Wales, 2024

 And so to Barry's first proper road trip - and what a corker it was...

I've said it before but NEVER change a trip just because of a weather forecast. One week ago, the forecast was predicting monsoon rains across Wales - the reality couldn't have been more different and roof's stayed down for the entire trip.

However, the trip up to Gloucester on Thursday evening after work was worrying - the monsoon did happen and I've rarely driven in rain that hard - a very good test of Barry's drains. We arrived around 9pm to a pretty nice hotel with a brand new and almost empty bar - we even had to go find the barman to get us a drink.

There were to be 4 of us on this trip; me in my 987, my son in his BMW M2, Vic in his 981 and Tony (joining us in the morning as he only lived 40 mins away) in his lovely, blue 981.

Day 1 - Gloucester to Llangynog - 163 miles

The day dawned sunny and bright and we drove 2 minutes from the hotel for breakfast in an excellent little cafe, who did a great bacon and egg roll and provided inspiration:

The route to our first coffee stop in Hay-on-Wye was a sign of things to come; twisty, pretty good surface (at least, compared to Surrey) but quite a lot of traffic. We managed to park right in the centre of Hay, with a cafe right next to the cars:

The route onwards continued to be excellent fun and we arrived at our lunch stop (we didn't go hungry on this trip) in the pretty town of Llandrindod Wells - a lovely cafe by the lake:

Parking was a squeeze but we all got in...

The A483 from Crossgates to Newtown was a beautifully smooth, curving run through stunning greenery, only let down by the 2 vans who drove just fast enough to prevent us over-taking on the very few straights.

A few narrow roads and some brilliant B-roads brought us to Lake Vyrnwy (yeah, try pronouncing that!) for our final stop of the day at the ice-cream shop there - very nice. We found a good spot further round the lake to get my drone up and I'll add some video at a later date:

The road around the lake is truly stunning; huge trees, moss-encrusted rocks and a sublime road that twists and turns, with no traffic - wonderful.

We arrived at the hotel for the night pretty knackered - and the hotel was a story in itself. Called the New Inn, it was 'new' in much the same way the 'New Forest' is new; probably first built in the 17th century and not been much updated since - well, certainly not this century. Our room had a large wet patch on the carpet, underneath a tear in the ceiling, where water had obviously leaked. I found out later that my bed was also wet - fortunately, there were 3 other beds in the room. However, the less said about the shower, the better...view from my room below:

The evening meal was pretty reasonable, the beer was cheap and the pool table was ours all evening - my son had a crash course and was surprisingly good. I slept very well that night...

Day 2 - Llangynog to Rhayader - 183 miles

The sun was out again in the morning as we headed off to Lake Bala; a narrow, single lane road along one side and the main A road on the other:

The A5 to Betws-y-Coed is a truly stunning road through lovely scenery but clogged with traffic at the best of times, more so on a hot, sunny day that we had. But perfect for a convertible and we stopped in Betws for coffee in the sun:

I'd always planned to skip the Llanberis Pass as, beautiful as it is, it's always rammed with coaches crawling down it and today was no exception - one turned off to the pass in front of us. The roads in the area were still quite busy but we had patches of excellent B-road mayhem, the 3 Porsches trying to keep up with my son's mental M2. Considering we had over 100bhp less, we did well.

Lunch was at the Ffestiniog railway station, a regular haunt for me on previous trips and a great location. My son learnt all about steam engines as the train thundered past during our meal:

The run down the coast, via Harlech and Barmouth was a fun cruise with a great view out to sea and my son's confusion at the Penmaenpool toll bridge when the man asked him for £1 was a giggle - he had never heard of the concept (kids, hey?).

Afternoon coffee stop was at another well-known place to me, the Two Hoots cafe in Devil's Bridge, where we experienced the only bit of rain on the trip (not enough to put the roof up) - nice cake:

The final leg of the day was arguably the best of the trip - the Elan Valley. This is always good because, despite the narrow roads, bumpy surface and blind crests, there is almost no traffic, long sight lines and the roads are like a go-kart track, which really test the car. Add in some sun and it is nigh-on perfection - we tore along it, the M2 leading and gradually pulling away from us, me giggling insanely at several points as Barry snicked from side to side. If cars could talk, I'm sure Barry would have been cackling as well...what a drive! We had planned to stop in the middle and take some pics but we were having way too much fun for that.

