Manchester airport, heading home

In the Emirates lounge, having a nice cuppa. Looking forward to seeing you all.  x x

Goodbye to Wales

Well, we have just had our last little tootle round Wales, visiting a few pretty villages all within ten miles of Betws y Coed. We found out from a lady in Penmachno (where we are staying) that Ty Blaidd, our bnb, means Wolf house, named by Colin Wollf who built it. Apparently he is quite an accomplished artist. The locals are amazing. They switch between English and Welsh without even blinking. Completely bilingual.
Tonight is the big packing night then tomorrow we will be doing a side trip to Birkenhead (more ancient rellie searching) then it will be off to Manchester airport.
The last photo is Ty Blaidd and garden, located on a hill, on a very narrow winding road.

Porthmadoc in the rain and a Welsh choir

Yesterday was wet with occasional interludes of damp. We had a saunter round Porthmadoc and went into the Marine museum which was small but very interesting. It focussed on the shipbuilding industry in the town which really boomed in the mid 1800s until steam came along, then the number of wooden sailing ships built dropped dramatically.
In the evening we went to the Betws y coed church (which we learned means prayer house in the wood). We went to hear a male voice choir. They were very good indeed doing a mixture of songs for the concert. At the end they and those in the audience who spoke Welsh, which was most of them, sang a hymn followed by the National anthem, both in Welsh, and it was quite moving to isten to them. The Welsh love singing and sing from their hearts.
No photos, too damp and dark yesterday.

Holywell, Llanasa, St George, Rhyl, Towyn and Llandudno

Well we covered a bit of ground today, looking up all the places were Thomases once lived and worked. We began by heading for Holywell which is the Welsh Lourdes according to a sign but seemingly not as popular. We went in search of Pen y Ball Hill (once called Pen y Ball mountain) for reasons we soon understood when we started to climb its 878 ft ascent. The climb was well worth it though.  It was reasonably clear so from the top we could actually make out Blackpool Tower, which is a long way away, as you will see if you feel the urge to check it out on good ol google.
From there we went to a wee village called Llanasa via a somewhat circuitous route (translate to "got lost" as I had the map). A lovely village with very pretty cottages. St George was just as lovely, another typical Welsh village with stone cottages with slate roofs.
Rhyl by comparison was awful, seething with people, caravans, holiday chalets and funfairs. Towyn, the quiet little seaside town where my family spent many a holiday when I was a child, had grown into a horrible monster. Green fields had been filled with acres of caravans and chalets aand bungalows and I could hardly recognise any landmarks at all. Then I suddenly spotted an old house that I recognised. It was on the corner of the street where Fourways Caravan Park used to be sixty years ago. Amazingly when I looked down the road there was still a sign saying Fourways Caravan Park. They had retained the name but the tiny caravan park that used to have about a dozen caravans now has hundreds. Is that progress?
We finished the day at Llandudno, and had to have the compulsory greasy fish and chips with salt and vinegar while sitting on a bench on the promenade, gazing out to sea, watching all the windmills slowly turn in the breeze.

Across the strait to Anglesey

Still enjoying Wales and its lovey country roads. Friday we went to Anglesey, over the Britannia bridge. The Menai susension bridge is visible about half a mile away. Presumably they need two for the volume of traffic. Our first stop was Amlwch (chocolate frog if you can say that correctly). We did the graveyard there and as usual it rained. They used to mine a lot of copper in that area. Wales is very rich in minerals and ores. From there we went to Bull Bay, again looking for ancestors. It's a lovely little port and we might have stayed longer but for the rain. Now we know why all the valleys are so green!
We motored back via Caenarvon as I wanted to get my photo taken in front of the castle - over 60 years ago my dad took a photo of me there, a skinny little girl with white fuzzy hair.
The castle at Caernarvon is impressive but the town is just a mess of tacky shops and dirty streets.
Men - note the E type jag!

Penmachno graves, Betws-y-coed tourists and trains, Conwy waterfall

Shwmae! That's Welsh for hello! We are now installed in our Welsh bnb and it is marvellous. Fantastic room, tv, working wifi, ensuite and a choice of 7 cooked breakfasts. Oh yes, and so far the weather has been okay.
Had a very interesting day today, starting with an antique fair in a local church. Bryan gotcouple of old pcs which may be useful in his family history. We had a lovely walk to Conwy waterfall which i nearby, beautiful  cascading fall but as usual we had to cough up money to see it. In Britain they charge for everything. The latter part of the day we spent scouring the graveyards in Penmachno as one of Bryan's rellies lived there. We were just going into the old Anglican church when two men arrived on the scene. They had both served in the armed forces in Afghanistan and a good friend of one of them had been killed there, and his funeral had been held at that church. It seems the soldier who was killed had given the landlord of the local pub £1000 "for his wake" obviously knowing he was going to a very dangerous location. At the time of his death the church had fallen into decline and was unused but his funeral sparked the locals into reigniting it, even installing a beautiful new window, all done by locals. A very moving story.
More ancestral fossickings tomorrow but right now food... Bellies registering empty.

