North Wales weekend 5th-7th July 2002

Four cars met up at Abercynon Little Chef at 10am on the Friday morning. Luckily everybody had been able to get the day off to make a full weekend of it. We didn't hang around there and set off up for the drive North. The weather was pretty grotty, so there was no topoff activity for us four the whole day.

We followed the A470 pretty much all the way going through Brecon, Builth Wells, Rhyader and on.

The trip was pretty uneventful until we ended up following a coach through a narrow bridge with a S bend in it and the coach connected with a truck coming the other way. It was a slow speed collision, but there then followed a good 10 minute hoo-ha while the drivers decided whose fault it was and swapped names and addresses. Two blokes from separate cars behind us walked down and looked into it, tutted a bit and then got back into their cars. Not sure if that helped, but it seemed to satisfy them.

We'd agreed to stop for lunch somewhere between 12:30 and 1:00, but Mark decided to stamp on the anchors having seen a likely looking pub at about 12:20 and we stopped for lunch at Pub. It was a good idea, because the lunch was excellent.

The journey up was great until we got stuck behind another coach that insisted on going as fast as he could on the downhill stretches and then slowing down to a snail's pace going uphill. We eventually overtook it going up a really bad hill and the speed picked up considerably.

Somewhere along the route we met Ray and Marilyn with their roof down (posers), and Bob and Ros had already checked in to the hotel before we arrived.

Dinner on Friday night

Mark had gotten a phone call telling him that one of the rooms had no working shower, and he volunteered himself and Chris for that room; trials of the organiser. The hotel was great and in a beautiful location, right in the middle of Bettws-Y-Coed. Dinner was booked for 7:30 and we all spent an hour freshening up and wandering around finding out where all the dress and shoe shops were ready for the weekend.

During dinner we were entertained by Jane provided the cabaret with some Coke juggling. Unfortunately, she managed to spill it in the process. The meal was excellent, as all the meals were during the stay. Ray snapped away during the after-dinner drinks.

Mark suggested we get up early on Saturday morning to get the early Snowdon train and get the "Early Bird" £3.00 discount. There was a quick competition to find how many words would go with the word "off" and we decided to have a lie in and pay the £3.00.

Ros decided we'd all take a brisk walk after dinner and we set off along a foot path. Some time later, we decided to re-trace our steps and found our way back to the hotel. "It looked so simple when I looked at the map"

Saturday

Saturday morning, we had a leisurely breakfast when Michelle decided to try to top Jane's juggling skills with a tea throwing act. Luckily she missed me and poured it all over herself. No harm done and an excuse to say "Now you see why I had to bring so many outfits!" 

We had another stroll around. Every now an then a vintage car would sweep through having left one of the other hotels in Bettws where they seemed to have based themselves.

Then we set off for Snowdon. The drive through the Llanberis pass was stunning, but challenging.

Snowdon

Arriving at the Snowdon railway, Mark. S decided to do a magnificent handbrake turn in the huge gravel car park. This was extremely unpopular with the attendant who said he'd have to spend Sunday morning raking the gravel. In fact, Mark was only saved by the amount of Red cars, because the guy didn't see well enough to spot which actual Red one it was.

When we got to the train station, it was £18.00 each for the return trip!! One of our group was lucky enough to qualify for the OAP discount. I won't say who it was, you'll have to work it out for yourself.

Bob couldn't work the camera, but luckily somebody took a picture of him struggling to find the "on" button.

Bob's wise words on learning new skills:- "You learn stuff, then you die; why bother".

Clive used a novel method for making people smile at the camera by showing his legs.

The trip up was slow with gorgeous views, except when we got to the summit when the clouds came down and you couldn't see beyond a few metres.

Anglesey

Once we'd gotten back down, we decided to change the plan about a bit and take a drive over to Anglesey for the afternoon. 

First stop was LlanfairpPG where we caused chaos in the car park taking pictures. We drove around for a while before stopping a hotel in Beaumaris for a coffee, except the coffee lounge couldn't serve coffee and the bar could only serve us if we ordered all together! So we ordered coffee in the bar.

When we'd been driving along a gang of kids shouted "Six Smart Cars in a Row"

Then it was off over the bridge where Michelle took pictures of Marilyn, taking pictures of Michelle.

Sunday

MORE shopping. It's surprising how much shopping you can fit into such a short space of time. Dress shops, shoe shops, souvenir shops, camping and outdoor shops. And all this before setting off for the long journey home.

The Chocolate house

One thing Michelle decided we definitely must not miss was the Swiss Chocolate Shop. This turned out to be run by a mad Swiss Chocolatier, who must have been to the Basil Fawlty school of customer care. He was a hoot, especially when he was weighing out the chocolates for sale. Definitely worth the stop.

Glassbobbery

Marilyn had decided that we must also visit a place called the Glass Blobbery along the way. This was a craft shop and gallery with a resident glass sculpture. A few of us make purchases with Ray and Marilyn buying a beautiful (but ultimately too fragile) glass Dragon. We waited outside while Mark has his balls wrapped in tissue paper for the journey home:-)

Bala Child Labour Scandal Uncovered

On to Bala, where we uncovered a child labour scandal at the hotel we lunched in where most of the staff appeared to be under 12 years old. This was a bit like the Beaumaris hotel, because we couldn't have lunch unless we had a drink! I've often seen the opposite where a drinks license is dependant on people dining, but never this way around.

After that, we made our way home with just a short stop for tea and cakes.

It was an excellent weekend with great driving and good company. Mark and Chris made an excellent choice with the hotel, and plans are already being drawn up for next year's trip.

Thanks to Ray and Ros (and me) for the pictures.

Hi Ho Silver