Wolverley Camping & Caravanning Club Site

A bit grey but still nice and warm this morning. 

By the time we had packed up and started for home it was just after 12:00 and the sun had broken through. It turned out to be another very hot day.

We had a nice steady trouble free ride back to Mirey Lees and arrived just before 16:00.

Dudmaston Hall, Holy Austin Rock Houses and Knowles Mill

We woke again to a lovely sunny day.

After breakfast we drove to Dudmaston Hall. Stretching a cross 3000 acres of park and woodland, Dudmaston has quietly moved with the rhythms of the local community for over 875 years. The estate remains today a muck loved and lived in family home of the Hamilton Russell’s.

Dudmaston was gifted to the National Trust in 1978 by Rachel Labouchere, the nice of forestry management pioneer Geoffrey Wolryche Whitmore whose forward thinking techniques saved the estate from financial ruin after the World Wars.

We had a walk around the gardens and down to the lake as the house didn’t open until 12:30. We had the traditional tea/coffee and crisps before the tour of the house. The house was pretty unremarkable. A bit disappointing really.

Then we headed over to Kinver Edge for a look at the Holy Austin Rock Houses. From 1600 onwards, homes were carved from the rock. Those at Holy Austin Rock, Nanny’s Rock and Vale’s Rock are amongst the finest cave dwellings in Europe.

Then we headed off in search of Knowles Mill. The last mile or two was down what ca only be called a very bumpy single cart track. We were just starting to wish we hadn’t bothered when we finally found it. The mill dates from the 18th century and includes the frames of an overshot waterwheel.

We headed back to the van for tea and a nice relaxing warm sunny evening. 

Kidderminster, The Lock and The Odeon Cinema, Dudley

We awoke to another lovely sunny morning. After breakfast we hopped on the bikes and cycled along the canal to Kidderminster. It was just about two miles.

We helped a couple of narrow boats through the locks before chaining the bikes up to some railings to walk into the town centre. Just nearby was the Church of Saint Mary and All Saints. So we had a walk up the hill for a look around. It was a lovely little church.

We had a walk around the town centre for an hour or so. Kidderminster is a pretty unremarkable place. We went in search of a nice Costa Coffee, without success so we settled for a McFlurry at Macdonalds. 

We decided to cycle back to The Lock and have a nice cold cider before chilling at the van for a couple of hours.

We had a nice Ham Salad and Scones with Clotted Cream for tea. 

Then it was tome for a quick shower and off to the Odeon Cinema in Dudley to watch Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

Wolverley Camping & Caravanning Club Site

We arrive on site around 16:30 after an uneventful journey. We lost 20 minutes on the M5 due to roadworks on the elevated section but otherwise it was fine. 

It was now a nice summers day. We set up the van and then checked out the facilities, all very nice an clean as you would expect. They have a very big recreation room with Table Tennis, Pool and a Dart Board.

There was a gate at the back of the site. Turn left and a couple of hundred yards away is The Lock. A nice country pub at the side of the canal. We had a walk down to check out where yo access the canal towpath. 

One of the wardens recomended the fish and chip shop in nearby Cookley. We drove don an had some lovely Haddock and Battered Chips. The batter gave the chips a lovely crispy coating. Very nice they were.

We drove back to the van and settled down for the evening. TV reception is not too bad most of the time and the site had free WiFi which was pretty good.

Hendre Mynach Caravan & Camping Park nr Barmouth

After raining most of the night, we woke to a grey, overcast and windy morning. 

After breakfast, we managed to get everything packed up without getting wet, although we couldn’t pack away the awning properly as it was wet. 

We left at just gone 10:00. We had a steady ride home and arrived back at Mirey Lees about 14:30.

Llanfair Slate Mines

We woke up to sunshine again although we did have plenty of showers which came and went quite quickly.

We headed off to Llanfair Slate Mines, just a few miles up the road.

We had a nice coffee and sausage roll before heading into Porthmadog for a lovely ice cream at Cadwaladers. After a nice stroll around town and a quick look at the Ffestiniog railway, we called in at Tesco for fuel and headed back to the van. 

It seemed to be blowing up a bit of a storm, so we parked away most of the stuff in the awning in case it  was raining Saturday morning. 

We packed the car boot so that we could put the bikes on the back ready for the morning. 

Portmeirion

For the first time this week we woke up to bright sunshine. 

After breakfast we headed off to Portmeirion. It was built by architect Clough Williams-Ellis to show how a beautiful site could be developed without spoiling it. All buildings at Portmeirion are registered Grade 1 or Grade 2 listed buildings. 

The village is surrounded by 70 acres of forest Gardens called Y Gaylord. Portmeirion is owned by a registered charity. The income from admission charges is used to maintain and preserve the buildings and grounds that make up this historic environment. All buildings at Portmeirion are either self catering cottages or hotel rooms and suites.

