Llangollen, North Wales

Following the decision of the coach driver to visit "Two churches and a Tweed mill" we were given an extensive tour of the Welsh countryside to the south and east of Llandudno. The main afternoon stop at Llangollen was a huge ... 75 minutes ! Ah well I should be thankful that I was allowed to see such a place from the starting point of Llandudno as it's something I would not have considered doing.

In addition to Llandudno, Llangollen was another location that I had up my blogging sleeve from last year, so hopefully I can preserve some specific text and photographic content such as the railway and festival for that occasion in the future.

Following a conversation with the coach driver about the location of the canal, my Mother went around the shops with her friend while I went off to discover the waterway which I didn't have time to see on the rather hurried previous occasion when I was passing through.

The Canal system was originally built generally for transporting products to and from ironworks and coal mines in the area and the grand plans for connecting the system to the major western rivers were modified to join with The Shropshire Union Canal. Due to the modified plans, The Llangollen section of the canal had a secondary use as a source of water and strong currents to feed the Shropshire system. Freight was transported along the canal until 1939 before final closure in 1944.

Thankfully the canal was never totally abandoned or disposed of as the strong current provided water for a local reservoir and the exploration of The Llangollen Canal as a boating holiday commenced in the 1970's / early 1980's. It has become popular due to the surrounding hillside scenery, the nearby Pontcysylite Aqueduct built by Thomas Telford and indeed Llangollen itself.

Those wishing to sample the delights of the canal and The aqueduct without too much outlay can opt for a horse drawn trip of 45 minutes or 2 hours.

"Window of opportunity"

Stan.   "I hope this is the 45 minute trip"

Shop door artwork ... or Stan's pin up !

Bridge ... more than meets the eye.

One of the more surprising historic structures of the town is the bridge that crosses The River Dee that was built in 1345 that had to be bizarrely extended over the railway at the north end when it was built during the late 19th century. If that's not enough, the bridge was then widened during the 1960s with the opposite side to the one depicted being of a more modern construction in keeping with the historic side.
On a side note, the hotel in the background at the south side of the bridge was rebuilt to accommodate more guests in 1815.  Before she became Queen, Princess Victoria once stayed here with her Mother in 1832 and subsequently the owners renamed The Kings Head to The Royal Hotel.

Trying not to bore you with bridge details !

The 600 year old Corn Mill, on the same side of the river as The Royal but on the other side of the bridge, was once used for grinding corn by possibly The Cisterian Monks. It was rebuilt in 1786 and was still used up to 1974 before being abandoned and in danger of collapse.  The preservation of the building took decades as all the people and authorities involved couldn't agree on the function and purpose of the building. The owners finally achieved their dream and eventually opened it as a restaurant and pub in 2000 complete with working waterwheel.

Lastly, there was just enough time to have a quick look at all the shops from the outside, so here's an opportunity to sample the some delights of Castle street, Oak Street and Market Street.

Mr Jones, proud of his Welsh roots !

Sidal's Food to go

I met up with my Mother and her friend for a drink in The Buttered Crust before they got back on the coach, but my thoughts were with someone else who seemed to be denied of the culinary privileges !!! ....

"Is it my turn now ? " !!

Lincoln Christmas Market, SRPS/ North East railtours

Many UK towns and cities have a twinned friendship with a European town, one of these friendships is between the City of Lincoln and Neustadt in Germany.

One Christmas in 1982 a few stall holders from the German town decided that they were going to introduce their wares to the people of Lincolnshire. The original market had 11 traditional style German stalls and introduced a new culture to the UK.

Having been on the mailing list of North East Railtours for some time, this trip was always difficult to access as it runs on a friday. The charter company use the SRPS coaches and volunteers from Bo'ness in Scotland to serve meals on board and this particular trip has an end of year Christmas party atmosphere ! Cereal, Bacon Roll, Mince Pie and Mulled Wine on the outward journey with Christmas Dinner on the way back. I first took the plunge back in 2004 to book an Annual leave day from work to sample the experience and have done so six times since that first adventure. For me it's about the whole experience of the train, the food, the market, Christmas and a heavy dose of nostalgia !!

Class 55 Deltic "Royal Scots Grey"

A railtour running on a friday doesn't seem like it's going to be a great success, but with the added interest of some heritage Diesel traction (London Kings Cross - Edinburgh - Aberdeen route 1961 -1981) is a guaranteed success with the diesel fans particularly as it uses most of its former stamping ground. The nostalgia element for me was when I was a young boy I used to watch these powerful machines standing thundering away in Newcastle central station. There were 22 of them named after regiments and racehorses and sat in the time zone in between the Mallard and the Inter City 125.

"Steep Hill" Lincoln

The City of Lincoln has always attracted visitors from an early age due to it's original location high on a solitary hill amongst the flat county of Lincolnshire.

There was a Roman garrison at the top and as the city expanded, the need for an inland harbour that utilised local waterways became essential.

Lincoln Cathedral East End

The Normans arrived and brought the gift of the Cathedral which was completed in the 13th century.

