Southwest England & Wales

Day 1:
For our last mid term break (one week) we chose to travel around the south west of England and then on to Wales. We set out early on Saturday morning so we could visit Windsor Castle before moving on to Stonehenge where we were staying for our first night. Seeing the English countryside in its Autumn colours is just such a picture.
On our way south we turned into Newmarket to see their racecourse, as this is the heart of England’s racing industry. We were able to see their Autumn course and coincidentally, one of their main events was due to be held that day. It was one of their last events for that season and amazing preparation being undertaken. A very friendly gentleman on the gate told us to just drive up and take a wander around so we did! There is an even more elaborate Summer course across the field, but too far away for us to see what it was like.
The township of Windsor sits beside the Thames River but is dwarfed by the great Windsor Castle. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to take a tour through, but we certainly admired the Queen’s favourite castle from the outside. Apparently this is the largest and oldest occupied fortress in the world. Windsor is a delightful little township and across the Windsor pedestrian bridge is Eton. This has the most exclusive school in England and has educated at least 18 prime ministers! It was founded by Henry V1 with a view to educating 70 highly qualified boys with a fund endowed by him. This entry still stands today. Ascot, a short drive from here, allowed visitors to view their track and the outside of their newly upgraded grandstand and public facilities. To reach this area, we had to walk under the actual track which took us to the centre of the course.
From here we moved on to Stonehenge, a magical and mystical place and one of England’s most popular attractions. As we drove into the car park our car made an expensive graunching sound in the wheels!! Ian had suspected the brakes may have been wearing, but of course we were hoping they would see us out until we sold it. However not to be! As it was, the entry to Stonehenge was closed as it was just on 5pm so we crawled along to our motel and what would you know – the RAC (our saviours) were parked in the carpark there!! I just couldn’t believe it. Anyway the guy checked it out and said we mustn’t drive any further and rang the local garage and booked us in for Monday morning. That meant another night in Stonehenge and a day behind schedule but lucky really, all things considered!!
Day 2:
Having a day without a car meant we could walk to Stonehenge. This 5000-year-old stone circle still baffles archaeologists and the tourists just keep pouring in. For our return trip, we took one of the many tracks through fields that had a scattering of deer and heaps of pheasants. The track proved to be a long way round but guess it was good exercise!
Day 3:
We collected our car at midday and headed off towards the New Forest and then on to Exeter, before reaching Plymouth in the early evening. We were concerned about our barbeque days nearing an end, so we found a spot in the forest (before arriving in Plymouth) to have what we thought may be our last barbeque! I think the people who stopped there to walk their dog thought we were from another planet!!
Day 4:
In the morning we drove down to Plymouth Hoe to see it in all its glory – it was a cold but beautiful, sunny morning. This was true to its reputation as a promenade which gives breezy views over Plymouth Sound! We saw Drake’s monument on the famous bowling green, the red and white Smeaton’s tower and the impressive war monument dedicated to those in the Navy who supported Britain in the various wars over the years.
It was now on to the Eden Project near St. Austell. The Eden Project has the largest greenhouses in the world and they were raised from the dust of an abandoned china clay pit. These have become one of Britain’s success stories. Tropical, temperate and desert environments have been recreated inside the biomes with flora and fauna from around the globe. It is really impressive and certainly worth a visit. St Ives was the next scheduled stop. This was once one of Cornwall’s busiest fishing ports and later became a centre for 20th C art but is now better known as a thriving holiday town. From the harbour front it climbs in to a warren of cobbles streets, where slate – roofed cottages, old pubs and tumbledown chapels jostle for space with tourist shops, trendy restaurants, galleries and holiday homes. The Clotworthy name is well known here for its dress shop and on another street corner, their name is etched in the concrete. Unfortunately the Clotworthy owner was not in that day, but the shop assistant said they had owned a dress shop in the town for many years. Ian knew it was here, so that is why we hunted it out!
Since we have been in the UK we have not had fish and chips (cooked in the shop) so we decided this was as good as any place to try them. We won’t bother again! It is amazing how our digestive system is just not accustomed to that fatty batter any more. It is a staple diet here and there would be as many fish and chip shops as pubs in some towns. That night we stayed in St. Just, handy to Land’s End for the following day.
