Thu, 31 Oct 2002

author Tim	location Stow-on-the-Wold, The Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, England
posted 14:54 GMT	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Wales/North Wales ( all photos )

Books, books, books! ( 7 photos )

Awaking in our B&B, we wandered downstairs for a great breakfast where we could watch the ducks out the window. I was of course painted the bad guy by saying that no, we couldn't take a pair of ducks away with us, despite the lady being quite happy for that to happen, and Liz, of course, also being quite for the idea.
So we fed them for a little while, before being told that we could and should leave the car parked at the B&B and walk into town - Thursday is the day that the parking inspector is active, and market day as well. Love that local knowledge.
So we waddled into town, and spent a few hours wandering around the town that has more books in it than all the universities and libraries in Wales put together. We purchased a few good reading books (Liz is reading one to my right now), but I couldn't find a couple of specific ones I was after, even though I checked most of the fifty bookstores!
After having our fill, we left Wales behind for now and drove across the border towards the Cotswolds.

author Tim	location Hay-on-Wye, Wales
posted 19:04 GMT	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Wales/North Wales ( all photos )

Empty, Foggy, Empty Wales ( 16 photos )
Wales, for the moment at least, is on hold. We're still in it, but only by a mile or so.
This morning we left the hostel after a great Continental breakfast - a very welcome change from the "full cooked" we get almost everywhere. Heading straight down the road to the slate mine nearby.
Due to recent storm activity, there's lots of debris on the road. Following behind a semi-trailer which had to swerve to avoid it, we came across a large branch blocking half the road. Our SES training came back as Liz pulled the car up, and I did my best to clear it out in the 60mph zone. Just as I was tidying it up, my horrible knee reminded me that it had been a long time since it last played up badly, and promptly collapsed. Agony ensued. Suffice to say, it's nice and swollen, and Liz has been driving all day (quite well, I might add!).
Arriving at the slate mine, we went on an underground train tour, where we were shown how the mining was done 150 years ago - truly horrible conditions. These days, it's all done from the top, much faster, and with a little more regard for the humans doing the work. Not a bad way to spend the morning.
Driving South, we headed past several touristy places, and then into the big town of Aberystwyth. A few spins around the block found us the "i", where we learnt that the only thing interesting in the area that we had wanted to do - a thirteen mile narrow-guage train ride through the mountains - stopped last week. If we were going to be around, would we be interested in a ride next Easter?
By this stage getting a little late, we turned our thoughts to accommodoation. Possibilities included hostels (almost all closed), expensive hotels, or of course B&Bs. The "i" had told us that central Wales is almost as interesting as Northen Wales (not very).
So we drove directly East, heading for England, land of the non-Welsh speaking, and interesting things to see and do.
We are now in the town of Hay-on-Wye, famous for its bookshops which we intend to spend the best part of tomorrow exploring. The B&B is expensive, but very new, clean, and welcome after a fairly stressful day. This involved hilly drives through one-track roads at night in fog! One of the trips was to a YHA hostel about twenty miles from nowhere, which ended up being closed!
We're hoping to find a hostel for a couple of nights tomorrow and then drive to the airport to pick Margaret up! Wow, that's gone fast...

author Tim	location Capel Curig, Betws-y-Coed, Wales
posted 19:29 GMT	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Wales/North Wales ( all photos )

In and Around Snowdonia ( 26 photos )
New Photos Online!
Our muzak-free breakfast was better than we expected from a pub, and the landlord proved herself the friendly type, having friends in Marylands, Sydney.
Liz took Percy's reins, and we headed off towards the Isle of Anglesey - the bit of Wales at the North-West corner. Two bridges link it to the mainland, and we had to cross them before we found a town with a functional "i".
This ended up being the town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Those fifty-eight letters give it the longest place name in Britain, and that is the sole reason for its existance. Dreamt up purely to get the tourists in, it certainly managed to do so. We declined the offer to learn how to pronounce it.
Otherwise, only one place of interest was really found on the Isle - Beaumaris Castle. Built in 1295, the £3 we spent here was easily better than the cost for the castle the other day. It is mostly intact, and has a moat surrounding walls surrounding towers surrounding walls and towers. We took a walk around and through the walls, seeing all sorts of arrow slits and dark spaces. Well worthwhile.
After a nice lunch at a nearby tea room, we set off towards the Llyn Peninsula, just south of the Isle. Billed as the "most staunchly Welsh part of the country", we gathered that from just how little there was to do. In the vast quantity of literature we have accrued on Wales, nobody has anything interesting to say about the place.
We cut South missing most of the area, and headed inland North through Snowdonia National Park. Truly a beautiful area, the heavy fog combined with light rain is the most vivid image of Wales I have so far. A great deal of nice driving, and, perhaps next time, lots of nice walking.
There is a railway that goes up Snowdonia (highest mountain in England and Wales) to the summit, but the weather isn't making the £15 fare look worthwhile.
As it gets dark very early now (around 5pm), we are tending to look for accommodation earlier. Tonight we have ended up in the Capel Curig Youth Hostel, in our own room. Cooked a vegetable and rice dinner, and are now relaxing in the lounge, working out the plan for tomorrow.

author Tim	location Denbigh, Denbighshire, Wales
posted 08:13 GMT 29/10/2002	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Wales/North Wales ( all photos )

Into Northern Wales ( 1 photo )
(Continued from Carlisle 2).
It does all get quite different fairly suddenly as you go over the border, in terms of signs being in Welsh and also more subtley in terms of the general "feel" of the place. Hard to describe.
We came into Wales along the North coast, with no particular target other than a Tourist Information place. Which was closed for the season. So, next thought was to get some accommodation. After driving around with no idea where we were (back roads are quite messy here), looking for a B&B or similar, we stumbled upon a large town.
Still not knowing what town it was, we found a pub with accommodation which looked reasonable, and went inside. Speaking to the owner, we organised a room, negotiated rates, and had a pint while we awaited our room to be cleaned.
We eventually found out what the town was called by reading the notices on the corkboard! We had dinner here, and promptly crashed into bed.
Nearly breakfast time, we're going down hoping that the horrible Elton John muzak which seemed to be on infinite loop yesterday is at least called off for breakfast.
First stop is an "i", to work out what exactly is worth seeing in Wales in general.

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