It's the last day of this trip and the weather played ball so we decided to tackle the walk to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. It's a 4 mile walk but, as it is along the canal, the route is quite flat.
We packed lunch and coffee and set off at around 10:00. We had contemplated cycling, but were pleased we were walking as it was very muddy underfoot. The route takes one along the tow-path and goes through a tunnel at one point which made passing other pedestrians quite challenging.
Following a boat through the tunnel
Our view of the viaduct in the distance
Starting our walk across the aqueduct.
The river Dee, far below.
Very impressive construction
We caught a glimpse of the viaduct along the way as the railway splits off from the canal and crosses downriver from the aqueduct. We timed our arrival perfectly as there was a lot of activity over the aquaduct and at the canal intersection nearby. We had grandstand seats while we ate our lunch and had great fun watching the comings and goings of the narrow boats.
The Pontcysyllte aqueduct, meaning 'the bridge that links' is an 18-arched stone and cast iron structure built between 1995 and 1805. It is 3.7m wide and is the longest aqueduct in Great Britian, and the highest canal aqueduct in the world.
Flashbacks to the Ever Given / Suez fiasco...
Toni trying not to get blown off on the way back - locals called it 'The Stream in the Sky'
All too soon it was time to head back and we then found that the wind had picked up and it was particularly gusty crossing the aqueduct - not for the faint-hearted! By the time we got back our legs and feet were feeling the past few day's activity; we're both looking forward to a few day's off back in Baldock. Can't wait to catch up with Charmaine and Shadow.
Bonus: This camp is over-run with rabbits and they are incredibly cute, and make for great photo opportunities!
Every time the sun came out they would stop eating and sun themselves.
Once again the weather has forced us to change our plans. After Toni had her run and we had breakfast (Fried leftover mieliepap slices, eggs and Bara Brith, yum) we decided not to do the longer walk today.
We would only have a brief window in the weather this morning and again in the afternoon so opted for the shorter walk to Chirk Castle. It is a mile and a half uphill walk through meadows and woods and was amazing. The castle itself is very impressive and the outlook is breathtaking!
Chirk castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, as part of King Edward I's chain of fortresses across the north of Wales. It guards the entrance to the beautiful Ceirog Valley and also has a lovely castle garden (which was sadly closed today). The surrounding parkland was originally laid out as a deer park in the 14th century, and the views are still impressive today.
It looks like you can see the whole of Wales from the castle grounds
Beautiful wild daffodils next to the road
We had the heady scent of Hawthorne along the way
Hopefully the weather is better tomorrow and we can tackle the longer walk!
Most of yesterday was spent indoors, waiting for a break in the weather. In fact, it was after 14:00 before we ventured out for a walk and, although it was still drizzling from time to time, we even had the odd patch of sunshine.
Our planned route was thwarted by a missing bridge
When we got back to Bokkie it had stopped drizzling and we were able to get our chairs out and sit outside for a while, bliss! We cooked some Welsh lamb on the Cadac and, as we were packing up I remembered that one of the indicators was playing up when we arrived.
As we had to drive again in the morning I had a look at it and soon we were both battling to get it to work again. The bulb was fine but poor Bokkie's wiring is showing signs of ageing in places and we needed to temporarily re-wire a section to get it work. Even the simplest jobs usually take much longer to finish with such an old girl; she'll cross 100,000 miles on this trip.
The road follows first the river Conwy and then the Dee, neither flow in a straight line.
This morning we headed off early with a stop planned in Llangollen for some shopping and to have a look around the town. Again, the weather was a bit drizzly but it really is a lovely town. Soon, however, it was time to complete our journey and book into the last campsite for this trip.
Approaching Llangollen
An angry river Dee in Llangollen
Once settled in we set off for a walk to see the nearby Chirk viaduct and aqueduct, smaller than the more famous Pontcysyllte viaduct nearby, but impressive all the same. The Chirk aquaduct was completed in 1801 by William Jessop & Thomas Telford, and is 710 foot long - it carries the canal 70 feet above the beautiful river Ceirog.
We were lucky enough to see some canal barges (and some ducks) cross the narrow waterway. The views from the walkway were absolutely stunning.
