Rally Antics

Not a typical weekend away as I was stopping at a boat rally. It's an event I've attended for many years, even though I no longer have a boat!

The rally was at the Blue Lias in Warwickshire. When we first started going there they had a caravan events field, but I generally stopped in what was known as the Donkey Field next to the canal. Since then this has been developed into a full facility caravan site, they've made a very good job of it, too.

Having arrived from work on the Friday it didn't take looking to down a pint and get booked in. Setting up Dai never takes long but this was also the first time I've pitched the awning properly for my guests to sleep in. It was a bit breezy but the pitch was well sheltered by a hedge. The only error was having the awning slightly too far from the camper which made getting the figure 8 strips tricky to get in to the j rail, the plus point though was they weren't going to come off again easily!

For the rest of the weekend Dai behaved impeccably, the awning worked as sleeping accommodation, just large enough to get the two camp beds in (really it could do with being very slightly larger). It was quite good being able to sit with the side door of Dai open and chat over breakfast out of the wind and rain. I took the awning down in the dry on the Sunday although I'll try and get it spread out to air as it won't be used again this year.

That's probably my last trip of the season, depending on booking train tickets to Perth. I've got a fall back of driving up there, probably stopping overnight on the way back. It will be interesting as my first winter trip.

The awning will definitely be used again. I think anywhere that I'm stopping for a few nights it will be useful as I'll be able to take more stuff such as the Cadac and a comfy chair.

Snowdonia Day 5 - The End

A belated post as having left the campsite and moved to a hotel in Llanberis I couldn't upload on either mobile data or the hotel WiFi. Although I stayed in Wales this was the last day in the campervan so this is the final blog post of the trip.

I'd part packed up on the Thursday night as I wanted a reasonably early start to get over to Llanberis. I was able to park in the hotel car park (I did check it was OK) which saved me about £7! I'd booked for the steam train up Snowdon, good timing as it was their 120th anniversary weekend. Originally the train was at 9:30 but they'd changed it to 10:30 which gave me a bit more time in hand. One advantage of being early is I end up talking to people, in particular I had a chat with the hog-roast man. Around 50 years ago he was there selling bunches of heather to the tourists for tuppence ha'penny, now he sells them pig sandwiches for £5 (and very good they are too, I sampled them later).

For me the steam train was definitely worth the extra over the diesel. Our loco for the day was Enid, the only survivor from the opening day in 1896 (literally, loco No. 1 crashed that day, the only significant accident they've ever had).



The heritage coaches have been rebuilt recently on original chassis, they're very well done though. It's not so much the visual impact of the steam, it's the sound. I mentioned this earlier in the week but there really is no better sound than an engine under load, and of course they're really working up the mountain.

The summit itself was in the clouds, and it was windy (although not as bad as the Saturday) but I did make the effort to climb the last bit to the trig point.



You don't get very long at the summit, around 30 minutes, as you have to return on the same train, I found the downhill run a bit nerve racking, although in truth it's quite safe. The loco and coach are not coupled, if the loco runs away an emergency brake will stop the coach.

After lunch and a couple of pints I walked round to the National Slate Museum. It's worth the entrance fee (there's no charge) and was interesting enough.



On the way back to the hotel I took a couple of photos of the Llanberis Lake Railway (I'll go back for a ride another day) and visited Dolbadarn, a fortified tower, just to complete the mix of castles and trains for the week.



The rest of the weekend was spent with friends old and new as we attacked the mountain to raise money for charity. Unfortunately Saturday's weather didn't match Friday and in the end the summit was beyond most of the walkers. We achieved our main aim though of remembering our late friend Carol and, as at the time of writing, raising nearly £3,000 for Children in Need and MacMillan.

The journey home was mostly along the A5 and was uneventful apart from a Volkswagen nearly taking me out on a roundabout. The campervan behaved impeccably throughout the week with no problems.

The only issue really proved to be storage again. Having to have kit for both the camping and the hotel, plus doing a bit of shopping, left me with kit stuffed into every available space, but I coped. It's something I'll be thinking about over the winter although at the moment unless I find a perfect unit I'm keeping Dai until the end of next season at least.

Snowdonia Day 4 - Castles and The Village with the Long Name

I decided to have a history day instead of railways, just for a change, I also wanted some non-tourist shopping (decent snacks for the next coupe of days) so I drove up to Conwy (or Conway as it used to be known).

You can't miss the history, partly due to the extent of the town walls which you're driving in and out of (in my case, while trying to find a car park with reasonable rates). I did find one just outside the walls.

