Holiday in Wales, day 1, Monday 4th May

Holiday in Wales, day 1

 

 I’m back, actually I arrived back on Friday but it’s taken me this long to rest, sleep, sort the laundry and download all of my many photos. I’ve not had the chance to check through all of them but I think I am going to lose quite a few, partly because we had so much rain and the lens kept getting wet and partly because I ended up taking many photos through the coach and/or train window ( again due to relentless rain). Anyway, I have so very many, there are bound to be at least a few that are half decent. I’m going to have to share my Welsh holiday in parts, far to much to cram into a single blog so here’s what I’ve decided. I’m going to do one day at a time and this is the first. This is Monday May 4^th the day of travel.

The coach left at 8.30, I booked the taxi from home to the coach departure point the day before and as luck would have it, my friends taxi arrived virtually simultaneously with mine. The coach driver was waiting at the roadside to greet us; she took our cases and welcomed us onboard. It was a bit chilly but the wind had stopped and so far… no rain, which is always a bonus. For the first couple of hours we were picking up other passengers along the rout. Once every one was onboard we headed for Stirling which was our first chance to get out and stretch out legs. Coaches usually stop at services along the motorway but out first stop was at a huge Dobies (garden centre + café + toilet facilities) just outside sterling before we reached the motorway. 

Being the savvy coach aware passengers that we are, we had packed food and flasks so we didn’t partake of the high priced café coffee, we had our own. 

Plus not having to queue behind 38 other thirsty coach goers gave us a little time to crack open the camera case and take a couple of long distance shots of the Wallace Monument and Sterling Castle.

If you are interested find more info on the castle here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_Castle

Sterling Castle is on our must do list for this year so hopefully, at some point this summer I will be sharing close up and personal shots of the Castle and all its nooks and crannies. But for now this couple of distance shots will have to do. I watched a documentary on Sterling castle a couple of days before we left and I learnt why the Wallace Monument  is on that little hill, properly called Abby Craig, that sits adjacent to the Castle.

Apparently at some time in the mists of distant past, when the Castle was occupied by the forces of that dastardly evil Edward 1 of England; William Wallace and friends amassed their gangs (not actually troops as such more a collection of like minded, kilt wearing, spear waving but highly disciplined individuals) on top of Abby Craig. From there they sat and watched every move the English made. The English were led (against advice) over Sterling bridge which crossed the Forth and lay between the safety of the Castle and the wrath of Wallace. Sterling bridge was small and narrow and left little space for troops to manoeuvre. When the English infantry and several cavalry had crossed the bridge, Wallace & Co attacked, cut the troops off from the safety of the castle and the remainder of the English forces and famously won the day. Hence, the William Wallace Monument sits on top of Abby Craig opposite Sterling Castle. For any one interested full story of the battle of Sterling it’s here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stirling_Bridge

The national Wallace monument is also on our to do list for the year but again, if you want more info it’s here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Monument

Anyway, that’s enough of Sterling and Wallace for now, onward toward Wales. Our driver was a lovely lady called Dagma, (hope that’s spelt correctly) originally from Germany but a driver in Scotland for almost 20 years. She spoke with a delightful accent that combined her native German pronunciation with colloquial Scottish phrases and words. She informed us that if no one could adequately explain why sheep (plural) are not sheeps when dogs are dogs, cows are cows, rams are rams and cats are cats, she would henceforth refer to them as sheeps.  As we passed through the lowlands of Scotland, where there are possibly more sheeps than peoples, she revelled in pointing out the heaps of sheeps along the way. We then left Scotland and entered what she described as ‘Englandshire’, which most passengers found quite amusing.

Our next stop was IN Englandshire, we stopped at the award winning Tebay Services, if you HAVE to stop on the motorway, then this is the place to do it.

http://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/Tebay

Again, we picnicked outside, enjoyed the views and cracked open the camera cases. On the many occasions when I’ve found myself on a coach, hurtling along the motorway, heading south either toward the airport or to visit family, the highlight of the trip has to be the break I get at Tebay services. 

I love it there, I’m sure there is no other stop off point, on any motorway, any where in the UK, quite like it. It has wonderful views, sheeps, birds, a duck pond and a proliferation of wildlife and flora.

Then it was onward, non stop, toward Wales. We arrived in the seaside town of Rhyl early evening. I don’t know what I was expecting but the Hotel was a bit like something out of a 1950’s B movie. The first thing to hit you was that awful axminster carpet. I’m sure you know what I mean, that highly patterned, multi coloured, probably fairly good quality, typical hotel carpet that coveres every inch of floor and hides from the eye the multitude of dips, lumps and slopes that lurk underfoot. It was an extremely odd hotel. We were told it was bought as a semi derelict shell in 2002 and had since been returned to its former glory by the family who ow and run it. It had the look and feel of a hotel in gradual decline for at least 50 years, the décor, the carpets, the peeling paintwork, the peculiar shaped little rooms, and the old fashioned cast iron plumbing that ran along skirting boards and up through ceilings, all of it looked as if it belonged in another era. What it didn’t look like was a hotel that had enjoyed a total refurb in the 21^st century.  Perplexed and puzzled we were! why would anyone build something up from a semi derelict only to make it look as if it had escaped intact but worn from the history books?   
We had time to book in, more or less unpack, inspect the room and then go back downstairs to the dining room for evening meal.  The food was OK, I mean there was nothing fundamentally wrong with it and the little waitress was great but again, it was like something from a past era. My vegetarian choice of main meals for the week consisted of, Monday; roast veg quiche, Tuesday; baked pasta with cheese and tomatoes, Wednesday; cauliflower cheese, Thursday; cheese omelette. Well I guess it’s lucky I like cheese and I’m not vegan. In fact I don’t think they would ever have coped with a vegan diet, and I don’t think I’ll look at another block of cheese for at least the next month. Meal finished and, at last, we headed out to explore our holiday destination.

WOW….. now I love beaches, and I’ve seen quite a few, but Rhyl beach must be the longest, yellowest,  sandiest beach I’ve EVER seen. It quite literally went on forever. Our first glimpse of the beach was through one of the arches of the newly constructed seaside promenade. It looked just beautiful. The light was beginning to fade and it was getting colder, but the sight of that beach through the arch was enticing. 

Once down onto the beach I looked seaward, the tide was out; I can’t remember ever seeing a tide that recedes so far, the sea was hardly visible from the beach. 

I looked right and the beach stretched on forever, I looked left and again, I saw no end to the beach, but to the left there were mountains in the background. 

By my feet I saw the remains of a sandcastle, abandoned by its builders probably when the sun sunk low and hunger set in.   

We walked a little way along the beach, it was so peaceful and virtually deserted, far out at sea we saw a wind farm. There must have been hundreds of wind turbines out there on the horizon glowing pink in the evening sun. 

What a sight. We walked until it was almost dark taking pictures in the ever changing light until we realised, it was becoming too dark to take any more photos and we were suddenly very, very tired.

So… that was the first day of our Welsh holiday.

Day 2 tomorrow, 

or as soon as I can sort through the photos and write it all up.