Out with Graham for the 2nd day – we went over the Old Severn Bridge and up the Wye Valley to Monmouth. The fall colour was stunning.
Coffee in Monmouth and a melt and then an even colder and faster ride home through the Forest of Dean – totally dark at 5.30pm!! Grrrr !
Oh well – can’t ride in the summer so I’ll keep going until the salt makes the roads damp.
Rob Little
Driver / Guide
Lets Tour England
Well the rather less striking colour that we get in the UK, with the absence of the Maple, seems to have arrived. I was on the Cotswolds yesterday doing some research with Gladys the dog and took these few shots. It was striking to see car headlights on at 4:15pm but that will all change from tonight when the clocks go back one hour – yes earlier than in the USA ! Just as well I have no need to get up early tomorrow !
But by mid December it won’t be light until 9:00am and by 4:00pm it will be dark again…..
Rob Little
Driver / Guide
Clee Hill is the highest point in Shropshire at 1749ft. You get a gorgeous view of the lowlands and, in particular, on a clear evening you can see the famous twinkling gas street lights, from the town of Malvern on the hills some 22 miles distant.
A wonderful place to look out from.
Rob Little
Driver / Guide
Lets Tour England
The Malvern Hills from Clee Hill
Panoramic from Clee Hill – the highest point around
I couldnt resist this rainbow !
Taken from Clee Hill in Shropshire
I thought I’d share these photos I took while travelling through Mid Wales last weekend, on the Mountain road from Llanidloes through Staylittle to Machynlleth. A totally gorgeous road and Machynlleth is a very “alternative lifestyle” or “bohemian” town rather like Stroud in Gloucestershire and Totnes in Devon!!
Rob Little
Driver / Guide
Lets Tour England
Having just concluded an enjoyable, though somewhat eventful seven day vacation on the “Mon and Brec” canal (short of Monmouthshire and Brecon) I thought I’d write a little piece about the enjoying seeing Britain at what is very much the “macro” level – at 2.5mph or slower! I’ve also attached some better quality photos taken with a camera rather than the earlier ones taken with my blackberry!
The Mon & Brec’s claim to fame is that its the only canal on the system that is not connected in any way to any of the other canals in Britain. Built some 250 years ago to serve the burgeoning Industrial Revolution in South Wales, the canal carried limestone south to Newport and the coast returning with materials, goods and even cattle.
The current navigable length is some 35 miles from the market town of Brecon in the north to Pontypool, just north of the M4 highway in the south. Most canals in my experience are built in valleys or through flat areas so, unusually, the “Mon and Brec” maintains its altitude by following the contour of the mountain from initially running east to Abergavenny and then south to Pontypool.
Besides the sheer beauty of the landscape, the attraction of the “Mon and Brec” is that there are just five of the dreaded “locks” in the 35 mile stretch which makes it suitable for a beginner. There are also a couple of aqueducts and the 350yd Ashford tunnel that is just four feet high. So it has all the traditional features of an old canal but its pretty easy for the novice “Barge Captain” to navigate. The canal is, however, often narrow, shallow and winding calling for considerable powers of concentration even though you will only be travelling at around 2.5mph! You must remember you have a 40-55ft boat, a narrow channel and even a text message can send you into the side bank and calling for your “crew” to fend off with poles etc.
Most evenings along the route you will find yourself moored up near a pub although other nights you may find there is no pub or store nearby and you will find yourself cooking dinner, literally in the middle of nowhere as you will see from the photos, with no other people and absolute silence except, at dawn, the birds ! And while on the subject of wildlife there was proliferation of squirrels and we even saw mink, while amongst the birdlife included many ducks, colourful kingfishers and herons.
The weather in the third week of October was fantastic – jus a little rain on Tuesday afternoon but otherwise dry, usually sunny and brrrrrrrr at night ! But the boat had a brilliant furnace and was really cosy in the evenings !
So, if you fancy visiting Britain but not trying to see literally everything the country has to offer in a week, this is a relaxing break and a good way to mix with the “locals”. But its not without its perils…..Gladys, the dog, fell in as a result of her obsession with squirrels and I managed to fall in too…very embarrassing!! There’s more of that in my Blog if you’re interested !
The company I used was www.cambriancruisers.co.uk based near Brecon – contact JONATHAN or CAMILLA on +44 1874 665315 or email: info@cambriancruisers.co.uk
Rob Little
Driver Guide
Lets Tour England
The Narrowboat + Gladys the dog!
The Boat in the morning mist
Moored up
Just before sun up
Sunrise on the Mon and Brec
Wow – what a place to wake up?
Early morning on the Mon + Brec
Morning colour
Mon & Brec Canal
Monmouth & Brecon Canal
Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal
Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal
Bridge 69 on the Mon & Brec
Looking down and across the valley on the Mon & Brec
Entering Ashford Tunnel on the Mon & Brec Canal
Ashford Tunnel on the Mon & Brec Canal – 350yds long!
Manual Drawbridge
Electric Drawbridge at Talybont-on-Usk
Aqueduct on the Mon + Brec
It seems so wierd floating 100ft above the river!
The dreaded locks
Top Lock
The lock near Brecon
After my eventful vacation on the Mon & Brec canal I am now back home, the season has ended and after a week to charge my batteries I’ll be starting to plan for next year. I took this from my bedroom window this morning…it was the coldest October night for 17 years with a crisp frost on the ground and the moon up there (thank goodness!!).
Rob Little,
Cotswold Tours – Driver Guide
Lets Tour England
Here we are in the bohemian town of Machynlleth – real “Welsh Wales” where they “speak the language” !! It reminds me very much of Totnes and Stroud both “alternative lifestyle” towns in South Devon and Gloucestershire respsctively.
Here are a few pics of a very “PC” welsh veggie cafe that caught my attention!
While we were in Wales on the canal I just thought we’d venture across the mountain road before going home!
Rob Little
Driver Guide
Lets Tour England
