AUTUMN WELSH BORDERS RUN - SUNDAY 23rd
OCTOBER 2005
Wales is one of the really lovely
places to have a club run, the scenery is exceptional and the roads are so
interesting and full of surprises at each corner, a perfect combination for the
MK1 to be driven and enjoyed.
The meeting points were at an Innkeepers Lodge in Chester and in Bala. There were only three cars at the meeting point in Chester, they
were Ali Reeves and Matt Coates together with Sean Willavoys and partner and of
course us Doris and I. We left Chester heading for Bala on a well planned route,
it only took around twenty minutes for me to miss the run off the A 55 and then
with Matt’s help we finally arrived in Bala about 20 minutes late but it was a
lovely day and no one seemed to mind, if they did they were kind and didn’t
rub it in. Members meeting there were Ian Clements and Andy Taylor.
We left
Bala with five cars at 11.30 and headed south along Bala lake and eventually
took a right turn towards Trawsfynydd along a gated road a great run over the
mountain; along the road were quite a few sheep which is inevitable in Wales; we
then drove on to Bedgellert where we managed to find parking spaces with a
little difficulty, so many people about for an October day. We had a good lunch
and a natter and the question came up from Ian, “Why can’t they keep the
sheep somewhere else and not running loose on the road”. We thought it was
funny but he was serious, sorry about that Ian just a bit of fun. On the road
again minus Andy who had a job to do on his brothers vehicle so off home he
went. Saw him a couple of days later, he never did the job, went for ride
instead, good choice.
The next
part of the run was along the south side of Snowdon and then driving up the Llanberis pass. A short stop at the junction of the
A4086 and the A498 and cheerio’s said and we all drifted off in our various
directions and off to home, that is apart from Doris and I, we planned a week in
Wales touring so back to Chester for the night. We did tour Wales for a week, Andy recommended a really good bed and breakfast in his village
just down the road from where he lives, and we spent one night there and would
recommend it unreservedly. We toured south through the Élan valley and to
Hay-on-Wye, a quaint little town with lots of book shops where we spent a
morning browsing, a must if you enjoy reading. We found a very good farmhouse
bed and breakfast; the Welsh breakfasts fill you for the day we must say.
We then headed for Cardiff where we planned to stay for two nights the day in-between spent with our
Granddaughter in Swansea where she is at University. Apart from the traffic and parking Swansea
is a great place to visit with dozens of pubs and restaurants.
We left there Friday morning and went to the
New Forest to stay with our daughter, and I had my 70th birthday, a real rave
up I can tell you. Fully rested we left for home on the1st of November to
prepare for the NEC, no rest for the wicked.
Looking at
the previous week and considering the weather instead of the MK1 we would have
done better with a boat because it never stopped raining, Doris
was glad that we were in my car and not in her MR2, Flitzer. I have never seen
a car so dirty, that is the problem with trailing around narrow roads and farm
tracks; enjoyed every minute of it though.
On our tour we called in to see Andy who kindly gave us a tour of the slate works in
Aberllefenni many thanks for that Andy, very interesting.
We are looking forward to next year’s Welsh runs, come on guys and dolls, we need
some more runs sorting, have a go now that I am not at the helm.
FRED SANDERSON
