castles and Castle Coch (said Cork) is there. We
were going to park in a forest picnic area but it turned out to be a
really dodgy place with quite strange goings on, 'nuf said. We
luckily had met a lovely woman when we arrived who had been walking
her dog who invited us to park in the carpark of her pub up and
around the corner. We headed there and had a very nice chatty evening
with her and her daughter and friends. One of her workers is a kiwi
girl so we had a connection, in the morning she offered the use of
her shower and gave us breakfast, how wonderful! One of the couples
we met in the pub said they had a VW Passat estate younger than ours
rotting away at their farm if we wanted any parts so the next day we
headed there and got some mats and the rear window wiper (ours never
worked, now great) and other small bits and pieces needed including a
new brake hose. Kent did the running repairs while we were there and
we were on our way. We saw Castle Coch (completely reconstructed and
beautiful) then Castle Caerphilly (largest castle in Wales complete
with double moat) raced across to Cheptstow Castle (hangs on a cliff
over a river in a really cute town) catching it just before it closed
for the day. Headed north to cross the Severn up by Gloucester
staying on the Welsh side of the border, passing Tintern Abbey
(stunning) and staying the night in the Forest of Dean (really is a
forest).
Next stop England
again.
