Three lakes and a rollercoaster

Helô and croeso i Gymru (Hello & welcome to Wales).

Yes we are in Wales – not what you (or in fact we) were expecting a week ago. We were heading south from Loch Lomond and after 10 days of unrelenting rain, wind and cold, and with this weather forecast to continue in Ireland for the next few weeks, we thought bugger this, lets head south to warmer climes and come back later in the year, so see you in September, Emerald Isle. We were able to swap our ferry tickets to Sept at no cost and lets face it, the weather couldn’t be any worse in September than it is now!!!

 

So after having a lovely lunch in Barrhead with the Bennett fam, we headed down to Ayr the birthplace of Robert Burns. If you didn’t already know this, then you would’ve found out as soon as you entered the town as the main attractions all focus around Robbie  - Brig o’ Doon (a bridge that was the setting for the final verse of his poem Tam o’ Shanter), which is across a narrow lane from the Robbie Burns Statue which is found in Burns Statue Square inside a garden attached to the Robert Burns museum which is connected to Burns Cottage (where he was born and not to be confused with Burns House which is an an entirely different town!!) by Poets Walkway – whew. It was actually a pretty cute town in South Scotland and despite the weather, we had a brisk walk around town before heading to Cairnryan where you take the ferry to Ireland. We had already booked the caravan park, so....

 

We did a quick drive through Stranraer before enjoying a brief respite from the rain – we actually sat in the sun and I took my woolly hat, gloves & coat off 😊

 

Then began a tale of two countries and three regions at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. We headed first to the elegant, picturesque, peaceful Lake district followed by the garish tackiness of Blackpool and then the playful, quirky, more classy Llandudno in Wales.

 

The Lake District was as you’d expect – rolling green hills, still magical waters, cute villages (most of which we can’t enter due to the size of the streets!) We have ended up in some hairy spots, unable to go back, unable to turn so having to crawl forward along tiny lanes. The weather continued to rain and blow, making it difficult for me to show off the real beauty of the region to Trap.

Heading south again, we visited the Lockerbie Memorial Garden – looking at the remembrance walls/plaques, it was clear there were a lot of young people who died in that attack. We then needed something a bit more uplifting and as an historical romance fan, I was keen to see Gretna Green, the site of many many elopements in the 1700s – young lords and ladies thwarting family requirements and duty to marry for love 🥰 😍. From the 1980s to the 1800’s we then travelled back further to 120/30’s to Hadrian’s Wall. Built by the Romans, the wall ran around 117km stretching the entire width of the island. While the wall has been damaged and degraded over time, many sections remain visible and we visited a small part of it before continuing south. 

 

Arriving in Blackpool at a nice UK Caravan and Motorhome Club site, we braced the 40km+ winds to head down to the esplanade and the piers. While we had been told it was a bit tacky, nothing could really prepare us for the gaudiness, neglect and seedy feeling that you get down there. Everything is run down and looks like it might fall apart at any moment – planks on the North Pier bounced under my feet and you could see they were rotting. There were a lot of derelict-looking buildings and tired looking hotels stretched right along the waterfront. While there were a lot of fair-type attractions, very few of them were operational – maybe because of the weather or maybe because there were very few people there. The most people we saw were inside a Weatherspoon pub!!! However the beach was vast, sandy and looked like it would be lovely in nice weather (although then it’s probably inundated by people so….).

 

We’re now in Wales and while there was sun today and the wind was only 30km/hr, so a bit better, it’s still not all that pleasant. The temps are getting warmer – we actually hit 16 today. We stopped off in Llandudno on our way to our spot tonight in Conwy. Having seen a pic of a Ferris wheel, and having just come from Blackpool, we were feeling a little dubious. However, Llandudno could not have been more different. Cute, quirky and a lot classier – we really liked it. Again, there was no rain during the afternoon (just strong cold winds), but it has settled in again tonight.

 

So, the forecast for the next few weeks is continuing strong winds, rain and 14-18 degrees, so we have decided to flag the UK now too and head to Europe asap where the temps are higher, winds lighter and less rain 😁. We are already booked into Shrewsbury and Bath, but next week we’re on a ferry from Dover to Calais. We’ll add the rest of England on to Sept also…

 

So till next time, hwyl (bye) from Wales.

J&Txx