Wales (4), England Phase 2

On Saturday morning it was time to pack up and head back to England so that we wouldn't have to rush to make our plane from Heathrow on Monday night. After packing up and saying our goodbyes to Lisa at the Cottages, we headed east on the A44 which would take us through Llangurig and Rhyader and eventually to Worcester. As we progressed eastwards the nature of the countryside changed from the wildish terrain of the Cambrian Mountains and then through between the Brecon Beacons to the south and the Black Mountains to the north until, in Herefordshire it was back to rolling fields and hedgerows. The closer we got to Worcester the more 'English' the countryside became.

We had thought to stay a night at Worcester but the Saturday traffic in the city was so dreadful that we couldn't bear the thought of trying to find somewhere to stay in the mad melee so carried on eastwards. Stratford-upon-Avon is only about 25 miles away from Worcester so it seemed like a good alternative. It was busy in Stratford too but we parked the car and had a walk around the town. It was again wuite busy but more with tourists than stressed out shoppers. We couldn't find suitable accomodation in Stratford but the lady at the information centre found us a room at Salford Manor just north of Evesham. This turned out to be quite a nice hotel set in a bit of land just outside Salford village. It had originally been a guest house for Salford Priory and dated back to the 1500s. We didn't discover the only flaw for our stay until we went to bed that night - the bedsprings were totally knackered and we had to sleep hanging onto the sides of the bed to avoid crashing together in the middle. There's always something!

Apart from the bed the Salford Manor hotel was good. At dinner, Pat couldn't face anything on the menu so asked for just a poached egg on toast which they had not the slightest hesitation in accepting on the order. When you get service like that it highlights the contrast between that and the 'must stick to the script' restaurants which seem to be the norm. Our room was not in the main building but in another separate wing but only a short stroll to the main building for dinner, and for breakfast the following morning. Memo to self - check the bed in future to make sure it doesn't date from the same era as the building!

Wales (4)

Friday being our last full day in Wales we decided to head south along the coast. We took a detour to New Quay which seemed to be a typical coastal holiday village before cointinuing to Cardigan where we hoped to spend a bit more time. Our inexperience with local customs showed mightily when we turnd off the main road into Cardigan. (We should have been warned by the fact that an earlier turn into the town was blocked off). We discovered that Friday is market day in Cardigan (and probably in many other country towns). The streets were crammed with stalls, pedestrians, and very slow-moving one-way traffic - a bit like an Ikea store. We followed down through the town looking for a carpark which we eventually found down on the quayside but was full to overflowing.

Negotiating our way out of the car park we still had to follow the one-way system which lead us back to the main road - at the junction which had been blocked off when we approached from the north so we had no option but to turn onto the highway heading north! We could have turned around further on and headed back south again past Cardigan but didn't really have sufficient motivation. We stopped in Aberaeron for lunch and a walk around on the way back. We found a little cafe on the main road which seemed to be the right sort of place for us to eat but it turned out to be the unfriendliest place we had come across in all of our travels. After waiting for some sort of indication that they might be interested in finding out what we wanted, we got up and walked out. Its doubtful that they even noticed!

Since we had re-packing to do and expected to be travelling further on Saturday we headed back to our cottage and a bit of veging-out.

Wales (3)

Thursday morning we decided to head northwards. The intention was to visit Porthmadog and Portmeirion, travelling up on the slightly inland A470 and then drive back down the coast on the A496. Being another sunny day, the drive north through Machynlleth and Dolgellau was very pleasant and showing us a variety of scenery from rolling pastures, wooded hills, and sub-alpine terrain. Heading along the coast of Tremadoc Bay we called in at Portmeirion and had a bit of a look around but decided not to actually go into the purpose built village. It is regarded by sum as a 'folly' of Sir Clough Williams-Ellis who built the place about 75 years ago.

Porthmadog was a suitable place for lunch although the little cafe we chose wouldn't have won any awards. We pushed on through Porthmadog to Tremadog intending to circle back east off the A498 and pick up the road heading south-west through Maentwrog (B4410). However, our Collins road map let us down once again and we only discovered our error just before reaching Beddgelert while waiting at a road works traffic signal. Ho - hum! Ah well, checking the infamous map once again we could see that continuing north-east would actually take us past Mt Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) and then we could loop across to the east through Capel Curig and Betws-y-Coed. From there we could turn south again.

As it turned out, I enjoyed the drive although Pat wasn't so chuffed as she was on the side of the car next to the steep drop-off into the valley below. We stopped at a viewpoint which had a good outlook of Mt Snowdon and also the valley to the south of where we were. The sun was still shining but there was a lot of black cloud around which gave some peculiar lighting challenges - particularly looking back down the valley to where the sunlight was reflecting off Lake Gwynnan.After leaving the viewpoint we headed north east past Pen y Pass on on to Capel Curig. On this section the road is mainly following the high valleys with substantial mountains on either side so it is very beautiful. (You might have guessed that I like mountain country).

We didn't linger in either Capel Curig or Betws-y-coed but turned south towards the slate capital of Blaenau Ffestiniog and, a little further south, Ffestiniog. Since we had taken an unexpected detour it was a bit later in the day than we had anticipated so we decided just to head back down to Aberystwyth the way that we had come. The return journey was somewhat slower than our northbound trip as, for many miles, we were following a house on the back of a truck and there were very few places where it would have been viable to overtake. The driver certainly seemed to know his job as he negotiated narrow lines and one-way sections through villages caused by parked vehicles. Even travelling behind the truck it didn't take too long for us to get to Aberystwyth again to round off another day.

