A Mini Welsh Tour - NEVER Trust The Sat-Nav

Wednesday 29th September

Day 1

We wanted to have a few days away, the weather forecast was appalling, we checked different parts on the country but everywhere going to be very wet and blowing a gale. Adele fancied going to the coast so we decided to make our way towards Wales, the idea was that if the weather was going to come from the west it would leave the west first.

We left home 8.45am for the hour or so drive to Chirk Castle, somewhere we haven't be too for nearly thirty years so were really looking forward to it, weather permitting. The drive was good and arrived about 10.30 to blue skies and sunshine but it was windy and quite cool, the van temperature gauge was showing 11 degrees and it felt like it. We checked in at the National Trust shop but were told that dogs were only allowed in certain parts of the grounds, we found a walk that took us out into farm land then out up onto the hills surrounding the castle with great views, it was a good trek and took us a good couple of hours, poor Izzy was worn out so we returned to 'Vera' for lunch.

Izzy was fast asleep so, after opening the sky lights we decided to leave her asleep whilst we went for a look around the Castle.

Chirk Castle was purchased by grocer, sugar trader and privateer Sir Thomas Myddelton in 1595, the lavish interior includes a 17th-century Long Gallery, grand parade of three 18th-century State Rooms with rich furniture, paintings and tapestries, the unique servants' hall, and the Chapel Music room furnished to display Chirk Castle’s connections to high society in the 1920s and 1930s. The award-winning gardens cover 5.5 acres of manicured lawns, clipped yews, herbaceous borders, beautiful rose, shrub and rock gardens.

Time was pressing so we moved on to Llangollen as we wanted to check out the World Heritage aqua-duct site, having found the car park we walked along the canals to the aqua-duct, Adele had one look and decided it wasn't for her, I carried on, and in all fairness it wasn't for the faint hearted, canal one side, a narrow path on the other AND very high up.

Having had a good day it was now time to find a stop over, there was a park up along side the river at an adventure centre, we left Chirk and followed the sat-nav, which took us alongg the narrowest roads I have ever seen, squeezing past cttages in sleepy hamlets and down lane that hadn't seen a campervan before there were only inches to spare, on arrival at the stop over we found they wanted £12.00 for the night, we thought that this was too much so went for a CL/CS site, the first wouldn't take dogs the second one we tried did, the Sat-Nav took us up over the Llantisillo mountains on a very narrow road with steep drops on one side and trees on the other, quite hairy at times - note to myself - Never trust the Sat-Nav.

The site Plass Newydd was lovely, we parked up, plugged in and started tea, we had hens running around, we sat with the side door open with a G&T as the sun and temperature dropped, Adele cooked tea and I started the diary and downloaded the photos and video. Its going to be a quiet night, we just hope that the forecast isn't as bad as they have said.

Thursday 30th September

Day 2

We woke just before eight, had showers using the sites facilities which were spotlessly clean then had a full English with fresh eggs from the free range chickens on site.

After breakfast we topped up & slopped out and took the easier route from the site to Llangollen via the Horseshoe pass, well worth the detour even though the weather wasn't brilliant the views were probably more dramatic with the mists and heavy clouds.

We parked up in Llangollen and took a walk along the river and watched white water canoeists in the rapids, we stopped off at the Llangollen Heritage Railway and watched as a train arrived.

The town was busy with a good mix of shop, pubs and eateries, we found a traditional delicatessen selling Welsh Oggies, pastries filled with meat and vegetables, legend has it the Welsh Oggie was first served to the 12th century builders of St. Davids Cathedral - 600 years before the Cornish pasty appeared, so lunch was decided.

Time was getting on and before we knew it it was late afternoon, we had planned to move towards the coast today but was too late for this now so we returned to last nights stop over at Plas Newydd Caravan and Motorhome CL so we could take a well deserved relax after all the walking today and would head westward tomorrow. We pitched up and plugged in then caught up with photos, video and the blog diary.

Keni enjoying an unexpected extra night at Plas Newydd CAMC CL

Friday 1st October

Day 3

Woke at 8.00am after quite a bad night, we had strong winds and heavy rain, it was grey and misty, our plans for the day may need to change.

We showered and had breakfast, our eggs were supplied by these lovely ladies

As we finished breakfast the skies started to clear after clearing up we stopped to talk with Alison, the owner of this CL, who told us about her 'girls' she has 5 chickens of different breeds who are all fully free range, they have a coop but are never locked away.

Plas Newydd CL has been a lovely stop over for the last couple of nights whose facilities have been spotless, even the water taps and EHU post were wiped down daily.

We left the site just after 11.00am, the skies were now bright so our original plans were back on, we drove the 40 odd miles across to Bala Lake, drove the scenic route around the lake past the Bala Railway and back to town, there were good parking spots all around the lake especially for MoHos (no height barriers) we settled on the main car park right next to the lake, so close we almost got Veras' wheels wet, parking charges were £3.00 for four hours or £6.00 for all day.

We were going for a walk into town but the wind was very cold and was about to rain so decided to have lunch, an artisan pork pie we bought yesterday from Llangollen, finished off with some tiffin and bread pudding.

We snoozled in the van watching the waves on the lake as the wind was so strong, I could have almost surf them, well not quite.

We phone a couple of sites, the first was closed but would allow us to park for £20.00! (facilities shut) the second had space, again £20.00 but had all facilities. As it was now well after 4 o'clock we made our way back around the lake towards the heritage railway, the site, a Camping and caravanning club CS, Bwch yu Uchaf, was right next to it, it was also next to the Afon Twrch.

We sat overlooking the superb views reading, writing 'Veras Blog' with a gin and tonic that Charlotte & Luc bought us for our anniversary, its turned out to be another great day.

We prepared tea, tonight will be lamb steaks with dauphinoise potatoes followed by some goats cheese, the maybe another game of Scrabble.

Saturday 2nd October

Day 4

Woke after a night of rain, over breakfast we remade our plans.

We left Bala on A4212 past Llyn Celyn along the river Tryweryn then took a detour to Blaenau Ffestiniog to visit the railway but the rain was incessant to we carried on to Porthmadog to get supplies for lunch. We back tracked on the A496 to take the coast road home, past Harlech and its castle, it's still raining. 

We pulled in to Llandanwg, the beach car park was empty, Adele put kettle on and I took Izzy for a walk on the beach, there wasn't a soul about, probably because it was still raining and blowing a gale, Izzy wasn't happy either and wanted to go back to the van, on our walk back over the sand dunes we came across a church in the dunes, the medieval St Tanwgs, known as 'the church in the sand' a real gem of a find.

Back at the van we had lunch, it was still raining.

After a short snoozle we carried on past Tal-y-bont to Barmouth where the clouds were rolling down the hillside, we then headed towards home.

We have had a great few days and apart from Saturday the weather has been better than forecasted, we have had some good walks, been to some new spots, stayed at some great campsites and almost got stuck on the narrowest of roads. 

Trip Details:

Miles: 316

Ave MPG: 30.7 
Fuel Cost: £ 65.34 / £1.399 ltr

Car Parking: £ 8.80

Nights: 3

Camp Fees: £ 54.00

Camp Ave per night: £ 18.00

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We put our holiday photos in to small slideshows and videos which are uploaded on to our YouTube Channel, benivanadventures, they are not professionally produced but give a feeling of the area and places we visit - Click on the link below: 

A Mini Welsh Tour - Chirk Castle

A Mini Welsh Tour - Llangollen, Bala, Llandanwg

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