A Summer Road Trip (cont'd)

Jottings from the pages of a road trip journal ...

1977 August 20 (Sat)
After a good night's sleep in the hotel, we left at 9.30 am for a day look at Cardiff, capital of Wales.The shopping centre was busy and looked not unlike any other in other cities of England i.e with department stores like Littlewoods, M & S, etc. We also walked by the City Hall which looked quite different now in daylight - less beautiful. We went to see a part of the docks and clearly this part of the city is not very new - in fact it looked deserted!

Tintern Abbey (CNB 1977)

Then we left at 11.30 and headed for Newport, another port after Monmouth, for the Wye Valley. For the length traversed between Monmouth and Chepstow, we followed the Wye River and the views were magnificent. At times the trees made a natural tunnel of green! We turned back from Chepstow and stopped at Tintern to look at the famous Abbey ruins. Then retracing the road we made camp at a farm - there were no facilities except a cold water tap and ... a ground toilet!

After a meal of tinned soup and salad (very crispy and nice) we went for a walk along the Wye River bank but for a short distance only because of 'Keep out' signs which M thought was very disgusting. Then we walked up to Cleddon Shoots and Waterfall but as it rained lately so the path was slippery. But we made it up another way. As it was getting dark (nearly 8 pm), we made our way down again. I must say I felt quite afraid as nobody else was around and the sky was really getting dark. We got back to camp and made kuku (Persian omelette) - must say its a bit tedious but it was interesting to cook and eat in the open by candlelight. Then M read a book while I cleaned up and we went into our bags.

August 21 (Sun)
It rained a little in the night but in the morning it was fine as we headed for Chepstow to cross the Severn Bridge at 11. In Bristol we walked an hour in the city centre, quite near the docks. We saw the civic centre with the two golden deer on its rooftop and the cathedral nearby.

Clifton Bridge(CNB 1977)

Then we went to Clifton to see Brunel's famous suspension bridge over the Avon Gorge. It was a piece of engineering genius started in 1836 but only completed in 1864, after Brunel's death. After this we headed for Bath, the lovely Georgian city with its famous Roman Baths. It was indeed more beautiful than last I saw it in in 1975. There were flower baskets everywhere and indeed impressed M to say that its the loveliest city he'd seen in England. Likewise for me too.

We passed the shops on Pulteney Bridge and entered the Parade Gardens. Then we walked the little streets between the rows of shops. Later M went to see the Roman Baths while I waited outside the Cathedral (I had seen the Baths before). Then we saw the famous examples of Georgian town planning - the Circus and the Royal Crescent.

We left at 4.30 pm for Cheddar to pass along the Cheddar Gorge. Indeed it was an impressive sight of steep rugged rocks with some green ivy and foliage growing. We set up camp at Church Farm camping ground, on the eastern end of Cheddar, a little town famous for the cheddar cheese. There were many other campers and 'caravaners' there. After a dinner of packet rice, eggs and salad, we played some badminton. After the game we walked in the town and had drinks at a pub. But at 9.30 pm it rained and we had to run back all the way to the camp. As we didn't have our cagoules or the umbrella, we had a thorough drenching because the rain was quite heavy and there was also thunder and lightning occasionally. After changing in the car we got back into the tent and went to sleep.

To be continued ...