Three men in a boat - 2nd to
5th July
2019
(Click
the
photo to see a larger picture in a slide show.)
Thanks to Rob for the notes and photos.
Having
just sorted out his Honda 400/4 Howard was keen to give it a test. He
and Rob
decided that a few days around North Wales would be a good trip. The
White
Lion Royal Hotel at Bala was chosen, as Bala offered the
possibility of
good rides in the area. Mike Shackell heard about it and he was keen to
come
too.
So on
Tuesday 2nd July Howard and Mike left Caerphilly and picked up Rob on
the way north.
The route was A470 to Rhayader, for lunch, then the B4518 from
Llanidloes. This
quiet and hilly road is one we have used on a Dragon Tour and is well
suited to
motorcycling. We saw very little traffic. Re-joining the A470
we
continued on to the outskirts of Dolgellau, where the A494 took us on
to Bala.
As our only stop was for lunch we were glad to park up and book in. The
ride
although some 130 miles was enjoyable as the sweeping bends made for
good
riding and the views were certainly lovely. After
booking in we had a stroll around Bala main street and down
to Llyn Tegid
before returning to the hotel for a few beers, food and a discussion of
where
to go on Wednesday.
On
the
Wednesday we decided on a ride to Llanberis to get the train up
Snowdon.
Leaving Bala we took a back road through a narrow valley, with lovely
views,
which then joined the main A5. Even this road wasn't too busy and at
Capel
Curig we turned off on to the road leading to Nant Perris and Snowdon.
We
passed the farm and lakes which were the Dragon Rally site where I
camped with
Brian Gray and Bruce and Diane back in 1994. (It was a lot warmer today
than it
was back in that February.) Dropping down past Pannar Pass we soon
pulled up
outside the Snowdon Mountain Railway station. We then hit problems. The
first
was no where to park unless we forked out £4 each. Spotting a side
street we
nipped up it but had no luck - double yellow lines and resident only
parking.
Just as we were discussing our options a lady and her husband kindly
offered to
let us park on their drive. It turned out they had an Austin 7 and a
pre-war
bike. We had a look at these before heading to the station and problem
number
2. No room on the train.... fully booked! Howard and Mike
decided to take
a stroll up the foothills of Snowdon but I, since there were no Sherpas
around
and it was boiling hot in biking clothes, decided to go and find a cafe
and
have a cuppa instead. About 40 minutes later Hillary and Tensing
(Howard and
Mike) joined me. They said they had made the summit but I wasn't too
sure.
We
fired
up the Hondas, said thanks to the husband and wife and rode off on a
circular
tour towards Caernarfon and on to Porthmadog. Here we had our lunch in
a shady
square overlooking the harbour to the echo of seagulls and the odd
steam train
whistle. Walking to the station at the end of the Cob we were able to
see a
Welsh Highland Railway train leave for Caernarfon headed by a Garratt
and later
a Ffestiniog train leaving in the opposite direction being pulled by a
Double
Fairlie. Howard got chatting to its driver who turned out to be living
in
Caerphilly.
Leaving
Porthmadog we crossed the Cob and then turned inland towards
Trawsfynydd
passing the man made
lake
on our right and the big square buildings of the old nuclear power
station.
From here the A4212 took us on a winding route towards Capel Celyn and
the
still waters of Tryweryn, the valley and community which was drowned to
provide
water for Liverpool. Another
sunny day ended with some good miles covered on very suitable
motorcycle
friendly roads and food back at the hotel.
We
decided that on Thursday we would head to Llangollen then on to
Llandudno and
the Great Orme. It was only a short hop to Llangollen and we decided to
visit
the Motor Museum. It is owned and run by the son of the original owner
and was
very interesting and well worth the £5 entry fee especially when they
looked
after our bikes, helmets and jackets while we walked along the canal to
town.
The weather was still sunny and very hot. The International Music
Festival was
on and the place was full. We could hear some of the choirs singing as
we
walked along. We
decided, after lunch, to take a trip on the canal, which is where the
boat comes into our story. Our jaunt was by bus
out of
town with the return trip being by canal barge across the Pontcysyllte
aqueduct
and back along the canal. A much more leisurely journey at 4 mph than
on the
bikes. The view from the aqueduct is spectacular especially as there is
no
railing on the one side as you look straight down onto the River Dee
below. This
put paid to our planned ride to Llandudno so we headed home
stopping at
Corwen to photograph the statue of Owain Glyndwr.
Friday
was our day to return south and so we decided to take the coast road
with some
detours. Loaded up, after breakfast, we set off and not far from Bala
hit roads
which had recently been tarmacked with chippings. Not a good
start with
speeds down below 20mph. Our route took us to Dolgellau and the A493
around the
coast (a B road to Tonfannau) toTowyn for a tea stop. The sun was still
shining
and the sea was bright blue. We could see Barmouth and the Llyn
Peninsular and
Bardsey Island to the north. Aberdovey was passed on the way to
Machynllech (another
memory of Dragon Tours) and on to Ynys Las and North before lunch on
the prom
at Aberystwyth. Heading south with the shining sea to our right we
called into
the pretty harbour at Aberaeron for a comfort break and ice cream. From
here it
was inland to Lampeter, a final petrol stop and cuppa at Llandovery
before the
Brecon Beacons and home. The
trip
was about 500 miles in 4 days with the longest journey being some 180
miles on
the Friday. We filled up some 6 times after covering about 100 miles
each time.
The weather was glorious, as was the scenery. The hotel was
comfortable. The
roads were lovely to ride. All three Hondas ran well and the riders
were tired
but had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Rob