Day 6 - Hampton-in-Arden to Earl Shilton

We had a great time last night - as it was Jan's birthday, I thought it would be nice if instead of yet another evening with boring old Bob, she could spend it with some other people she loves. So I'd arranged for 6 family and friends to meet us at the restaurant of the White Lion Inn.


It was a complete surprise for Jan and she really enjoyed her birthday meal surrounded by her children, grandchild and friends. My only regret was that I hadn't managed to smuggle a Konditor and Cook birthday cake with us!


Next morning, after a long breakfast it was time to continue the ride. For todays leg I would be joined by our old friend Kevin.


The plan was that we would ride to Meriden "The village at the centre of England" and visit the Festival of Cycling that was supposed to be taking place there. However, when we got to the village green it was pretty much deserted, with the only other cyclist heading off to the fish and chip shop. There are a couple of memorials on the green, one commemorates all the cyclists killed during the First and Second World Wars, the other one (pictured above) is an ancient cross that indicates the middle of England. Technically however, the centre of England is a few miles to the north north-east. With nothing going on, Kev and I continued riding, there were no severe hills but sometimes a long drag can start to become hard work:



Do you lke my saddle? - it's becoming more comfortable by the day - I think my bottom has won the battle!

On reaching Nuneaton, we went onto a canal towpath to follow NCN52. Whilst we were taking this photo a bus went by that had been named "Larry Grayson". It made me chuckle but Kevin explained that Larry Grayson came from Nuneaton.



After a while NCN52 switches from the canal towpath to the course of an old railway which took us on for another couple of miles until it goes under the A5:
From here it was but a short ride to our intended lunch stop in the village of Stoke Golding, but as we got near I had a text to tell me that we were going to lunch elsewhere. It transpired that Jan and the others had stopped at a pub called the White Swan and had received a less than friendly welcome - in fact it was downright rude. The pubs loss - they would have sold seven dinners and drinks if they'd had any manners (or business acumen), instead we went a mile or so further on to a much, much better place - The Dog and Hedgehog. Here we had superb food and drink and friendly, attentive and excellent service. If you're ever in the vicinity of Stoke Golding (self-styled "Birthplace of the Tudor dynasty"), don't bother stopping there, go on to nearby Dadlington and visit the Dog and Hedgehog.


After lunch it was but a short ride on through Barwell and to our next overnight stop with our friends Julie and Kevin.


Stats:

Mileage: 25 miles
Average speed: 15 mph
Maximum speed: 29 mph

Day 5 - Day off for Jans birthday

To celebrate having a day off from travelling, oh, and Jans birthday, we had a bit of a lie in and didn't go down for breakfast until 09:00hrs - this is the latest we've been all week. Another Full English and another good breakfast. This prompted me to do a review of all the B&B's we've been to so far. Every one has been an absolute gem. They've all been spotlessly clean with freshly decorated rooms, good, crisp linen, free wifi and really good, modern en-suite bathrooms. The food at each one has been perfect -in fact we've slept and dined like lords!
Sunday night we stayed at Alandale in St.David's, Monday night at Maes-y-Derw Guest House in Newcastle Emlyn, Tuesday night at The Fron near Llangammarch Wells, Wednesday night at The Royal Oak at Burford, Tenbury Wells and Thursday night at The White Lion Inn in Hampton-in-Arden.

Anyway, back to today. We decided to go sightseeing in Warwick which is only a few miles from where we are staying. In the end we just visited the castle, but really enjoyed it.


The castle featured in the first ever series of Blackadder - it was the backdrop to the opening credits.


Anyway, Jan was giving me a bit of trouble so I found a way to keep her quiet whilst I enjoyed a tour of the castle:


The castle is owned and run by the same people that run Madame Tussauds and the London Eye and was quite enjoyable with themed rooms and displays but I must confess I missed the more explanatory style that the National Trust have in their houses and castles.

