Wells to Wales

This is the B & B we stayed at in Wells, an example of many we have stayed at.  They are great accommodation with great food.

We had a big day’s ride of about one hundred miles on Monday and ended up in Stratford-upon-Avon, where Mr & Mrs Shakespeare had a little boy called William.  We got to our B & B  just before a rain storm.  We went for a trip in a tour bus (not on the open top) in the rain and once it cleared we went for a walk.

Shakespeare’s birthplace.

A meal in a glass in the oldest pub in town (which was followed by a delicious meal).

We had a stroll along the first working canal we have come across.

The boats are really colourful.

On Tuesday we just headed north with no particular destination in mind.  We ended up at Whitchurch, which is where many tower clocks have been made since the 1600s.  They are still made here now.

There are lots of black and white buildings.

We are staying two nights at Whitchurch so we could have a day ride into the north of Wales today.  There are lots of tractors on the road carrying grass for silage.

We ended up at Llangollen, which is the home of the Eisteddfod.  There is a canal running through the town and we took a horse drawn canal boat ride.

Stan the horse and his handler just plodded along beside the canal.

It was very relaxing.  One horsepower.

Then, on the advice of Dave, who owns the B & B, we headed up Horseshoe Pass, a popular motorcycling road.

At the top we had lunch at the Ponderosa Cafe – lots of motorcyclists coming and going.

Then on the way home we came across the Pontcysyllte Aquaduct.  There are eighteen spans and is 126 feet high.  It took ten years to build and was completed in 1805 and is a World Heritage Listed site.

The canal runs across it.  There is a narrow path and handrail on one side and nothing at all on the other.  It is only just wide enough for the boats.

Tomorrow we head to Liverpool ready to sail to the Isle of Man on Friday morning.