Wednesday 26 June 2013. Bishops Frome to Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, Wales

And the day was going so well!!!

This morning we awoke to another brilliant day with wall to wall sunshine and packed, ready for the trip to Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales. Llan words are pronounced "thlan”

We said goodbye to the lovely young couple who ran The Chase Inn in Bishops Frome who have been licensees there for about 2 months after moving there from Bristol, and headed off through Bromyard to Leominster pronounced “Lemster”.

Leominster was a cute little town and we found an “Indian” musician performing in the town centre. He was very good and played various instruments including guitar and various flutes. His playing of the pan flute was brilliant.

During the trip we were exchanging emails with various people in Australia filling us in on the political turmoil which resulted in the Prime Minister losing a ballot for the position of leader to the previous incumbent, Kevin Rudd.

At least the labour party will have a much better chance of winning the next election to be held in September.

During the to’ing and fro’ing with Australia we learnt that Lleyton Hewitt was playing in the second round at Wimbledon so we found a pub with a big screen TV and sat down to watch the match. Unfortunately it didn’t last long as Lleyton was bundled out in 4 sets.

We then left Leominster and headed towards our B & B at Llanwrtyd Wells in the Welsh countryside. We encountered quite a lot of road works on the way with loose stones on the road. And red lights stops. It was obvious when we crossed into Wales as the countryside changed dramatically to very hilly and tree covered countryside. Just beautiful.

Things were going well until we rounded a bend and heard a strange noise which sounded like we were on a rough road so Mick quickly pulled into a small roadside lay by to check the car. The road had a steep bank down on the left and a steep bank up on the right as the road had been cut into a steep hillside. Lyn checked her side and announced that the front nearside tyre was flat.

Mick had checked the car when we picked it up in London to check the location of the spare wheel and found it under the car at the rear however he was unable to find a jack or wheel brace. He assumed that the car rental people had removed them in the same manner as they had taken the handbooks and assumed that they did not want people messing about with them

Luckily we had mobile phone reception so we got out the paperwork for the rental and rang the emergency number. We had to press 3 for tyre problems, yes the usual call centre menu system, and give all the details to the guy. Fortunately we had a pretty accurate idea as to where we were. The difficulty was that we had to spell the Welsh town names as they don’t look like they are pronounced. We were only a few miles east of Builth Wells fortunately. Pronounced "Bilth".

The guy asked if we would like a tow truck or a tyre change. Mick went for the tyre change which he thought could be handled more quickly as it only required a guy in a van with tools. He said that they would organize it and someone would ring us.

We decided to make ourselves a cuppa whilst we waited as we always carry hot water, milk, sugar, coffee and tea with us.

After about 15 minutes the RAC (NRMA or RAA equivalent) man rang to ascertain our exact location and said he would be with us in 20 minutes. He arrived after about 25 minutes with a big jack and wheel brace and worked out how to get the tyre from under the car and put the spare on which fortunately was a full sized tyre but on a steel rim. He said one needed a degree to work out how the french do things on cars. The Peugeot is a French car.

It turned out the jack and special tool for getting the wheel stud covers off were in a black plastic box inside the wheel under the car.

He was very nice bloke and we had a good chat about his kids who now live in Australia. This happens quite a lot over here. Most people we engage with have relatives or friends in Australia or know someone who has. Most aspire to going there or wish they had when they were younger.

Wheel replaced, we thanked the RAC man and headed off to our B & B.

After a few hiccoughs we arrived to a lovely place in the country and sat down with the owners, Bernie and John for a cuppa.

Tomorrow we’ll have to work out what to do about the flat as they didn’t give us any instructions about getting it fixed.

 Awkward spot to have a flat tyre. This is a 100kph+ road

Chocolate waiting at our B & B

Musician at Leominster

Red Kite Sculpture in Llanwrtyd Wells

Now triple glazing 

View from our B & B window in Llanwrtyd Wells

Tuesday 25 June 2013. Bishops Frome. Worcester & Malvern

After a good nights sleep Mick awoke at 6am to a bright and sunny day. It had of course been like that since about 4.30am but we wear blackout masks so it stays dark according to our brains. By and large places we stay have never heard of blockout curtains or linings which seems odd as it gets light so early on summer mornings.