The castle is impressively sited on a rock outcrop beside the River Avon and, I learnt, managed to avoid getting destroyed in the Civil War by sitting on the fence until the last moment and then choosing the winning side! I visited the gaol in the base of one of the tower and imagined how crushingly bleak it would have been to be imprisoned there - basically one would have had no expectation of ever getting out!


This mound would have been where the original keep was built in 1068 - just two years after the Norman invasion. How many bl**dy Normans were there? in just a couple of years they seem to have been all over the country!


The castle features various actors playing the part of historic figures associated with the castle. as usual I find this hard to cope with - I know they're only acting and can't seem to get into the role I'm supposed to play!


I think the bear must be a motif for Warwick as it's all over the place. jan and I liked this fellow:


Outside in the gardens there are some model siege engines - here's one:


Here's a view of Warwick Cathedral(?) from the castle walls:


The courtyard has a number of tents hawking various attractions/products/foods and I think helps lend a medieval atmosphere to the place:

Finally I collected Jan:

and we went for stroll around the rose garden (it is her birthday after all!)


Jan doesn't know, but we've got some surprise guests joining us for dinner tonight! I've nearly blown the secret on a couple of occasions, but I think she's still oblivious - I'll know for sure in a couple of hours time. Photos to follow - I'd better recharge the camera.

Day 4 - Let's off-road!

The sun came out today and so did my legs - here I am just about to start off from the Royal Oak where we stayed last night:

I deliberately wore a bright yellow shirt because a big chunk of the days ride would be on A-roads.
I followed the A456 east as it went up and down from Tenbury to Bewdley. On the way I spotted this massive pub that seems to have joined the ranks of ex-pubs:
Over to the north I could see Clee Hill which has a number of radio, radar and even something that looks like an astronomic station:

After all the hills of the last three days I was hoping to have a flatter day but no, there were still hills to be tackled - this one at Clows Top climbed up over a couple of miles but went down a bit steeper:

I approached Bewdley through a couple of back streets and then emerging at the river I found it to be quite charming.

Here's its bridge over the River Severn:

This is the only memory I had from previous visits to Bewdley (but they were all on railway loco chasing trips):

Next I rolled into Kidderminster and, joy-of-joys, my favourite loco was just about to pull out of the station - a Black Five hauling a rake of LMS coaches:

A few miles later I realised I'd screwed up the mileage on my route sheet (again), but this time I was about 7.5 miles too short! I was passing through some pretty villages but couldn't really enjoy them as I was intent on trying to get to our lunch stop.

I'd phoned Jan a couple of times but couldn't get through and I was worried about her, so when I got the opportunity I took a more direct A road rather than the lanes I'd planned. Then Jan phoned to say she was at the lunch stop but there was no cafe. I realised I'd programmed the wrong destination into her Satnav - she soon worked out where she needed to be and I continued climbing up the last hill and then a few minutes later we met at Lickey Hills Country Park visitor centre. I was exhausted again but a mug of tea and a hot cornish pastie brought me back to the land of the living. Jan and I then went back nearer the car and sat on a blanket in a nice sunny spot and ate some sandwiches and custard tarts Jan had brought. We phoned Ali up and had a chat with her, but the afternoon was pressing on and I had to get riding again.

I didn't fancy the climb back to the park entrance but I noticed a bridleway ran through the park and came out on the road I wanted to be on so I took that instead - a half mile downhill off-road blast through some woods on slicks! I had to be careful.

My route now took me though the outer edge of the southern Birmingham suburbs and was actually a really pleasant ride and, more importantly, the hills seemed to have died away. Hooray!

As I passed through Solihull the rush hour seemed to be just starting with traffic queues everywhere but it didn't delay me much - bikes are quicker in that kind of traffic. More traffic was in evidence as I crossed over the M42 which had the hard-shoulder in use as a traffic lane.

