Off Roading NO - Route Planning YES

The plan was to go off-roading that weekend, but the car decided to blow its head gasket just before we were going to leave. As we had been doing the Round Britain Rally for the first time this year it seemed a good idea to visit a few sights on the bike and gain a few more points. The problem was where to go. We finally (or should I say I decided) decided to attack Wales.

The first attempt of route planning was rather enthusiastic and as my girlfriend did not relish the idea of being a pillion for over 700 miles in two days a revamped route had to be arranged. We finally decided Mid-Wales would be a sufficient circuit and incorporate a decent amount of points for the rally. The route was straightforward enough –through Gloucester to Cinderford then to Cwmyoy and stop in Brecon for the first day. Day two was onward to Lampeter up towards Aberystwyth then back across the Cambrian Mountains through Hereford and back to Swindon.

Now we knew roughly the area for exploration, the task of researching the landmarks started in earnest and then plotted on the Ordnance Survey maps. We worked out that it was possible to reach seven landmarks in the weekend so we loaded the bike up and started on our merry way. The first stage of the trip went well and we managed to negotiate the roads around Gloucester without too much difficulty and onto the A48 towards Cinderford. This was when I noticed that my speedometer had stopped working. I had recently replaced the speedo drive that had disintegrated and now the cable had snapped! Never mind, we can guess the speed by the revs- a bit dodgy especially when passing speed cameras! We changed the route slightly and headed for Monmouth, Abergavenny and onward to Cwmyoy. Finding the church was rather interesting and involved riding down lanes which were covered in a combination of mud and sheep dung. For some more excitement we could dodge car drivers who did not know the width of their vehicles, so There were more than a few times where we were stopped with one foot in the hedge so the car could squeeze past. We did eventually find the church and after the mandatory photo we went exploring. The church was built on a mound that was unstable and due to landslides, it managed to produce some crazy angles of the tower and when inside, the doorframes and arches are really twisted. It’s not a place to visit after a few beers!

Time was getting on and the journey took us to Brecon. A shrewd move now was to get the accommodation sorted. The Youth Hostel was full, as were the local guesthouses. This was when we found out that the Hay Festival was on in Hay on Wye and there was a farm show of yesteryear at Brecon Mountain centre. We travelled out of Brecon aiming for our next landmark at Ystradfellte and sought accommodation on the way. We found a farmhouse that had a bed for the night and offered breakfast. In addition, the owner had a picture of the landmark on the dining room wall. He knew the location as it was only a few miles away and gave us detailed directions and recommended the local pub for food. Back on the beast and up to the landmark. The road was narrow and twisty but great fun on the bike. The two hairpin bends did catch us out and resulted in frantic gear changes before stalling! The standing stone called Maen Llia stood in its glory but, unfortunately, the local hooligans had sprayed graffiti on the stone, which spoilt the scene a bit. The weather had dried out and turned into a brilliant evening. We returned to the pub where the food was reasonably priced and served a reasonable size portion.

Sunday morning and a Welsh breakfast with all the extras were consumed. This set us up for the days adventure. There were five more landmarks to visit so a quick start was needed. We travelled on the A40 to Llanwanda and up the A482 to Pumpsaint to find the 5 Saints Stone. This is a stone with strange depressions in it. It is said that five Saints were passing through the village and rested against the stone. The imprint was left when they arose. In reality it is probably a part of the crusher from the nearby gold mine and if you count there are only four depressions. This is how the village got its name because Pumpsaint is translated to Five Saints.

These roads were made for bikes as they are twisty and quick and keep the concentration going. Further up the A582 to Lampeter and right to Betws Bledrws to see the Derry Ormond Tower. You can see the tower from the main road (on the left-hand side). We tried to get to it but it was on a farm guarded by two farm dogs that enjoyed the challenge of biting the tyres whilst they were moving. We found one of the little lanes let us get pretty near to the tower. The tower is nineteenth Century folly built by John Jones of the Derry Ormond Estate in 1826.It has 365 steps leading to the top of the tower but it is unsafe to enter. There are several versions why the tower was built; the generally accepted version was to provide work for the locals in time of poverty. There is a footpath that gets you near the tower but we did not walk up to it as we were still on a mission!

