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Friday, 18 September 2026

The Lonesome Dragon Tour - day 1

 ROAD TRIP!!!

Time for a jolly - despite asking a few people and because my son's car is still not repaired, this is a solo trip (hence 'Lonesome') which I've not tried before, so I hope it will work out.

I left on Thursday after work, stopping at the Bell Hotel in Tewkesbury, a really cute looking place I've never been to before:


The pub was across the road from the Abbey:

Breakfast in the morning was at the quaintest Wetherspoons ever, before setting off on a grey but dry day.

Most of the day was actually spent in England, wriggling through Gloucestershire. I was a bit lax about route planning and trusted TomTom more than normal, which wasn't the best idea as I had set it to 'thrill' mode which meant it chose a lot of single track lanes. However, there were a decent few stretches of lovely B-roads, with low levels of traffic.


I also consciously planned less miles than I normally do on these trips, with more stops and some sight-seeing; Ludlow was a beautiful little town that I'd never even heard of:


Some great roads coming into Wales - everyone complains about the 20mph limits but I don't understand that; they're only in towns where you're already going slow and no-one sticks to them anyway. Out in the sticks, traffic is light and Wales is a beautiful place.

Another town stop in Llandrindod Wells:


The last run was a drop into the stunning Elan valley (which I'll do again on Sunday when it's forecast to be nicer weather). I found the smallest, single lane road ever to get started:



...but soon joined the fecking awesome road that loops through the valley lakes:


What an awesome drive that last 30 minutes was, even in the rain. Barry is a PERFECT car for these sort of roads; small, torquey, like a go-kart. Makes up for months spent on my normal crowded local roads at home.

Pulled into my B&B for the next 3 nights in Rhayader, had fish and chips for tea and I'm glad to find that doing this alone isn't as bad as I expected. Brought my tablet with me and downloaded some Netflix films to keep me occupied (along with the Turkish Delight I bought in Ludlow) - all going well so far.

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