July 2019
Trip to Wales near Aberdyfi and Snowdonia National Forest
We are on our way to Wales, courtesy of the Tonfanau Road
Racing Club. They have four races
throughout the summer and Alex is their ‘special guest’.
Our drive west was straight-forward with our Satellite
Navigation. According to our technology
we would arrive about 12:30 after driving 270 miles. We managed a consistent speed for most of the
trip and stopped twice for short comfort breaks.
Once we arrived at the border to Wales we slowed down due to
the twisty narrow roads. Although in
better condition on the surface, the terrain meant Alex erred on the side of
caution and slowed down a lot. The
closer we got to our end destination, Tonfanau, the road then became single
track. Welsh countryside reminded me a
lot of Guernsey Island.
This race circuit was originally Tonfanau Camp, where
British territorial units were stationed along with an American unit before the
Normandy invasion. The camp was one of
the designated sites for ‘Plan Python’ which means; the plan for continuity of
government in the event of nuclear war.
The camp was officially closed in 1971 but reopened for six months in 1972 for 29,000 Uganda
refugees that came to Britain. Only
1,500 were housed at the camp. Since
1993 the property has been used part time by the Racing Club and the rest of
the time used by sheep.
The buildings are dilapidated but the main one is secure to
the elements. Concrete walls and steel
roof, electricity and water and two toilets.
The club has a front office area, a kitchen area with a big dining table
as well as a third room with a big table.
A few days before the race event, the farmer gets his sheep dog and his
quad bike and herds all the sheep to another pasture where they stay during the
race. Next the have a street
cleaner/sweeper that spends a few hours going around the tarmac track cleaning
up all the sheep dung. Another crew
strings up rope and hammers posts into the ground to secure a spectator area
along one side of the track. On the
last day, another dozen helpers’ drive around with tractor and wagon and place
plastic covered straw bales strategically to safe guard against injury should a
rider lose control and fly toward the fences.
They had a rented public address system two stories high where the
commentator sat during the races and where Alex spent some time in interviews. There were also a dozen porta-toilets placed
on either side of the camp grounds.
We arrived about one o’clock and the cooks were preparing a
communal meal for the working members and us.
She had potatoes boiling on the stove and eggs to make egg salad. Everything was laid onto the long table. Big bowl of new potatoes, bowl of egg salad,
plate of sliced chicken, bowl of lettuce salad, stack of buttered, sliced bread
to make your own sandwich. Also; lots
of store-bought food like, sausage rolls, beet salad, cous cous salad, quiche,
pizza and home-made pasta with spaghetti sauce. Two kettles sat on the work surface of the
cupboards and everyone helped themselves to tea or coffee, whatever your
preference. We joined them in
preparing a plate each and then went outside to eat. We brought out own chairs in the car and set
them up along the front porch.
They had hired an ambulance and crew for the race day as is
the law.
We mingled and visited until about four o’clock and then
drove to our accommodation for the weekend.
The Britannia Inn in Aberdyfi is 7 miles from Tonfanau.
This is a painting of the original Inn from 18th
how it is today. The
bottom front windows are the pub/bar and the second-floor windows are where the
restaurant is and there is a small balcony in the front where patrons can eat
or drink. Top window, one of the 5
guest rooms. We had Room # three our
first night, and room #2 for Sunday night.
Saturday evening, we strolled along the street by the
estuary in front of our hotel and found a lovely little café where we had our
dinner of fish.
One of the new facts I discovered was that a bell can be
under water and ring. This is called the
Time and Tide Bell. The Bell under
Aberdyfi’s warf wooden jetty, is one of twelve in the U.K. this type of bell is a time piece or time
marker and serves as a long-time marker of sea levels and indicates where the
shore line is now. The bell is rung by
the movement of the sea at high tide each day.
The sound and pitch of the bell varies as the bell is submerged in the
water. The bell was an invention of
Sculptor Marcus Vergette and the first bell was installed in 2009 at Appledore
in Devon. I was surprised that it is
such a new item. I include this
information because it interested me and I thought, “does anyone else know this
fact?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwvKR14ODhI an interesting video that discusses the time
and Tide Bell and the men who place them along the coast.
Our first afternoon at Tonfanau, I went off by myself to
explore across the road where there was a railway station behind a gate. The big gate was padlocked and I expect the
farmer has the key. The small gates to
walk through were swinging gates on either side of the tracks. Since there was a sign reading ‘public foot
path’, I went for a walk back into the field of sheep and over the hill where I
could see the Irish Sea. There was a
fence keeping the sheep from going into the sea. The sheep were newly shorn and friendly. There were other fences constructed of rocks
of all sizes piled upon one another with no concrete. They are positioned so
that the weight of the stone alone holds the wall in place.
Sunday at the race circuit was busy with me taking videos
and photos and keeping up with Alex. He
rode in three parades. The day was sunny
and breezy but still a hot day to be wearing leathers. After the second parade, Alex decided to
leave his leathers on rather than go through the work of taking them off only
to pull them on again. He sat in a chair
in the shade and people gravitated to him to talk and get photos taken. The last race of the day was five o’clock and
then it was relaxing until about 08:30 when we all ate. One of the women went to everyone and each
person had a choice of Indian or Chinese.
We placed our order from the pamphlet and she kept track of who ordered
what. At eight she went to the nearest
town and collected it all, three big boxes!
Everyone had what they ordered and we sat up to the long communal table
in the kitchen plus ten people in another room to eat. The food was still hot and we were hungry by
then! Earlier, we were each given two
vouchers; one for a burger and one for ice-cream. We gave our burger voucher to
a racing team. They are a
father and son team who go to every race throughout the year and they have
about six motorcycles to display and ride.
Jane one of the women who works in admin., was celebrating
her 71st birthday as well as wedding anniversary. There was a cake for her and we all sang
Happy Birthday. Then she shared her
cake with a tiny sliver each so everyone who wanted, got a taste. Alex told stories until ten o’clock and
then it was time to get to bed. Most
of the race club crew were in motor-homes or campers and were there until
Monday.
Alex and I slept like babies and had scheduled breakfast for
08:30. We could look out to sea from
the dining room. There was fresh fruit
salad, juice, cereal and yoghurt on a table.
We could also order a full breakfast from the menu. I had a soft-boiled egg and toast. In the dining room was where I noticed the
oil painting of the Inn, three centuries ago.
After our breakfast, we walked a few streets near our Inn
and found a Fat Face shop. They sell
larger size clothes and regular size for men and women. I got a lovely seer sucker fabric summer
dress and Alex bought a pair of shorts.
We took a different route home,
which took us along the coastal road as well as through the mountains and the
Snowdonia National Forest. The
landscape and scenery were spectacular as well as the buildings. I used a program on my PC to make a slide
show of photos taken on our drive. Most
of them taken out the car window.
We stopped for fill up of tank and tummy about 1
o’clock £54 to fill the car tank and
less than £7 for Alex and I at Cary’s café.
Alex had double burger, I had chicken burger and we shared chips. I had drinks in the car. We had a safe drive back arriving home
about five o’clock. I think Wales is
amazing. So unlike England. We had a
lovely time and I enjoy meeting people and seeing new places. Tuesday was a total veg out day, downloading
photos from phone and camera and generally recovering from the long drive and
all the extra stimulation. Two more
days and we are off again for another racing weekend. Mallory park is only a couple of hours drive
for us and this will be our fifth time there.
It is a yearly invitation.
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