Today we went to have a look around Worcester, a Cathedral city not far from here. Unlike Hereford, Worcester has a very nice plaza area created in its main shopping area. Beats fighting the traffic.

Worcester is overlooked by the 12th century Worcester Cathedral which, like many such buildings, is undergoing restoration work and although there is no charge for entry they do ask for donations to help with maintenance.

Worcester is famous for its Royal Worcester Fine Bone China and porcelain tableware since 1751 and of course Worcestershire (sometimes known as Worcester) sauce.

The River Severne runs through the centre of the city.

After a Costa coffee and a very pleasant visit, we headed off to look at Malvern, a place known for its miniature mountain range stretching for 8 miles across the skyline. Unfortunately, Lyn was so freaked out by the narrow roads and our wing mirrors passing only millimeters from cars coming the other way that we headed home.

The weather today provided one of the best days we have had. And it is good for Wimbledon.

Talking about the tennis, it is a pleasure that Wimbledon is on whilst we are awake. Watching it in Australia can be very tiring since most matches are on when we are supposed to be asleep.

Go Lleyton, Bernie and Sam.

The Chase Inn, Bishops Frome bathed in sunlight

 Cacti & succulents growing in a wall 

Worcester Cathedral

 Phone box converted to contain an ATM as well as a phone

The River Severne

Monday 24 June 2013. Gloucester to Bishops Frome via Ross on Wye and Hereford

Today we left Gloucester and headed towards Bishops Frome through Ross on Wye and Hereford, stopping at both places for a look around.

Since leaving London we have traveled through or to the counties of Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Herefordshire where we are now.

At Ross on Wye we found a nice spot by the river with free parking and had a coffee before driving into the centre of town to browse. As Ross on Wye was a fairly small town it wasn’t long before we were heading off to Hereford.

In the city centre, Hereford has a beautiful Cathedral which in its current form dates from 1079. The interior Norman columns holding the whole thing up looked very much like the columns in Gloucester Cathedral. As Lyn says, “you’ve seen one; you’ve seen them all…”. The Cathedral’s most famous treasure is a mediaeval map of the world dating back to the 13^th century.

Having had a good look around Hereford, we headed off to the Chase Inn in Bishops Frome which is in the middle of nowhere in the Herefordshire countryside. The town is on the river Frome and its name is derived from the Bishops Frome Limestone of which large outcrops occur in the area. Cider is also produced locally from the Henney’s cider company.

Hereford Cathedral

Lyn by the River Wye

The Chase Inn, Bishops Frome

Sunday 23 June 2013. Gloucester. Cotswolds Falconry Centre.

The sun was shining when Mick went down to move the car but the day soon turned into a cold, windy, wintery day with spots of rain mixed in with the wind.

Mick had planned to go to Banbury of "Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross..."  fame and from there on to Broughton Castle once described as "About the most beautiful Castle in all England..." but given a choice, Lyn chose the Cotswold Falconry Centre at Moreton in Marsh.

We headed off into the beautiful English countryside which is the Cotswolds and arrived just prior to the first of four flying displays featuring different birds in each.

The centre had a large variety of eagles, owls, vultures, falcons, kestrels, hawks and many other birds and the flying displays featured some of the birds landing on seats next to the spectators.

As it was supposed to be summer, the birds were moulting quite badly in readiness for developing their winter feathers but apart from a few feathers flying about, it did not reduce the spectacle of the flying displays. 

Most of the birds were bred at the centre and were really tame.

All in all a very enjoyable day (except for the bitterly cold wind) and we didn’t have to do much walking which made a change for our sore old feet. Oh, and it only cost £6 each for seniors.

 

 

Black Vultures

 A Falcon

 

 

 

Great Grey Owl.

 

 Black Chested Eagle Buzzard

Great Horned Owl

 Here boy!

 

 

A Secretary Bird

Turkey vulture in flight