Cars planes and wonderful airbnb accommodation

Sorry for the long gap but we had no wifi plus it has been a hectic few days. So here is a catch up...
We left Cleveleys in the rain after saying goodbye to Brenda and John (after a really lovely three and a half weeks with them). We diverted to Uppermill to try to look at a few more gravestones but the weather got steadily worse so we finally gave up an headed off for Lincoln. We had booked a night's accommodation through airbnb and our host Andrew was really nice and made us very welcome. The next day we went to the TR national day at Lincoln showgrounds. It was a smaller event than we were expecting but still very entertaining. Bryan wore a TR tee shirt and soon spotted an identical one, a Wellingtonian. Then we ran into an English couple who had come to a Blenheim TR Nationals. It was a Triumph car day but interestingly TR cars were in the majority.
From there we headed for Guildford and our next airbnb at the home of a couple called Ciaron and Gillian. They were amazingly hospitable. We arrived about 7.30 and they were making humus and avocado dip for nibbles. We sat talking to them in their garden, eating and drinking wine until nearly midnight. The next morning we set off for the Farnborough air show on a very warm day, but being England it dropped a couple of surprise dousings of rain which quickly soaked the spectators. We had luckily gone armed with macs just in case, not wanting to get the soaking the Blacks got. The organisation was brilliant and it was a great day.
This morning we set off for Trowbridge, in 30 degree sticky heat. Definitely not Oldham weather! We are now in West Ashton near Trowbridge, staying in an airbnb recommended to us by Ciaron. The hosts are lovely and the room wonderful with our own ensuite and even a tv. We would definitely do airbnb again.
Tomorrow we are off to Bradford on Avon to have a catch up with our best man Jerry and his wife. Hope the weather is a tad cooler.

Cleveleys again

Hurrah a high has at last arrived and they are forecasting 2 days of sun, followed by... yup... another low. Good old British summers eh. Peter, I think we will probably be watching Farnborough in the rain on Sunday, just like you did.
We pick up the hire car tomorrow and are planning to go to Morecambe for the day with B and J. Then Friday we leave for our next adventure. If you don't hear from us it's due to dodgy wifi.

Full circle back at Middlewich

Only one more full day to go before our canal boat adventure ends. Despite the mixed weather we have had a wonderful time, had lots of great pub meals and seen some beautiful English countryside. Today started off wet (an improvement on the downpour during the night) so we holed up till 11 then set sail when the sky looked a tad brighter. As there are only 2 sets of top to toe waterproofs we nominated Bryan and John to man the decks, which worked a treat. Tomorrow we head towards Anderton and if there is time we may go down (and up) the boat lift.

Here we are in Middlewich
Narrowboaters in a ditch
Where we're going we don't care
Anywhere, here or there

20 locks in 1 day - world record for the Thomas McDowell team!

There are two canals in this count-er-ee
One was made in the eighteenth cent-ur -ee
The second, I fear
I have filled up with beer
As Sherlock said, it's elementary

Anon

Amazing poetry and after only half a pint!

Yesterday we did 20 locks, a set of five (a warm up) followed by 15 more. Fortunately most of the locks were full, so we didn't have to waste time filling them. Tonight we are in a lovely old pub in Barbridge, waiting for a herb crusted salmon dinner. Yum! We've forgotten what an oven looks like. :-)

Sunny Market Drayton

Market Drayton
With a plate on
The table in a pub.

The canal is a pox
Cos tomorrow the locks
Are fifteen in number

The sun is shining
Nobody is whining
We are all getting fat as the frog

On the sign
Which we did not design
And did not understand at all.

BLT Anon

Brewood to Norbury

An exciting day today featuring a pump out of our twin bogs and a fill up of our water tank. This time it wasn't pouring down when we filled up. We had a quick look round the quaint village of Brewood this morning and came acoss a little junk and bric a brac shop. While looking in the window the shop keeper came out, a wonderful old character who within two minutes had coaxed us all into the shop. We even bought some stuff. He was just like Arkwright from Open All Hours.
It looks like the weather is improving now but we are still wearing mutiple layers of clothes.
Onky 1 lock today but there was a queue of boats so it took us quite a while to get through.
In the Junction Pub now, waiting for our meals. Tomorrow evening we need to find a pub with a tv so we can watch Wales.
x x

Anniversary day!

The sun is shining, it hasn't rained, we are feasting like royalty and we are all having the most wondrful time. Tonight we are in Brewood, pronounced Brood.
Todays journey took us south 4 steps, left one step, and north 4 steps so we are almost back where we started. Heyho!
With all these locks we have renamed the boat "oponopov" - work that one out!
About to enjoy a nice pub meal and glass of wine. Note the blue sky on the photo below!
x x x

Stone village 45 locks down 57 to go

Spent the night in Stone which is in pottery country. We had a tour of Wedgwood factory yesterday afternoon - very enjoyable. They do hand painting of the expensive pieces and some pieces have 7 firings. That's why they are a tad pricey. Had a lovely 2 course meal in a pub last night. Food over here is really cheap. The canals are very quiet which is good. Looks like narrowboating has lost some of its popularity. Had a scary trip through the Harecastle Tunnel which is very low and very long and has diesel fumes to boot. Just as well osh isn't around. I took a turn driving yesterday and am a star at getting into locks but parking is definitely not my forte.
Wifi is not working too well on the boat so expect some silences.
A few pics.....