We had a very nice gelato ice cream while waiting for the free land train tour of the woodland trail. It was very bumpy. Then we walked down to the quayside and along the coastal path to the lighthouse which then rose up through the woods and past the Chinese Lake.

Afterwards we had a nice Taffy Apple cider and anti-pasti sharer at the Caffi Glas, before watching the 25 minute video narrated by Clough Williams-Ellis about the building of Portmeirion. 

We had a walk through the gardens and up to the dome before having a final coffee and scone with clotted cream, before heading back to the car. 

When we got back we walked down to the beach for a paddle in the sea.

As we relaxed in the caravan it started to get very windy an d I had to take the flags down. It started to rain around 21:30, and rained heavily on and off all night with thunder about 04:00.

Snowdonia Mountain Railway

Woke up to another grey and windy day.

After breakfast we headed off to Llanberris to the Snowdon Mountain Railway. When we arrived we had a few sharp showers. We had tickets booked for the 14:30 train. We had a coffee and bag of crisps whilst we waited. 

By the time we boarded the train the sun had come out and we headed off up the mountain. The scenery was spectacular and we were surprised at the amount of people walking up. It takes an hour to get to the summit.

As we neared the summit, unfortunately we went into clouds at the top. They say that on a clear day you can see Ireland but unfortunately today you could see nothing at all. I walked up the last few yards to the actual summit. It was very cold and windy and a little bit scary coming down the wet steps.

We only had half an you at the top which would be ok today but on a clear day and if you wanted a drink or bite to eat would not be long enough.

We headed off down and into the sunshine again and it turned out to be a lovely evening. 

On the way back we called in at Harlech and had a lovely Chinese meal at the Golden Inn Restaurant, not far from the castle.

Barmouth

We had a bit of a storm in the night and woke up to another grey windy day. If started to brighten up by around 11:00.

We walked along the promenade into Barmouth. By now it was a pleasant sunny day if not a little windy. The sea though was very rough and breaking over the sea walls. As we got to the quayside there were dozens of people crab fishing. 

We had a nice walk around town and stopped for a nice cold pint of cider at the Royal. We then had another walk before stopping for an ice cream. As we walked back towards the quayside the sea was a lot calmer now. 

We walked. Back along the prom to the amusements and caught the land train back to the campsite and sat outside in the sun until it dropped below the tall hedging behind the caravan. We had some more rain in the evening and it was a bit cooler than it has been so far this week.

Plus Tan y Bwlch and Pwllheli

Woke up to grey skies and showers again. Sun came out about 10:20.

After breakfast we drove to Plas Tan y Bwlch, the Snowdonia National Park Study Centre, at Maentwrog near Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Admission was free and we had a nice walk around the spectacular Victorian gardens.

We had a nice cup of coffee and a scone and crisps on the terrace in the sun before driving on to Pwllheli.

It had turned out to be a nice warm sunny day and we had a nice walk around the shops and had a lovely ice cream at Caffi Sol, before heading to the Pen Cob, Wetherspoons pub for dinner. 

We then headed back to the van, calling in at Porthmadog Tesco for fuel, to catch the last 20 minutes of Derby County’s 2-1 win away to Huddersfield Town. Their first game of th 2019-2020 EFL Championship season.

Mawddach Trail

Woke up to a nice warm overcast morning. A few grey clouds abou, and I did feel a few spots of rain on my head as I walked down for a shower, but it didn’t amount to much. 

By the time we had had breakfast the we were having longer showers and by noon it has turned into steady light rain.

We cycled down into Barmouth, across The Barmouth Bridge and onto the Mawddach Trail to Dolgellau. The weather was generally bright with showers some pretty heavy. At one point we had to shelter under trees for a while.

About 8.5 miles in we stopped at The George 111 Hotel for a nice cold pint of cider. We then continued on to Dolgellau. 

We had to shelter for a while in Dolgellau as the heavens opened again. 

We cycled back to Barmouth and sat on the quayside in the sunshine, and ate Fish and Chips overlooking the Mawddach estuary and the Barmouth Bridge, followed by a lovely ice cream for dessert. 

We had a nice steady ride back to the caravan. It turned out to be a very nice bright evening. 

Hendre Mynach Caravan & Camping Park nr Barmouth

We left Mirey Lees about 09:30 and arrived at Toby Carvery Burton around 10:20 for our traditional holiday breakfast. The Toby was really close to the A38 so it was dead handy and quick to get back on our way.

We had a good journey until we got into Wales. The A5 has lots of roundabouts and we queued to get through pretty much every one. We also lost about 25 minutes getting through Llangollen. 

We arrived about 02:30. The turn into the site the site was a bit tight, doubling back on yourself off the main road and the drive was quite steep. A very nice site next to the promenade with easy access to walk or circle into Barmouth. Quite a walk down to the toilet / showers. Site would benefit from another toilet block down our end of the site. 

We had a 13 mile drive to Porthmadog to Lidle, ALDI and Tesco, all within a few hundred yards of each other, to do some shopping, before having tea and settling down for the night.