Saturday 4th June 2022

I thought we were in Wales, but apparrently Llanymynech is in England.

Just.

Apparently the broder runs two feet outside the front door, making lockdowns very difficult in the village as the pub on the other side of the road, in Wales, would sometimes be open when the Bradford Arms was closed, or closed when the Bradford was open.

But hopefully those days are behind us now, although I think they're not.

But on with the holiday.

After getting up, we went down for a hearty fried breakfast and lots of coffee before deciding that we would visit Oswestry first.

We had never been, and was just a 15 minute drive up the main road from the hotel, and we eneded up parking behind the main shopping area.

We saw a narrow passage leading to the centre of town, and despite only just having had breakfast I needed another coffee. So we we called in at a nice place that had just opened, and spent a fine half an hour people watching as customers arrived to meet friends and swap news. Just as they have on market days for centuries.

Having drunk up, we walked to the parish church, St Oswald, which was open. So I go in to take a large amount of photographs.

That done, we walk back to the centre of town, I take a shot of the old building, now a hairdressers, then browse the street market before declaring that we had "done" the town.

What elese to do?

The aquaduct?

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is an engineering marval, designed by Thomas Telford, constructed out of cast iron and built by navvies.

It is in the village of Trevor.

I kid ye not.

In the Welsh cup draw next year we want to see Barry drawn against Trevor.

For a laugh.

Ha ha ha.

It is a popular place, and we had been here before, parking up and walking along the stub of the canal which must have been wharves back in the day, but is now a fine spot of fishing. Under the low bridge to the canal basin, with the aquaduct at the far end.

We join a line of folks walking across via the narrow path, it gets really tricky when folks come the other way, but we get across, and having been here before, we go no further, instead walk back as the tea barge was calling.

A narrow boat equipped to be a cafe, we order two teas and a cslice of cake, then go and sit to enjoy the snack and do more people watching. THis really is a fne way to spend an hour.

Nearby is Llangollan, home to a fine steam failway, and a place I love to visit. It took twenty minutes to drive there, then another twenty to find a place to park, in the end finding the only space in an out of town place.

Jools has come down with a bad cold, so she stays in the car and I walk down into town along the canal, which was very pleasant as giving the impression of being a green tunnel with the overhanging trees.

A train leavs the station out of my fiew, but the noise of the steam locomotove, working hard, as it leaves the station echoes around the valley. It sounded very good. To me.

The town was full. With more people arriving all the time, it was no place to linger. So I walked to the bridge over the railway and river, took some shots and watched a gonk shunting, and was done.

It was nearly two, and we had had no lunch, but there were three pubs on the way back to the hotel, we would call in there.

We stopped at the Crossed Guns in the village of Pant.

I kid ye not.

It was a family pub, but the food good and came quick. We had steak sandwiches which came with salad and fries, and was a meal in itself and not the snack it claimed to be.

Back to the hotel at four to relax, and for Jools to take more drugs and get her head down as she didn't sleep well that night.

We go down for dinner and eat just the one course this time, toast our host and his wife before going to be at nine.

Just like being at home.