Wk 7 – Wales to Spain

Caernarfon (Wales) to Santona (Spain) – 27 June to 2 July

Mon 27 June to Sat 2 July
Caernarfon – Hay-on-Wye – Bradford-on-Avon – Portsmouth – Bilbao – Santona

Mon 27/6 – Dublin to Caernarfon – 70klm

We’re out of our Dublin B&B early to catch the ferry to Holyhead in Wales. It’s an easy 3 hour crossing. We stop in busy little Holyhead for an early lunch then move on. Through Llangefni and on to Beaumaris Castle. Started in 1295 it is famous as the greatest castle never built – hence its squat appearance. It was the last of the royal strongholds created by Edward I in Wales – and perhaps his masterpiece.

The sun is making a rare appearance today as we move for a distant view of two great engineering feats of the early 19th century.
The Menai Suspension bridge, opened in 1826 it was the World’s first iron suspension bridge.
The Britannia Bridge, opened in 1850, is a magnificent prototype box-girder bridge.

And so to Caernarfon and Totter’s Hostel literally under the walls of the famous Caernarfon Castle. Built in the 13th century it is recognised around the world as one of the greatest buildings of the Middle Ages.

Tues 28/6 – Caernarfon to Hay-on-Wye – 210klm

It’s going to rain! We eat our meagre ‘breakfast provided’, climb into our wet pants, fuel up, and head out of town. Stopped for a quick pic of the Pont Pen y Llyn, Brynrefail, a stone bridge built in 1826 to connect the Fachwen slate quarry to the main road from Caernarfon to Llanberis.

Fachwen slate quarry, hiding in the mist. And across the Llyn (lake) Padarn, on our side, this lonely abode besieged by it’s rocky environment. There are any number of these once habitats that always beg the question (of me anyway) ‘What were the dreams and history of such as this’?

The plan had been to take the Snowdon Mountain Railway to the summit of Mount Snowden, but once again we were thwarted by the inclement weather, and once again there were the numerous busses with their forlorn passengers milling around in the rain.
150 men with picks, shovels and dynamite laid almost eight kilometres of track up this mountain – all in fourteen months around 1895. And this is what Norma missed. She was so disappointed 🤣

Ran in to a bunch of 23 bikes, all from Belgium, at the Lake Gwynant viewpoint. They were quite impressed by our little journey.

To quaint and isolated Pont Aber-Glaslyn over the Aber-Glaslyn Pass. Perhaps built in the 17th century, then extensively rebuilt and widened in 1795. An 1883 guidebook wrote that it “has occupied the artist’s pencil perhaps more than any other”

It’s still raining as we skirt the delightful roads to the Tan y Bwlch Station which has a little Café. It was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate.
We stopped for a wee brew (that café looked way expensive) and witnessed the restored steam rail tourist locomotive passing as we sat in a little ‘for picnic use only’ tent out of the rain.

A further 35klm on we took a slight detour to the charming vernacular Pont Helygog, an ancient single-span road bridge called ‘the old bridge’ in 1830 when repairs to the parapets were carried out.

With the weather easing we continued on to Hay-on-Wye which is world renowned for books and bookshops. It has a unique position on the border between England and Wales, and what isn’t a bookshop is either a café or an antique shop. It also has a castle built around 1200.

Wed 29/6 – Hay-on-Wye to Bradford-on-Avon – 200klm

Oh yeah. It’s raining again as we follow the A479 down through the Brecon Beacons National Park, through Talgarth, Crickhowell and Abergavenny to call into Raglan Castle for a quick pic. Built in 1435, the silhouette of Raglan crowns a ridge amid glorious countryside and is said to be the grandest castle ever built by Welshmen. It is impressive there’s no doubt, but they still can’t play Rugby 🤣😘 On that note, we’ve just left Ireland where they were waxing lyrical on their chances of beating the All Blacks – I had to laugh, though silently because they’re a tough looking bunch those Irish. But never tough enough to beat the All Blacks. Nor the English to beat the Wallabies 😃😁

Monnow Bridge, built around 1272, in Monmouth, is the only remaining mediaeval fortified river bridge in Great Britain with its gate tower still standing in place on the bridge.