We pulled into The Bear, which was not a pub, as I had expected with a name like that but just a very luxurious (compared to the New Inn) B&B. We ate in a very nice local pub and had a few beers while the only serious rain of the trip thundered down outside. It only lasted an hour or 2 and the roads were almost dry by the time we stumbled out back to the B&B.

Day 3 - Rhayader to Hereford - 195 miles

After the rain on the previous night, all the water was obviously gone and there wasn't a cloud in the sky as we set off, back through the Elan Valley. We took a slightly different route past the lakes, which were really beautiful before joining the road we had taken yesterday, in the opposite direction. This time, we took it more leisurely....nah, nah, we didn't - we barreled down it at only slightly less of warp speed - damn, that is a truly great road. 

We were supposed to stop at the Two Hoots for morning coffee but it was decided it was too early, so we soldiered on. Being Sunday and Wales being a little more traditional, lots of places were shut, so lunch was sandwiches from a petrol station.

The roads continued to be glorious; smooth, flowing with bursts of lunacy possible; there is little better in the world than seeing your sat-nav telling you that the next turn is 20 miles away.

The final highlight of the trip was the Black Mountain road through the Brecon Beacons, a short, twisty road that rises up to some splendid views. Sadly, this road has been somewhat tamed by average speed cameras that first appeared last year, so much so that this may be my last visit to this road - the rest of the Brecons are either tiny, single lanes or main, traffic-clogged A roads (unless I'm missing something). The view, however, is always breathtaking:

It may not look like it but the car park was packed, so we weren't able to park together for a better group shot, although my son made up for it by taking another 30 odd pics of his car, as he did at almost every place we stopped.

The last 30 miles or so were relatively tame on those busy but pretty A-roads, to an isolated pub outside Hereford. Vic left us at this point to get straight home that night, while we had to resort to ordering a Pizza Hut delivery - the pub stopped doing food at 4pm. From about 7pm, we had the pub and the pool table to ourselves - a fun night and we also taught my son a little about darts - every day is a school day for some...

Day 4 - Hereford to home - 178 miles

The last day of a road trip is always a bit depressing - saying goodbye, knowing you are returning to drudgery and work (well, for some). We said our goodbye's to Tony who had a nice route planned back through the Cotswolds and we set off in blazing sunshine again.

My son and I had originally planned to amble along to the M4 and shoot home but the weather was too beautiful to be wasted on a motorway, so we stuck to the long route. On any other day, it would have been huge fun but, compared to the previous 3 days, it was a little slow with too much traffic (although still MUCH better than the motorway slog). We got home around 4pm and another great trip was in the bag.

Epilogue

After 839 miles, zero car issues, no chats with plod and the best weather of the year so far in this country, I feel I can safely say the trip was a resounding success. It was always a risk going away with complete strangers but Vic and Tony proved to be kindred spirits in a desire to use these cars as the designers intended and not to get too upset by the ever-growing coats of dirt their cars accumulated - many thanks to you both. 

This is my 2nd road trip with my son and I love the fact we have this interest in common (I feel safe in writing this, he's a yoof and he won't read 'words') - I hope there will be more with him. Although I think he has enough photo's of his car now...please stop taking pics at EVERY stop!

I always leave my final words for the most important member of the trip - my car. This was Barry's first road trip and he performed flawlessly. Considering that he is 19 years old (the oldest car I have ever owned), it astounds me how comfortable, smooth and fast he is. In the full twisties, he was keeping up with a much younger, far more powerful BMW - only the straights saw him lag behind a little.

Roll on the next trip...

Video of the trip - apologies for all the music but I forgot I had my stereo on while filming, so I couldn't easily edit it unless I plastered music all over it...