Day 5:
When we drove down to Land’s End it was misty and cold and to add to that dismal feeling the authorities were going to charge us 12 pound each to enter their theme park, which is apparently full of tacky side shows – so typical of the seaside resorts over here. We could have skipped the complex and walked out to the headland but we protested and drove to Porthgwarra where we could walk right out on the headland and enjoy the views for a car park fee of one pound! The tide was out when we came to St. Michael’s Mount but time didn’t allow us to walk out as we had to be in Chew Magna (just south of Bristol & Bath) by night fall.
Day 6:
Into Bath in time for the free city walk at 10.30. Bath was all we expected and one could just imagine the Romans coming over the hills and discovering the hot springs. The buildings were left to decay after the Romans departed and it wasn’t until the 17C that people began to return to ‘take the cure’ in Bath once again. Although we didn’t have time to visit the Roman Bath’s Museum we saw the King’s Bath and Cross Bath. Over the road from this was the Hot Bath which has been restored together with the Hetling Pump Room which are now part of the new complex, Thermae Bath Spa – a luxurious complex. From here on to the Royal Crescent, a semicircular terrace of magnificent houses built between 1767 and 1775. Originally, wealthy socialites would have rented the houses by the season. A walk along the street from the Crescent is The Circus; a magnificent circle of 30 houses. Plagues on the houses commemorate famous residents such as Thomas Gainsborough, David Livingstone etc...
Another place of interest was the Jane Austen Centre. She wrote Persuasion and Northanger Abbey here, which both vividly describe fashionable life in the city in the 1800’s.
Next it was on westward, over the Severn Bridge to Cardiff. It was really quite late in the day and of course we hoped to visit the new Millenium Stadium. Due to the fact it is right in the city centre, parking was always going to be a problem. However we found some cars parked on double yellow lines (without a parking ticket!) so we took the risk too,raced around the corner and were lucky enough to join the last tour of the day. A fantastic complex and so versatile. While we were there it was having all the turf uplifted ready for a hotwheel car competition, the following weekend was a heavy-weight boxing bout and two weeks later back into rugby. Our guide was next to useless – he spoke too fast and certainly wasn’t interested in his job! However the one point I did manage to decipher was that the turf came from Holland and so the Welsh can always say they have never lost on home soil!!!
From here we moved on to Swansea, where we were staying for the night. Oh and that was something completely different too – our b/b had each room decorated to a theme! We had the choice of staying in the Mediterranean room or the Mexican. I chose the Mediterranean!!! Just down the road was an Indian Restaurant, established in what was formerly a church and it served superb food.
Day 7:
As we drove out of Swansea, the mist seemed to be thicker than we had experienced before and we just hoped it would clear, as we were looking forward to taking a more coastal route around the south of Wales. Regardless, we took the road out to Port-Eynon and walked down to the beach with the wind blowing and the mist still surrounding the cliffs. The roads we took back to the motorway were narrow lanes, only wide enough for two cars in some places! Once on the main road again we headed out to Haverfordwest where we wandered around, checking in at the bank and supermarket! Northwest from here was Newgale where we stopped for a cuppa and enjoyed the long sandy beach (a little like Matarangi!) and then on to St David’s. St David’s Cathedral is supposed to be the holiest place in Wales! It is certainly situated in a quaint little town. Following this we travelled on to Fishguard and through Cardigan to Dinas-Mawddwy for our night’s accommodation. To reach it we had to wind up many little lanes between the Welsh hills. The weather was atrocious, cold, wet and bleak.
Day 8:
On up to Colwyn Bay and on to the walled castle town of Conwy. This is one of Britain’s best surviving medieval settlements. It has a most dramatic entrance, arriving at the castle gateway over the modern road bridge. There was a antique market on that Saturday so we walked over the wall and down into the streets to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the town beside the sea! Our accommodation was at Llandudno, a hotel near the water front. This was supposed to be our treat but it was a total disappointment and twice the price!
Day 9:
As we left we paid the toll to drive around Great Orme’s Head, which had quite spectacular views, before heading east once again to Gorleston.