Wales(2)

To sample some more of the Welsh scenery we drove inland on the A485 to take us to Devil's Bridge by way of Tregaron and then via the B4343 through Pontrhydfendigaid (no the keyboard didn't go crazy) and 'Ysbyty Ystwyth' (and no, the keyboard didn't forget where the 'rest' of the vowels are). Incidentally 'Ysbyty Ystwyth' contains two 'vowels' - 'w' and 'y'.

Again it was a very pleasant day and quite a good drive along these much smaller country roads. There is a very pleasant village at Devil's Bridge, situated at the head of Rheidol Valley, which is a bit of a tourist spot but most of the touristy stuff was already closed down for the winter. You can still pay by coins to get through the turnstile and walk the tracks but Pat wasn't interested in walking and I satisfied my exercise needs by walking back down from the carpark to have a look from the side of the bridge.
This shot is looking directly down from the upstream side of the bridge at the narrow cataract. The present bridge is actually the third one on the spot and the first two are still underneath it. From downstream you can see all three bridges, the first one built in (I think) the 13th century, and the second (I think) in the 18th century. Apparently Devil's Bridge is a common name given to bridges in narrow, hazardous locations.

Heading away from Devil's Bridge we headed back down the Rheidol Valley towards Aberystwyth where we had lunch and then back to the cottage. Although the distance we travelled wasn't great it had been slow going because of the narrow roads and, in any case, we wanted time to appreciate the Landscape.

Chancery, Aberystwyth

To get to Aberystwyth from Cardiff, we took the M4 west past Swansea to the point where it divides into the A48 and A483 at Pont Abraham. The A483 would take us north to Llanwrda where we could take a left and head across towards the coast at Aberaeron on the A482. Now that we were on real Welsh roads the nature of the driving changed quite a lot. The roads are much windier and narrower with some sections through the smaller towns where only one-way traffic is viable because of cars parked on the main road. I got a little bamboozled in Ammanford and turned right instead of left. Again the unfamiliar destination names give it away so we stopped, consulted the map, and headed back a short distance to pick up the road we should have been on.

After turning on to the A482 at Llanwrda the country was much hillier and the road even narrower and windier but it was very scenic and the weather was continuing to be kind. When making the booking for the cottage I had suggested it would take us maybe 2 - 2.5 hours to get there from Cardiff. In the event it was more like 3.5 but no matter because we weren't in any burning hurry. Lisa's directions to find the farm and cottages from the south were spot on and in a short time after arriving we were getting settled in.
The cottages were originally a stables and tack room but had been well fitted out inside with all mod-cons and even a few little extras provided by Lisa.

After unpacking we headed into Aberystwyth to stock up on the necessary supplies. It was moderately busy in the town but again, with a bit of nose-following, we found a supermarket where we could stock up. Aberstwyth is right on the coast and is quite a pleasant town with adequate facilities. It is the home of the Welsh National Library which is quite an imposing building up on the hill behind the town. Like many country towns they have had to install a one-way system to cope with traffic flow through the narrow streets.

One of the most difficult things we encountered in Wales was the language - particularly trying to get our tongues around Welsh place names. I'd thought Russian was hardish - particularly with the Cyrillic alphabet - but Welsh is on another plane altogether!

Cardiff, Wales

We left Bath on the Monday morning, having drunk enough Bathwater for a lifetime (joke). We were heading to Cardiff primarily to obtain information on self-catering accomodation in either Pembrokeshire or Cardiganshire - we weren't too fussed which. We had been to Wales only once in about 1973 when we decided to head over to North Wales from where we were living in Long Whatton, Leicestershire. On that occassion we journeyed via Shrewsbury towards Wrewxham, turning off to Llangollen and then through Betws y Coed to Bangor, returning along the North Coast via Conwy, Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl and Chester. That time we had planned to overnight somewhere although we were pretty strapped for funds. In the end we just kept on driving and ended up back at home after a lightning one-day tour of North Wales. The memories of the trip still remain though and we wanted to see more of the Welsh countryside this time.

From Bath to Cardiff you are pretty much stuck with motorways unless you want to go a long way out of your way. We took the slightly more northerly M48 via Severn View although that rejoins the M4 fairly soon.

We had arranged to stay at the Novotel in Cardiff which is close to the city centre where we could visit the city information centre to obtain the details of self-catering holidays that we needed. When I rang up to book the hotel from Bath I tried to tell the Lithuanian booking receptionist that I wanted to use one of our hotel vouchers as you are supposed to let them know when you are making a booking. She didn't have a clue what I was talking about and neither did the Chinese girl she passed me on to so I told them not to bother, just make the booking and we could sort it out on check in. When we arrived at the hotel I went through the same rigmarole again without any luck so the receptionist called the manager to help sort it out. He pointed out to me that the vouchers stated that they were only valid for a certain period which had already passed. After eating humble pie and just paying with Visa I resolved to sort that matter out back in Australia as it was obviously an error. Anyway we checked in. This was one of the best hotels that we stayed in although not the most expensive.

After sorting out our stuff we headed for the city centre on foot and found the information centre. The guy was most helpful and gave us a heap of stuff to take away and study to work out what we would do. We lunched at a pub on Church Street just down from the castle. I had braised faggots and peas which was delicious and washed down with a half of Cider.

Back at the hotel we perused the brochures and eventually settled on trying to get a cottage just outside of Aberystwyth. On ringing up I was told that a cottage was available for the four nights we wanted to we made the booking at Blue Glass Cottages at Chancery near Aberystwyth in Cardiganshire.