Then shortly before I reached tonights B&B I crossed a canal and remembered that I'd styled this leg of the ride as "Railways, Motorways and Canals" and I'd got the full set in pictures

Todays stats:

Distance travelled : 50.92

Average speed: 12.4 mph

Max speed: 38.2 mph

Day 3 - Llangammarch Wells to Tenbury Wells

The eagle-eyed amongst you will perhaps have spotted that we didn't get all the way to Builth Wells last night - instead we had an absolutely excellent Country House B&B/restaurant just 6 miles short of Builth. We were the only people staying there and we were the only ones staying for dinner, so it was just like having our own luxury house and chef!!
Unfortunately, when I started riding again this morning, the lane from the B&B took me 1 mile in the wrong direction before I could resume my easterly ride.
I would classify this mornings ride as "Boil-in-the-bag". I had decided to wear my waterproofs as there was a lot of rain in the air and it was quite breezy, but after the first couple of hills I could be best described as "moist"! Then, when I came to have a drink from my bottle I found it liberally smothered in sheep poo! As I was sulking about that, who should pull up but Jan. So I got a clean bottle from the car and filled it up with some bottled water.
Just before crossing the bridge in Builth I spotted this character:

The rain was becoming steadier now and reducing visibility quite appreciably, however I could still make out this quarry on the outskirts of the town.

I'm continuing to try and take a picture every time I get to a fold in the map. At one such point, a I stopped to turn my map over, a load of sheep came running expectantly towards me. I was puzzled for a while and then I realised - they must have been under the impression that I had some news for them from Gary!

Having left the main road and turned on to a yellow road that was also marked as a cycle route, I studied the map more closely and realised there were several steep hills ahead of me. However, I found the scenery interesting and, what with my glasses misting up on the inside and a fine spatter of raindrops on the outside, I couldn't really see far enough ahead for the hills to bother me.

I knew about this hill though - I got into granny at the front and biggy at the back and just ground my way up. Here's the view up:

Here's the view down:

and this is looking back from the top:

This was followed by a four mile downhill and then, having gone through a village called Gladestry, I took a lane that skirted round the side of Hergest Ridge. Does that name mean anything to anyone? - answers via the comment facility please.

Half way along this lane I crossed the border from Wales into England. There's no sign there but this Bridleway follows the line of the border. I left my own scent mark there! (liquid)

Just a few miles later and I met up with Jan in Kington. Due to bad planning on my behalf, we'd arrived on early-closing day and most places were shut. I found Jan chatting with a couple of locals in the town museum. Nearby a cafe was open and we had a pleasant lunch of egg mayonnaise sandwiches (me) and a toasted cheese and ham sandwich (Jan) washed down with mugs of tea. Even after an hour in the cafe I was still soaking wet from my mornings exertions, so we went back to the car and I changed my shirt. The sun was now trying to come out, so I packed my waterproofs into my barbag and set off again.

One thing that I've found quite moving about my trip is that every town and village seems to have a memorial to the fallen of the two world wars (and often other conflicts are remembered as well). It brings into perspective the scale of the sacrifices made by the ordinary men and women of our tiny little countries.

I was enjoying the afternoon ride - the sun and the wind were both on my back and I then discovered that I'd made a mistake adding up the miles on my routecard and I actually had 6 fewer to travel than I first thought - RESULT!

Here's a picture of a private school I went past. I waved at one of the boys on the tennis court and he waved back -what was he thinking!

The next part of the ride was on the A456 and it was very busy with loads of HGV's and I wasn't feeling very comfortable. Then Jan phoned to say she'd found a B&B for tonight, only trouble was, I'd have to stay on the A456 to get there. Ah well, I just put my head down and pedalled quicker.

There weren't any hills as the road crossed the River Teme and then ran alongside it all the way to Tenbury Wells. The B&B is in a pub just on the outskirts of the town.

Once again, the room is freshly decorated and lovely and clean with free wifi available as well, so I've knocked this blog entry up before we go for our dinner.

Tomorrow we head across to Bewdley, Kidderminster, Lickey, the southern outskirts of Birmingham and then Solihull to finish at Hampton-in-Arden.

My bottom and my saddle have been fighting each other for supremacy over the last two days and I've noticed that the saddle is starting to adopt the shape of my posterior - I may well post a picture of it tomorrow (my saddle, not my bottom)! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED...