The viaduct on the right was purposely built higher than the aqueduct to show the superiority of rail over water travel.
Even the duck appreciate the engineering
We walked so far we crossed into England and were welcomed back on our return
Impressive gate to nearby Deer Park and Chirk castle.
We're hoping the weather plays ball tomorrow and we'll go and see the much larger Pontcysyllte viaduct, and/or the Chirk castle.
We had a rough night with strong gusts of wind driving the rain. It rained solidly for 24 hours and the morning saw many of the campers packing up and moving out. We had just poured our post-breakfast cuppa when the rain stopped and the weather radar show a small window of opportunity, so we left the coffee and headed out for a quick walk around town to get some pictures of the two rivers that flank the campsite.
The town is quite touristy so we browsed through some of the outdoor shops and settled for a loaf of Bara Brith (a traditional Welsh bread flavoured with tea, dried fruit and spices) to take back to Bokkie. We re-heated our coffee, toasted the Bara and enjoyed it with some melting butter - lovely!
We're hoping for a break in the weather later this afternoon, I'm not sure how much more rain there is to come.
Toni managed to get her run in early this morning (before 07:00!) while I packed away our windscreen cover and got Bokkie ready to move as the rain was due around 08:00. The rain arrived as Toni returned - we had breakfast and then waited until it was time to leave the campsite. Luckily at 11:00 there was a brief respite so we stopped to fill up and empty tanks on the way out and headed to our new camp.
Beautiful countryside, which even the grey skies cannot dull
Bokkie slalom course.
The stone walls so near the road always make me nervous, luckily there wasn't too much traffic.
It was only about half an hour's drive through the Welsh hills but by the time we arrived at our spot it was absolutely tipping down with rain and wind. So much so that I haven't even ventured out to hook up the power, six hours later. The camp is luckily in a valley so is fairly sheltered from the winds apart from the occasional gust that seems to sneak in and rock Bokkie. I think it may be a night for wearing ear plugs.
I know I need to pop out to connect the power at some point. I'll need wellies soon.
We've kept ourselves busy in Bokkie watching some TV, reading and cooking. We had a bag of Iwisa that was bought in Baldock so made some stywe-pap for supper. Hopefully tomorrow we can do some exploring!
We enjoyed our cycle to the lake so much yesterday that we decided to have another go at it today - and cycle right around it. It was a fantastic ride and we found the perfect spot in the sun and out of the wind to enjoy our lunch.
The start of the climb, luckily not all the way to the top
Stunning view from the elevated position, our legs feeling it by now.
It's all downhill from here...
A stunning spot for some lunch! Even the table inscription encourages one to relax
Unfortunately (or fortunately, as our legs need a rest), it looks like there is some bad weather on the way from tomorrow so we'll see what it brings. We are also heading off deeper into Snowdonia National Park to our next spot in the morning - we have loved this site but looking forward to a change of scenery.
There was rain forecast during the day so we decided to delay our cycle until it had passed. In the meantime I did a few jobs on Bokkie, changing the headlight lamp always needs a few hours set aside. I've done it before on the driver's side and this time it was the opposite side. Access is terrible and most of the time is spent feeling around blindly with my fingertips muttering to myself. It's always a nice job to finish off!
The rain never really materialised so after lunch we hauled the bikes and set off. Its a few hundred meters uphill up the tarred lane outside the campsite before heading off along a bridleway / cycle track. We love finding these tracks as it is so relaxing to be able to enjoy the trip without worrying about traffic on the narrow roads. This one is a shale track between stone walls and was incredibly pretty with the odd sheep and lamb along the route.
Looking back over the campsite
About halfway down the track we got our first good look at the power station, very imposing! It was built between 1959 and 1965 when it came into operation and produced power until it was closed down in 1991. They have been busy with decommissioning it ever since and it is expected to take around 100 years in total before it is totally decommissioned - staggering!
Seeming out of place in the rural setting - giant reactors
The cycle path then took us part way around lake Trawsfynydd which was originally built as part of a hydro-electric scheme in the 20's before being enlarged to provide cooling water for the reactors of the nuclear station. It is now a wonderful angling and nature-lovers' retreat.
We had a lovely cycle and will be sure to check tonight if we glow in the dark. 😀