The first thing, once I'd walked up into the town was coffee and Bara Brith. I also located a very good deli for later. I had a wander round, down to the harbour and round by the castle and walls.



Of course I was more interested in the bridges!



You can just see the end of the railway bridge as well in that shot. I did the shopping, including lunch, then headed down the coast, looking out for somewhere to stop and eat. That turned out to be Llanfairfechan, where I could park next to the prom for free. There was a breeze blowing but I had my Pork and Stilton pie and Cheese and Ham roll listening to the surf and watching the world go by. I have to say if I was going out onto the sea there I'd want something bigger than this:



He didn't go far offshore, presumably he was fishing, but even so, it's not a part of the coast to treat lightly.

The next stage was to pop across to Anglesey, just for the sake of it, and visit, as it says on their signs, The Village with the Long Name, Llanfair PG (not risking typing it all). Having missed the parking I looped round by a back lane to a level crossing, as chance would have it a train was due and the keeper was just shutting the gates (no automation here). It did give me a photo opportunity although in the end I only got one chance at this, I think it worked:



After opening the gates the keeper came for a chat, it can't be an interesting job really as he doesn't even have any control, he has to wait for the main box to pull off the locks (lever 37 apparently) on the gates.

I did get some photos of the now virtually redundant station as well before continuing back across to the mainland and down to Caernarfon. I'm quite impressed with my sat-nav's Welsh pronunciation. More driving around to find parking, as I didn't want to pay £5 for all day when I was only going to be a couple of hours at the most, but I got the last space in a small car park on the edge of the town. The weather took a turn for the worse with some brief rain, but it wasn't too bad. The castle itself is difficult to photograph as you can't get far enough away! It must have been terrifying for attackers to realise you'd be caught in a cross fire as soon as you approached the walls.



Tomorrow it's pack up and off to Snowdon. I'm just hoping the weather is good enough for the train to make it all the way to the summit, I'm not convinced it will be, then Saturday we do it the harder way, on foot.

Snowdonia Day 3 - Betsy Cood and Bedly Gert...

Which is exactly how not to pronounce two Welsh place names (but our late friend Cyril always called them that).

The rearranged plan for today was to visit Betws-y-Coed to go to the railway museum and have a look round the town. I was fortunate to be early enough to avoid paying for parking, finding space in the road down to the museum. As I was a bit early I went for a short wander down to the river and had a look round the 14th C church:



The museum itself is small, but reasonable for £1.50. There are a few full size artefacts and various models and dioramas. The model shop is decent and the tea room, in an old buffet carriage, is excellent - I deviated from my usual habit by having Bara Brith with my coffee instead of carrot cake (I returned later for a lunchtime baguette).

For some reason the town has become the home for several outdoor equipment companies, and in particular for their outlet stores. I ended up with a new rucksack, t-shirt and fleece for the Snowdon walk, they'll all be useful later though.

Before lunch I did have a ride on the miniature railway around the site, well I can never resist!



For the afternoon I drove up through Capel Curig and round to Beddgelert. It's a bit of a nostalgia trip round there, I even passed the campsite we first stopped at in about 1970 (a borrowed pair of ridge tents with a joining canopy, very effective). It's still much the same except the old corrugated tin toilets have been replaced by a stone facilities block - wonder if it's still Elsans inside? I did stop a couple of times for photos including this one of the Cym Dyli hydro-electric plant which is fed from Llyn Llydaw on the side of Snowdon.



I nearly got away without paying to park in Beddgelert as well since someone handed me a ticket, but then I noticed the Ranger wandering with his notebook, not sure if he'd seen but decided I'd best go and pay. I don't begrudge £2.50 to help the upkeep of the park and facilities.

I walked down to Gelert's Grave (if you don't know the story, Google it) as it's sort of compulsory:



There's a station for the Welsh Highland Railway just by the car park, as a train was due I nipped up the steep path. It turned out to be the Beyer Garratt no. 87 from yesterday. I took a few more photos anyway.

From there it was a wend back to site. I've raided the wardens' shop for some bacon so I'll fry a couple of rashers with sliced shallot and add it to cheesy pasta. I must get a few rolls tomorrow, I'll have the last Stottie for breakfast but of course I don't need much.

Snowdonia Day 2 - It Never Rains...

In Southern California, but by heck it does in North Wales!

I'd planned a walk up the Snowdon Ranger path today but a combination of a sore back and poor weather suggested a change of plan. I decided to "do" the Ffestiniog today and see how things are tomorrow.

I wanted to visit Blaenau anyway so was early for the first train. I had a wander round and took a few photos to try and show just how dominating the surrounding mountains are. The train appears to be coming out of one mountain:



I was pleased we had one of the Fairlies for the trip but you don't get the best of the sound on the downhill trip (the return was unfortunately a conventional tank engine).