Todays stats:

Miles ridden today: 50

Average speed: about 10mph

Maximum speed: about 38mph

Day 2 - Newcastle Emlyn to Builth Wells

WHOAH!!!!!!!! What a day! I knew this was going to be hard but If I'd known how hard, I'd not have started it......


After last nights trip out to the pub which took us over the first nine miles or so of todays ride, I had an inkling of what I was letting myself in for. But...


I reluctantly left the luxurious surroundings of Maes y Derw Guest House and headed east from Newcastle Emlyn on the A484 before turning left onto the B4334 and then right onto a yellow road which dipped down before climbing up to the A475. In turn the A475 had a steep, half-mile long, energy-sapping climb. There was a bit of drizzle in the air by the time I reached the crossroads with the A486. At this point I gave Gary a call to let him know I was nearly at his place. The next mile was all downhill, at speed - I clocked 40 mph! Meeting up with Gary I handed him an empty water bottle - I didn't want the weight of the bottle holding me back.
The hill was incredibly tough but I managed it and Gary will no longer be able to say "I've never seen anyone ride a bike up that hill" (although, to be honest I wish I'd never heard him say it - if I hadn't I wouldn't have included it in my ride - what a thing the male ego is!).

However, that wasn't the end of it - that self-same road had a further two VERY stiff climbs before I left it and headed south east on the B4338. On arriving in Llanybydder I was starting to feel quite tired and despondent as I knew I'd be struggling to make the lunch halt before 13:00 hrs as I'd only managed 15 miles in just over an hour and a half and had another 15 to go. Just for good measure I accidentally reset my speedo, so from now on I'd have to recalculate the mileages on my route card. Oh, and it was raining!

Anyway, wolfing down a Mars bar cheered me up a bit and I sent Jan a text saying what my eta for lunch would be. It was a longish drag up through Brechfa Forest, but once I reached the crest I had a great blast down the other side and managed to arrive at our lunch halt only ten minutes later than my original plan.
We lunched at the Dolaucothi Gold Mine, which, being National Trust, didn't cost us anything to get in. Here are some pictures I took there:

The mine workings date back to Roman times, although this particular adit is actually Victorian:

Then, in the 1930's a vertical shaft was dug - here's a picture of the winding gear:

After a leisurely hour and a half lunch - I was hoping the rain would let up and the promised sunny spells would start to dominate - it was time to get going again. I couldn't face any more hills so skipped my planned yellow road route in favour of the main road. This worked OK and then I went back to some yellow roads having worked out they were only half the distance of the main road and didn't have too much in the way of climbing. Not only that, but the last 5 miles to Llandovery were all downhill! RESULT!!!

One thing I've noticed here in Wales is that the bilingual roadsigns take twice as long to understand - you find yourself scanning the whole sign to spot a word or two that you recognise and by the time you've worked it out you're in the middle of the hazard or feature it's supposed to be warning you about!

I know that triangle means Give Way, but the Welsh for Yield get's in the way of understanding it!!!

The scenery is great and, to use a Gavin and Stacey word, it's lush:

This lump is called The Sugar Loaf and the road I was riding went all the way up to it and then climbed round the side and on even higher before finally running downhill to Llanwrytd Wells. This was about 50 miles into the ride and I was really struggling to find any energy by this stage - Janice was struggling to find the B&B we'd booked and I had to stop a couple of times to discuss what to do (over the phone). However, she found it and what a gem it is. Luxuriously appointed with a glorious view. Unfortunately the last 200 yards was uphill and had such wobbly legs that I had to rest the camera on a fence in order to take this photo of Jan and the ever faithful Scooby:

Once again free wifi is available so I've been able to rattle off this blog quickly - either side of a fantastic evening meal of chicken with risotto and green veg and a wonderful vanilla panacotta with blueberry sauce. Oh, and two pints of cider.

Ah well, time for bed, another long day in the saddle tomorrow and I suspect it'll be wet again.

Stats:

Todays Mileage: 59 miles

Todays average speed: about 9 mph!

Todays fastest speed: about 40 mph!