Llangollen Aquaduct to Home

Another damp murky start to the day and not much prospect of improvement apparently. We had to leave the site by 10:30 and set off up the coast in a steady drizzle that made driving very tedious. By Portmadoc it had not improved so I set the GPS to take us  to Llangollen.  I set off following the route which took us 8 miles on a single track road over the Snowdonia hills with 50yds visibility at times in the drizzle and into the low clouds. Not much fun!

The Pontcysyllte Aquaduct near Llangollen was well worth a visit and it stayed dry for us to walk along the aerial towpath. Another impressive feat of British industrial engineering designed by Thomas Telford and a World Heritage site at the moment. We had drinks and a toastie at the nearby Baptist Chapel before taking the A5 and M6 back home. No sun at all again today. Not a very good Welsh break.

Barmouth in the rain

The day started dull and the forecast rain started around 11 on schedule. We decided to just take the train to Barmouth for a few hours and walked to station in a heavy shower to join the other travellers. There were about 25 wet adults and children waiting for the 10min (£1.50) ride. We found a cafe to have a light lunch and to see if the rain would ease up. It didn't and we spent the afternoon wandering around some of the interesting gift shops including the Nepalese bazaar where we bought Marks chicken whispers hat last year. It used up the time until we caught the 4 o'clock train back to Talybont. Rosemary made a chicken stir fry from raw ingredients and we ate inside. It's still drizzling. Fortunately the TV signal is OK thanks to assistance from Freepoint. We still have the ice cream in the freezing compartment.

Mid Wales break

We decided to try and catch up on lost time, due to the cold wet spring weather, by taking a 4 day break before the main school holidays. Booked 2 nights at the Talybont site, we have used before, by the Phwelli to Barmouth railway line. We called at Chilcot farm shop and cafe for lunch and buy some meat on a nice sunny day. Arrived at 4pm only 3 pitches left, a lot different to last year. Pitched up near the caravan with seagulls nest over the wall and enjoyed a pleasant evening meal on the Jamie with a glass of red. Apart from a few young school children running around the site was pretty quiet. We walked down to the beach and the entertainment complex was busy but not overly so.

Cotswolds Wildlife Park

We picked up discounted tickets and walked over the road to the park which was created in the grounds of Broadland House. It's biggest feature is a  huge white rhino enclosure with 6 of the endangered species. There are 250 animals and birds many on the at risk list.  It's a popular venue for school groups, the bus park was full with end of term outings. It was the hottest day of the year so far so we spent about 4 hours wandering around to see the camels, lion, giraffes, owls penguins and meercats etc  before we staggered back to the site. Put the England flags on the van to watch there Euro game. Rubbish game as usual!

First trip of the Year

It's been such a drab year of weather this is our first few days away in the van. We having 2 days in the Cotswolds near Burford. We stopped in Stow on the Wolds for lite unch and shop at Tesco for provisions on the way,  then at Dalesford just for coffee. The CMC site is quite small and right next to the Wildlife Park.