It's a long time since I've been on the railway, and I'd never travelled the whole length that's now open, so it was all interesting. Going down I was in an enclosed carriage and photo opportunities were limited but at least I got a hot chocolate on the way.

Port Madoc wasn't a new experience, and was very busy. I had a wander round the small, but excellent, maritime museum, looked around the town and ended up back at the Harbour Station. This is also the terminus of the Welsh Highland Railway from Carnarvon, which was running another interesting loco, a Beyer Garrat articulated (see last year's blog for more on these):



I sat in the open sided coach for the return journey, I had the "compartment" to myself for a bit until a family joined me, I think the train was about full, annoyingly the person on the next seat forward spent the whole journey half leaning out which limited photo opportunities of the loco round the bends. I can't fault the catering on these trains, there's no connection to the open carriages so before we left one of the staff came and asked of anyone wanted a hot drink delivering at Tan y Bwlch.

I'll decide what to do tomorrow in the morning but I'm thinking of a drive to Betws-y-Coed (there's a railway museum) and possibly on to Beddgelert.

Snowdonia Day 1 - Trains, etc.

I made an early start as I wanted to visit a railway on the way, so left before 7, set the SatNav to "Avoid Motorways" and headed for the A5. There was only one very minor delay caused by a Steam Rally, plus quick stops for a breakfast sandwich and fuel, before I reached the Bala Lake Railway. I will admit to getting the yips on the road over the tops, you're climbing a steep unguarded road with a heck of a drop on your left side.

It's a pleasant tourist line, although there was a bit of a breeze coming off the lake into the open carriages. I've got quite a few photos for later publication. There's a 1 in 81 gradient back to the main terminus, the Quarry Hunslet pulling us didn't half sound good taking the load. The 1pm train, which was fully laden, was double headed which may have been even better.

It was their steam gala but there wasn't a lot more going on, I had a good wander and some lunch before making tracks round the other side of the lake to the caravan site.

For a Caravan Club site the warden seemed particularly relaxed, although I'd booked a non-awning pitch she wasn't bothered (it's quietening down after the bank holiday) and in fact recommended a quiet awning pitch and said not too worry too much about positioning.

I've had a wander round the village, taken a couple of photos, and I'm now having a couple of Doombars before deciding whether to eat in the pub or cook something. Should mention the pub is odd but friendly. It doesn't look much, more like a village hall building, and is a barn inside, but the landlord and locals have been chatty.

Awnings Away

Well it very nearly was!

A couple of weekends ago I managed to get some J-Rail fitted to the campervan. Having ordered a single length of aluminium rail (and been charged £12 carriage for it) the supplier then decided they couldn't do it mail order but it would have to be collected. It was too far away for that so I had no choice but to cancel and go elsewhere. I ended up with two pieces of black powder coated steel rail from a VW parts supplier.

Fitting was time consuming, if relatively pain free. The instructions with the rail suggested just bonding it to the roof but I wasn't convinced so I decided to rivet it on.

It was undrilled so I set to, cut it to length and then marked and drilled the holes (3.5mm initially for 3.2mm rivets at 150mm intervals). It's useful, but far from essential, having a pillar drill for this. I then positioned the two lengths on the side of the 'van, drilled pilot holes at the ends and secured it with self-tappers do I could use the rail as a jig for drilling the rest of the holes. Again these were 3.5mm as I intended to paint the bare metal and wanted the clearance. To give me a little bit of extra clearance I then opened out the holes in the rail to 4mm so I wouldn't have any problems when rivetting it.

I then painted over all the cut ends and holes in both the rail and 'van with black Hammerite, the latter wouldn't be seen anyway. Once that dried I located the rail temporarily and masked where the top edge would be with tape (should have done it while it was screwed on). A good thick bead of Sikaflex on the back of the first length, and especially round the holes and it was ready for assembly. I was using closed end rivets for the job as they won't let water in, with the generous amount of sealant i don't anticipate any problems. A few minutes with the rivet gun and repeat for the second length. The masking tape made it easier to remove the excess Sikaflex, along with some wiping where it had escaped around the rivets (a good thing it shows it was well sealed). 

Today I took the opportunity of moderately calm weather to actually put the awning up. No pictures yet as it was really still a bit breezy and I had to be quick but it was OK. It's not a great piece of kit, but a third of the price and half the size and weight of the Vango that I'd prefer. It works and it will do as somewhere to store things if I'm going to be on a site for several days or, the main purpose, as an occasional bedroom for guests.