Why No Blog?
Sorry for the delay - no reliable internet connection was available in Oswestry.
Our late arrival at Parkways at St. Arvans last night was tempered by the amazing hospitality we received from Elizabeth and Ron. No sooner had we arrived than Ron had his hose out ready for us to wash the bikes off, while Elizabeth was phoning the pub to check the closing time for the kitchen. Bad news - 8pm, so we had to hoof it over there for what turned out to be a very nice meal. Curry yet again for James, keeping that carbohydrate intake up! Meanwhile, Elizabeth had offered to do a wash for us, so lots of smelly lycra was dispatched machine-wards.
Breakfast was 0730 - in fact, any time we wanted it. James tried to call Ron's bluff by asking for an 0530 sitting, but Ron raised with a counter-offer of 0500. Victory to Ron, and 0730 it was.
On departure, we tried to give Elizabeth and Ron a £10 tip, but they refused and insisted it should go to H4H instead.
Up The Chepstow Valley And Beyond
The Chepstow valley was - as predicted - very impressive. Unfortunately, we couldn't make use of any of Andrew Blake's newly (maybe even for us) constructed view points, as time pressed on. Andrew is a friend of James, and is the local Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty manager.
At the top of the valley, we continued up the Golden Valley, stopping off at The Mill for morning coffee. As we chatted to the staff there, they said that they would 'shout' us the coffee and cakes - so another £10 (which it would have costed us) is due to be added to the fund. Thanks girls!
Short Steep Cuts
Matt had a cunning plan to shorten the day (this being the longest day of the trip with 128 miles plotted), by going East at Dorston to a newly-discovered bridge, over a hill into the next valley, and rejoining the route having saved around 5 miles. Joe pointed out that the hill had two arrows on it on his OS map - indicating 'very steep'. Yes, 25%. Very similar to Cardiac Hill at Stoughton for those who know it. However, the view on the other side was spectacular - the Welsh Marches extending across in front of us in verdant shades of green. Matt was desperate to visit Arthur's Stone (a rock? who knows), but we dissuaded him.
When Are We Having Lunch, Dad?
Now things got interesting. We'd forgone the opportunity to eat in Dorston, as it was 'too early'. We were now presented with two problems:
- Few villages and hamlets we were going through had no pubs
- The few pubs there were, were closed.
Village after village, pub after pub. The troops were getting hypoglycaemic (and couldn't even spell it). Finally, at Linge we found a pub which was shut but - praise the Lord - the church was open for "Quiet contemplation with DIY refreshments." We all spotted this, and decided we needed to commune with the Lord and eat His biscuits. Having snaffled the church biscuits, topped up with (non-holy) water and left a donation, we set off with low expectations of ever eating again. Finally, James and Matt spotted the fabled 'crossed knife and fork of rescue' on a tourist sign, and we arrived at the Beef Baron pub in Bicknell. Hearty sandwiches and a (medicinal) Guinness for Matt followed, and we were finally able to continue.
Not Today, Colin
We had hoped to visit Colin Lloyd - a friend/customer of James's - who lives just West of Shrewsbury. However, our ETA at Oswestry was already around 1830, so James decided to call ahead to cancel, thus saving 1/2 hour of socialising and another 5 miles of detour. A pity as it would have been nice to call in.
James's Favourite Shop
We were now approaching familiar territory for those lucky people who have made the trip to Pwllheli in North West Wales for sailing events. The route goes via Telford and Shrewsbury, up towards Oswestry before turning off at a village called Knockin. Knocking has a shop which is - of course - called the Knockin shop. So Matt and Joe were informed of this interesting fact as the day progressed. They are wondering why they ever asked James along.
The Weather
Having had a forecast of gales, wind and (given half a chance) plagues of locusts, we actually had great weather for most of the day - bright sunshine and strong winds from behind. However, from around 10 miles SW of Shrewsury it started to rain, and we were soon just wanting to arrive. Around 1700 it really started raining and we started getting seriously wet! Morale slumped a bit when we got within 2 miles of destination to find that Matt's GPS was lying and it was actually 5 miles in the driving rain (and dusk). Then Joe got a puncture 1 mile out. We finally arrived at 1930 - glad to put a stop to things for the day.
Overall Feeling
A long day, but fantastic scenery along the way!
Statistics
Money raised: £20
Distance covered: 121 miles
Saddlebags dropped: 1 (from Matt's bike)
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