21 June – Thursday
The longest day, and a long drive today. Left Chester and headed for Wales, with the first stop at Bangor. The tide was out and the mud just went on forever! It would have been at least 2 miles of mud from Bangor to the sea – incredible! Then through Caernarfon to the Snowdonia region and Mt Snowdon. How quickly the scenery changes from coastal farmlands to the most incredible slate mountain and then the bare grass and heather covered rocky mountains. Once through the pass, the countryside was much softer, very green and woodlands and lakes.
Back into England and on to Shrewsbury and then to Wellington, home of my great great great grandmother, Mary Dodd. Wellington dates back to the 1200s and was, and still is, a market town. We had a wander through the small, narrow and twisty streets, with many half timbered buildings and old public houses. (I’m sure Mary must have visited at least one of them!) The church was build c1790 and was probably where Mary was christened.
After this, it was the battle of the roundabouts, with a few circuits of some of them before finding the correct exit. Whilst we have found all the rounds to be well signed, for some reason this area wasn’t quite up to the national standard. Anyway, we arrived at Stratford-on-Avon and found a lovely B & B without any problems and will stay here for 2 nights.
The wildflowers have been absolutely lovely the entire trip. The fields are incredibly green (something to do with rain!), some are covered with buttercups, boggy areas have yellow irises growing in them, the hawthorn hedges have briar roses and honeysuckle, fox gloves, rhododendrons, the heather is starting to flower and the red (Flanders) poppies are just gorgeous. Whilst they are probably considered a weed, great swathes of red poppies across the fields is breathtaking – no wonder Monet painted them!
The longest day, and a long drive today. Left Chester and headed for Wales, with the first stop at Bangor. The tide was out and the mud just went on forever! It would have been at least 2 miles of mud from Bangor to the sea – incredible! Then through Caernarfon to the Snowdonia region and Mt Snowdon. How quickly the scenery changes from coastal farmlands to the most incredible slate mountain and then the bare grass and heather covered rocky mountains. Once through the pass, the countryside was much softer, very green and woodlands and lakes.
Back into England and on to Shrewsbury and then to Wellington, home of my great great great grandmother, Mary Dodd. Wellington dates back to the 1200s and was, and still is, a market town. We had a wander through the small, narrow and twisty streets, with many half timbered buildings and old public houses. (I’m sure Mary must have visited at least one of them!) The church was build c1790 and was probably where Mary was christened.
After this, it was the battle of the roundabouts, with a few circuits of some of them before finding the correct exit. Whilst we have found all the rounds to be well signed, for some reason this area wasn’t quite up to the national standard. Anyway, we arrived at Stratford-on-Avon and found a lovely B & B without any problems and will stay here for 2 nights.The wildflowers have been absolutely lovely the entire trip. The fields are incredibly green (something to do with rain!), some are covered with buttercups, boggy areas have yellow irises growing in them, the hawthorn hedges have briar roses and honeysuckle, fox gloves, rhododendrons, the heather is starting to flower and the red (Flanders) poppies are just gorgeous. Whilst they are probably considered a weed, great swathes of red poppies across the fields is breathtaking – no wonder Monet painted them!
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