Further up the A485 and onto the B4343 for some twisty narrow roads towards Strata Florida Abbey. After a few miles we turned around and went the correct way to the abbey! The abbey was built for the Cistercian monks in 1164 on land provided by Robert Fitzstephen, the Norman Lord of Pennard. The original site of the monastery was two miles further up the road and was relocated in 1184 when the Lord Rhys managed to oust the Norman overlords of Dyfed, partly by encouraging them to divert their activities to the colonisation of Ireland. The abbey took 50 years to build and was the largest in Wales. After the Dissolution the monastic buildings were abandoned. Inside the ruins can be seen 13^th Century tiles and graves of the Welsh Princes. It is worth a look around and has a pretty cheap entrance fee-free if you are a member of CADW (Welsh National Heritage).

It was at this point my Dearest Beloved realised that the locals were speaking more Welsh than English and by her powers of deduction worked out we were further North than I had said. She was at a loss for words when she looked at the map and saw that we were only 12 miles from Aberystwyth and there were a fair few pages of the road map to travel across to get home. At this point I had a blinding idea that rather than join the A44 we should go through the Elan Valley because it would be picturesque (honest dear!). She finally agreed and we started on the valley route. It was awesome and strange when we passed through an abandoned village. It was where the mine workings must have depleted the rock and the whole village just left the area. Again the road was twisty but not exactly fast. Who needed to go fast with the amazing views that were opening up in front of us? In addition there were quite a few cars travelling towards us and white fluffy moving boulders in the road-otherwise known as sheep! They had the notion that they had right of way and had no worries of walking in front of you. Ideal if you wanted a roadside barbie-a pain if you didn’t, well, where can you pack a sheep on a bike (unless you are on a Goldwing)?

At the end of the valley we came across the Elan Valley Reservoirs. These are four reservoirs that supply the water for the Birmingham area. Flooding the valley formed the reservoirs. The road follows the lakes and at the end of the third reservoir is a gift shop and tea - room. You can have a brew and admire the dam from ground level, which is rather spectacular. We were going to circumnavigate the last reservoir but time was starting to go against us. We quickly went through Rhayader (the gateway to Wales) and back onto the A44 to find the final scheduled landmark - Castell Crug Eryr, which is located just past the junction of the A44 and A481 near Llandegley. The road improved and quick progress was made. As I was enjoying the fast sweeping bends of the A44 I almost missed the landmark. This is a minor motte and bailey castle. The landscape has been altered and damaged over the years so it is difficult to see the castles original form. Again it was on private land so we had to make do with viewing it from the edge of the field.

We had succeeded in our quest so we had the journey home to accomplish. It’s amazing how tired we became once the last landmark was visited and it made the return home feel a long trip. We chose the route back through Leominster, Hereford across to Ledbury and onto the A417 to Gloucester. From there it was onto the A419 to Swindon.

When we had returned we decided to celebrate the journey by having a pint in our local. I asked my girlfriend on her views of the trip as it was the first time she had travelled any serious distance on the bike. She enjoyed it but would have liked to see more of Wales rather than seeing two green streaks to the left and right with a black strip in the middle. She did not encounter too much "numb bum" syndrome, which was a relief and was testimony to the old Kawasaki GT750’s seat. By the end of the trip the bike was a bit more war torn with the exhaust blowing quite dramatically, the head gasket letting a film of oil waterproof my boots, the clutch dragging a bit, the speedo cable broken and a fork seal starting to weep. The journey worked out to be around 450 miles courtesy of Autoroute. We found out that the route passed by another two or three landmarks that we could have visited. That’s the thing with the Round Britain Rally – it becomes compulsively addictive even if you don’t want it to. We will be doing the Rally again next year and see if we can improve on our score.

We actually found the landmarks without too much difficulty on this route. On other trips we did this was not the case. The landmarks we found difficult to find were the ones we did not properly research. The trick seems to be research as much as possible and locate the landmark on an Ordnance Survey map of 1:25000 scale. I found the website www.multimap.com an excellent aid to pinpointing the landmark locations. So now it is back to the research to plan the next voyage around Britain.