Modern visitors ... shoppers and shadows !

I was last here for a concert in 2010 and it was unusual to see the City so quiet. The 2010 Christmas market was even quieter as it was cancelled due to snow and bad weather. Here are some images from my June 2010 blogpost when I was a young blogger with about 3 followers !! ... post number 10.

A quiet moment in the market on a friday

The market has grown to nearly 300 stalls that commence next to the Cathedral in the first image and continue into the Castle grounds (above) and then into an adjacent park and nearby streets. In some ways as one commentator says that it has become a victim of it's own success that the organisers do not seem to recognise as a lot of saturday visitors dislike the experience of pushing through crowds as trip advisor demonstrates. It is unfortunate that it becomes newsworthy for these reasons...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire 16042776

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-16120746

and something a little irreverent .....

Peace and solitude

One of the best moments of my earlier 2010 visit was saturday lunch time when I sat having lunch in the sun near the tower for a while. I managed to peek over the market perimeter fence and dream that was me for 30 minutes ... it must have been a Castle worker.

Anyway, enough of waxing lyrical and dwelling in the past ... for the moment ( ! ), it was time to take in some sights ...

Souvenir hunter

Bubbleologist !!

Hans handy with his hands !

Somebody else handy with their hands.

Exchanging Plastic for wood !

The ultimate burger ?!

One of the burger stalls neighbours for the weekend !

With all of this, I was left in a spin ...

... as I didn't know who was a local, a visitor or an official anymore !!

As I made my way back to the railway station, one thing was certain that there was more effort made...

... in the local bakery shop ...

... than what there was on the wall outside ... need to spread the love around !

All to soon, it was over for another year wondering if I'll repeat the experience again next year all in the name of nostalgia !! I didn't plan on taking the last image but the engine was standing there for some time and I was left wondering if this engine would ever work this charter to Lincoln again...

Newcastle Central station ... Deltic 22 ...or ... ISO 1600 !!

And just to re-live my childhood one more time, it's arrival and then later departure as I stood next to this film maker ... the most powerful Diesel in it's day ....



Even though it raced up the East Coast mainline back home to Newcastle and beyond, it was a named after a regiment and not a racehorse ....

Nostalgic racehorse

Melmerby & the journey home from the Lake District

Melmerby is a small village in East Cumbria located on one of my favourite road drives in Northern England, the A686 (the same road that I used last year for the Alston blog post). Although the village is situated on a well travelled and popular road, it is a place where generally travellers omit to either get to their destination quickly or to continue the enjoyment of the roads twists and turns.

The village name originates from a Danish resident who stayed here during the 9th century called Melmor.

It may be surprising to know that I have passed through this village on numerous occasions stretching back to the time in my parents car when I was seven years old. Although I have never ever stopped here before, it has to be said that it has a mixture of insignificance to a 7 year old and not enough time for the Lake District Day or weekend visitor. As I was in no rush to get home, I decided to check out the most famous building in the village in a converted stone barn ... The Village Bakery.

The Village Bakery has been making bread and cakes for about 35 years and won awards for their organic produce. In more recent times, the success of the establishment has warranted the addition of a restaurant and shop opened by the organic loving Prince Charles who flew in by helicopter for the occasion. The founder & original owner of the bakery, Andrew Whitley, used a wood fired oven in favour of the poor electricity supply and locally grown organic wheat from a nearby watermill. Another local firm called Bells of Lazonby keen to join the process eventually gained a majority in the company as they wanted a bite or a slice of the organic ... Pie !! Andrew Whitley was more passionate about teaching bread making skills and began to run courses for those interested before eventually moving these training sessions to Scotland.

Although the Bakery is not seen directly from the road, the above building is, as shown in the title photograph. On looking for a place to park the car, I came across this unusual building for the first time. This was of great interest to me as an architectural piece and I had no idea what its original purpose was at the time. The details are a bit vague but it was originally a school house (1860 -1974) to the left and is thought to be converted into two houses. My research is not conclusive but I did come across two websites that suggested that Andrew moved down the road a little for the bread making courses and another that suggested the above property had a planning application in to run such a course. All very interesting but not currently topical as the building has been sold on to a private owner.

The Shepherds Inn on the other side of the road seems to be in memory, due to the painting on the pub sign, of a farmer and shepherd called Albert Bousfield Teasdale who lived and worked in the area all of his life (1880 - 1957).

Flowers and Fosters !! ... in memory of Albert ?!

Lastly I'm going to finish this trip,which has taken me far too long, a little distance further on with another visit to the highest cafe in England, Hartside Cafe with a few alternative shots.

It's a place where you can take a break from your journey and admire other machinery,

.... sample the delights of a no nonsense cafe as bikers and cyclists have this one marked on their list,

and it's a place where you can either get married !!  .....or otherwise lose yourself in solitude !! ...

(A last look for a long time of the the view looking west to the Solway Firth, South West Scotland and the mountains of the Lake District just out of shot to the left)