Monday 4th May, Grey and Damp again and Wales beckons!

I woke on Monday morning to a dawn chorus like none I’d ever heard before, Stuart told me later that one of his neighbours has a right menagerie which includes Peacocks, Llamas and Rheas, along with the Canada Geese that were resident al the pond across the valley and the pheasants in the woods it was a bit noisy. I also stayed in my sleeping bag a bit longer as I could also hear the rain on the outside of the tent. When I did finally get up and make my way over to the shower block it was a steady drizzle.

Thankfully it had stopped at least for a while when I returned I quickly made my breakfast, however I had to eat it inside the outer awning as it started again, looking at the sky it looked like this may be the conditions I would have to put up with, at least for the morning.

Clearing up and packing was a bit messy and it was not ideal to pack the tent up when it was so wet, I would later open it up again in the garage. Finally back on the road I headed off back down on to the A48 and into Chepstow before skirting around the back of St Pierre Golf Club the back lanes to Caldicot , skirting the M48 and M4 motorways.

Using these back lanes it still wasn’t long before I entered the outskirts of Newport through a small housing estate I had a small conflict of ideals I wanted to stay as close as possible to the coasts and estuaries, however there is a special feature in Newport I wanted to use as my crossing. It is the Transporter Bridge, I remember going over on it many years ago so I turned through the industrial estate, unfortunately it is closed again. And a crowd of travellers have set up camp at one end.

The Newport Transporter Bridge is a crossing of the River Usk It is a Grade I listed structure. Designed by French engineer Ferdinand Arnodin, it was built in 1906 and opened by Godfrey Charles Morgan, 1st Viscount Tredegar on 12 September 1906. The span is an example of the very rare transporter bridge concept, of which only eight exist worldwide. Service has been suspended indefinitely since the end of 2007. The bridge was shut down in 1985 because of wear. Following a £3 million refurbishment, it reopened in 1995 and operated until late 2007. Today, the bridge is widely regarded as the most recognisable symbol of the city of Newport.
It does look like there is some work going on and an announcement on the local Newport Council website, they are expecting to start some restoration work this summer.

Backtracking into Newport town centre then along the A4042 and B4239 to St Brides, Peterstone, which ultimately brought me into Cardiff by a coastal route, I had to have a double take at the entrance to a garden nursery along this route, which meant doiung a U turn further down the road to came back and take this photo of a couple of very interesting gate ornaments. An Abbot Light Tank and a Scout Car, the latter is out of shot to the left.

Getting back under way I kept as close as possible to the coast which meant going down Rover Way, now so far the bulk of this journey has been very scenic, if it hasn’t I’ve just rushed on through in the past however I though I would show it is not all beaches and garden centres.

I passed one of the biggest metal recycling facilities in the country, where lorry loads of crushed cars arrive to be fragmented and then melted down across the road. What drew my attention to this was the HUGE vehicle that would be more at home in a quarry, transporting fargmented metal from one side to the other as I approached, there are no road signs or signals, he just heads off when there is a gap in the traffic and believe me no one is going to argue with him for being in the middle of the road.

Further along the ride this morning I cam across massive piles of scrap metal in Barry docks waiting to loaded on to ships and sent for recycling. It wasn’t long before I came into Cardiff itself and down by the new development of Cardiff Bay, I was amazed and also confused at times, as the developments down there are outstripping the signs. It is also amazing how they are turning this into a real attraction for the boating types, with fancy restaurants and boat yards.

One remnant of it’s past is the Lightship moored up in the docks, near to the relatively recently opened Sea-Life centre and Aquarium.

After a loop through Cardiff City centre it was out on the road to Penarth and the other side of the Cardiff Bay barrier. Where I thought I took some photos of a very up market Penarth Marina but I some how didn’t save them. I don’t know what was here before but I reckon the apartments and houses in this development fetch a fancy penny.