It’s a beautiful 20klm run down through the National Park to Tintern Abbey. Built in 1269 this national icon still stands in roofless splendour on the banks of the River Wye nearly 500 years since its tragic fall from grace at the hands of Henry VIII in 1535. Why is there always a truck parked in the way???

The rain had eased so we stopped at Chepstow for a brew and then it started to rain in real earnest as we detoured to the northern bank of the River Severn for a look at the truly majestic Severn Bridge. Built in the 1960 this thing is 1600m long with a longest span of 988m.
That’s impressive, except when you’ve never crossed it before and it’s driving rain and your GPS (in our case a Samsung S9+) screen is being pelted with rain drops big enough to cause it to open all sorts of programs. It was a nuts ride I tell you.

The plan was to pay the toll and cross the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge, which we did, then to ride under said bridge, which we did, then to call in to have a look at Brunel’s mighty SS Great Britain, which we didn’t because there were all sorts of road works happening. That was a disappointment, but by happenstance we spied it across the Cumberland Basin as we were leaving town in the still bucketing downpour. The one consolation being that motorbikes can use bus lanes, and there’s plenty of those.

The rain eased for the final 35klm to the magical historic town of Bradford on Avon nestling on the banks of the picturesque River Avon, where else, and lying at the southern edge of the Cotswolds. This place is totally lovely and our pick of romantic stops.

An evening stroll after a delightful Italian meal.

Thur 30/6 – Bradford-on-Avon to Portsmouth (Ferry to Bilbao) – 260klm

It’s looking like fair weather so we take the chance to wash the bike as we leave quaint Bradford-on-Avon – can’t be taking a dirty motorcycle in to Spain, not that they cared.
And then as soon as we’d done washing it the rain began. Seriously?

Caen Hill Locks is one of the longest continuous flight of locks in the country – a total of 29 locks with a rise of 237 feet over 2 miles with a 1 in 44 gradient for anyone who’s counting! The locks take 5–6 hours to traverse in a boat.

Passing Stonehenge to our left we took a quick look at Salisbury Cathedral.

And moved on to Winchester with its city gate and Great Hall

We then skirted around to Goring-on-Sea to have lunch with a couple whom I’d boarded with for 9 months back in 1970. It was good to catch up; none of us are getting any younger.

And so to Portsmouth where we embarked on Brittany Ferries newest ferry for the 36 hour crossing to Bilbao in Spain.
There was real storm brewing behind Portsmouth as we left, but the crossing itself was as calm as a millpond.

So that was England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Wales done for a total of 5550klms in 48 days with 29 ride and 19 lay days. I may appear to be whingeing a lot about the weather but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Bring on Spain.

Sat 2/7 – Bilbao to Santona – 110klm

It was a totally uneventful crossing and I’d sprung for a four person outside cabin which allowed us plenty of room. Norma was delighted.
At 8am local we were the very first vehicle to disembark. I’d wondered about how things would go at customs in regards to the bike but they merely took a quick squiz at our passports, stamped them and sent us our way. We headed into Bilbao.

But not to be boring I decided we’d take the Vizcaya Bridge which is a Transporter Bridge that crosses the Estuary of Bilbao. It is the world’s oldest transporter bridge and was built in 1893
A transporter bridge, also known as a ferry bridge or aerial transfer bridge, is a type of movable bridge that carries a segment of roadway across a river.

A word of warning about driving in Bilbao, well 2 words. 1, the speed limit is 30k/hr and 2. there are timed pedestrian crossings about every 50m. It’s a very slow and frustrating process, and very fuel heavy.
We took a look around the old town.

And headed out of town, slowly.
We took our time to meander the remaining 95klms to Santona.

We had a lovely evening in Santona sitting in the Piazza with what seemed like the town’s entire population enjoying their Saturday night.

See you next week.