Long weekend in Wales & the ABR Festival

[Flintlock]

So Thursday 11th July saw six of us leave N.Ireland for the ABR Festival via Wales. A quick run down the motorway with Heff taking the lead and through the tunnel before Dublin and immediate left into the port after the toll booth. - or so we thought , instead Heff decided to go on past towards Dublin city centre!! - satnav error apparently . Anyway quickly realising the error (helped by a bit of friendly banter on the bluetooth!) a quick U turn and into the port and soon we were on the ferry and headiing for Holyhead.

An uneventful crossing and we were rolling off the ferry around 6pm unto the A55 and a dash across Anglesey and south on the A487 on mainland Wales. A left unto Lon Flynnon Fair and follwed to the A4086, where we turned left, crossed the bridge over the Afon Seiont river, then the first right unto an un-named road that took us to the A4085, where another left and we were soon experiencing the great scenery and biking that Wales has to offer.

Continuing on to the beautiful village of Beddgelert, we had our first stop for coffee in a lovely cafe just the other side of the bridge in the village - Glaslyn Artisan.

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It was starting to rain, so we didnt hang about, and soon we were continuing south along the A498 and left unto the A4085 towards Garreg, again great roads and scenry.Another left at Garreg unto the B4410, to the end and left unto the A487 & A470 towards Trawsfynydd. Here I had intended to take a single track road through the hills to Llanuwchllyn were we had booked into Bwch-Yn-Uchaf campsite (recommended by Herman of this site). However the weather had closed in and the hills were enveloped in mist so I decided it best to stick to the lower route and took the A4212 to Bala, then right unto the A494 to Llanuwchllyn.

Arriving around 9pm we met up with Sparky who was joining us, and soon we had our tents up

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and headed off to the local pub, where a pleasant evening was had.

Hopefully continue tomorrow.

[Alun]

Hopefully continue tomorrow.

Here's hoping.

[PaulinBont]

More please

The u/c road between Bronaber on the A470 and Llanwchllyn is one of my top three Welsh roads- it links perfectly with the Llanwchllyn-Dinas Mawddwy (Bwlch y Groes/ Pass of the Cross) road.....which in turn links with the Lake Vyrnwy road ( Lake Vyrnwy Hotel is a brilliant coffee stop!)

[Flintlock]

Paul - you are spot on, fantastic roads all around here and the campsite could not be better placed to use as a base to explore them, so. Herman - good call. I had also made a mental note of Alun telling us about Lake Vyrnwy when he was over at the ABR Rally in Northern Ireland - more of that later.

Back at the pub, and the added bonus that they did breakfast, so we ordered ours for morning. Back to the campsite and we all soon settled into our tents for the night.

Friday morning and I was up early for a spot of fishing on the river that ran alongside the campsite. It was shallow by the tents but a wee bit upstream and it got a bit deeper and soon my first Brown Trout of the trip was caught

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[Flintlock]

Soon the rest of the party were up and kit packed away, loaded on the bikes, then back down to the pub for our breakfasts - full Welsh all round & very tasty it was too.

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After breakfast, it was back on the road. Tractorman (Gav) had programmed a route to the Rally onto his satnav and took the lead. We went back past the campsite on the B4403, over the bridge just outside the village and the first right onto an un-named single track, which took us through some great views down to the shore of the stunning Lake Vyrnwy. We turned right and followed the shoreline of the lake to the dam at the end, where we turned left, rode across the dam , then right at the end. From here it was a series of rural roads, pretty villages continuing into England around the Shropshire Hills area, where we stopped for a coffee break. As we made our way from the bikes to the coffee shop a Scorpion light tank (I think) rumbled along the road past us - something you don't see every day! -shame none of us were quick enough to get a pic.

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You will notice one of the party - Oplo - doing his good deed for the day. The fully laden Volvo on the forecourt in the background refused to start & Oplo soon got it going, which was much appreciated by the family - job well done.

[Flintlock]

We rolled into Ragley Hall around 2.30pm, an impressive entrance, we were quickly guided to the reception area where we got our ticket for our welcome pack, sticker for the bike and a wristband -all very professional and polite staff, a nice touch was the offer of a free bottle of water- very welcome after a few hours on the road in warm weather. We were then directed to the camping area, all well signposted- could not have asked for a better welcome - well done all at ABR.

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Ragley Hall made an impressive backdrop to he campsite.

[Flintlock]

We made our way down to the area where all the bike related stalls, major bike brands, beer tent. and food.area was. Had a good look round, collected our goody bags, and another nice touch, a token allowing you a pound off your first beer - all given out by friendly staff.

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Gubbo spotted and tried out his back up plan in case he did not make it back to his tent later!

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[Flintlock]

So, after I had a good look around, a coffee and a massive white chocolate and raspberry bun, it was time for me to hit the road again. I was using the weekend as a chance to meet up with an old friend whom I had not seen in 28 years. So one of the rare occasions that i take the satnav out and I set the destination for Church Stretton, where we had arranged to meet Saturday morning. He lives in the Kidderminister area, so Church Stretton seemed like a good place to meet up.

A stop somewhere along the way with great views

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Soon I arrived at Church Stretton, a lovely small town, I called at the local Co-Op to get some supplies, and got talking to the owner of this

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Fully restored Willys jeep. When it was being restored some French francs dated 1939 were found under the drivers seat, so it probably saw service in Europe in WW2

[Flintlock]

So, time to look for a campsite. I had already looked on google maps and knew there was a couple in the area behind a large hill behind the town, so off I went up the Burway Road, and what a road it was, very steep with a big drop off on the right (no barriers for quite a bit of it). Stopped at the top to take in the views

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Carried on over the top and down the other side and into a lovely wee village called Wentor, asked a couple of locals if there was a campsite in the area, and got directions to one about a mile away

[Flintlock]

Soon I had settled in for the night on a nice pitch beside a small river.

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And caught a wee trout just before lights out

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