I head of around the front at Penarth and it is obvious that in days gone past the wealthy businessmen from Cardiff used to live out here. There is a small pier and a small parade of restaurants and shops. I stopped to take a couple of photos out across the Severn Estuary, towards Somerset.

The last image is of Flat Holm on the left and Steep Holm on the right, the first being part of Wales and looked after by Cardiff City Council and is partly inhabited the other is Part of England and uninhabited. As you can see the weather was far from perfect but at least it was dry but very chilly at times.

Sully came up next before heading off through Barry Docks, now these roads were some of the worst I had come across with large series of humps (not just one) in the road to slow traffic down, particularly close to the rail lines that used to run through these docks. At one time this area used to also known as the graveyard for steam trains, when they were brought hear to be dismantled and scrapped I remember them when I was station nearby at RAF St Athan in the early 70’s, now there is no evidence left.

Around the docks it was out on to Barry Island to witness the amusement park there, it is like a mini- Blackpool Pleasure Beach and on a Bank Holiday the crowds were out. For some reason just as I rode around the island the sun came out for the one and only occasion during the day, it was now just after midday and I wanted to push on until 2.30pm before heading for home. With this plan I thought I would get home for sometime around 5-5.30pm which would give me plenty of time to get ready to go back to work tomorrow.

Riding out of Barry, I had actually run out of Maps. I thought I had brought the right ones with me unfortunately I had brought the wrong book, so I had to rely on my Ordnance Survey ‘Road Map 7’ and my Sat Nav, which meant I wasn’t getting the level of detail I had been used to. It therefore meant I took a wrong turn into Porthkerry Country Park, and I rode about two miles right down to the farthest car park before I realised I had to come all the way back, which was a bit of a pain as I wanted to get onto Porthkerry Road which runs around Rhoose or Cardiff Airport.

Prior to becoming an International Airport it was RAF Rhoose a World War II Royal Air Force airfield, which opened 7 April 1942 as an RAF training base for Supermarine Spitfire pilots.
No 53 Operational Training Unit Llandow was the parent station, and Rhoose was a satellite landing ground. I won’t be claiming RAF Llandow, although it is only a short distance away I actually turned away from it after I passed RAF Sat Athan but before that. I had to head off through the village of Rhoose before heading towards RAF St Athan, and Llantwit Major along the road to both of those I passed Fonmon Castle. Fonmon is one of the few medieval castles which is still lived in as a home. It was built by the St. John family in the early 13th century and has changed hands only once. Although most of the present castle dates from the post-medieval period, the rectangular keep was built c.1200 and is still the core of the castle. One of Fonmon's surviving towers may also be medieval in date. In later centuries the castle was enlarged by adding wings to the medieval keep.

So it is now 15 Airfields and 14 Castles.

It was now starting to get decidedly damp, not heavy but more constant than it had been at any time so far this weekend and looking at my OS map I felt if I carried on a bit longer I could get to a goal I had set myself as a stretch target for the weekend, which was close to Porthcawl, if I achieved that then it was fairly easy to nip up to Bridgend which was a fairly close point to jump back on the M4 and head for home. Along with the rain the wind was now really starting to gust. So I didn’t hang around, although I would have liked to look around Llantwit Major a bit more and see how much I could remember, I always think of it with a bit of a soft spot. It’s a nice little town and I used to go out with a girl that worked in the local Barclays Bank, when I was stationed here.

Through St Donat’s and Monknash. Passing Castle number 15.

St Donat's Castle is a medieval castle in the overlooking the Bristol Channel The earliest surviving parts of the castle were built in the late 12th century by the de Hawey family. Ownership passed to the Stradling family in 1298 through the marriage of Sir Peter Stradling to Joan de Hawey. the death of Sir Thomas Stradling in 1738, when ownership of the castle passed to Sir John Tyrwhitt. Archbishop James Ussher resided there for a time during the Civil War.

Thereafter the castle fell into a state of disrepair. Partial restoration was started by Dr John Nicholl Carne, who claimed to be descended from the Stradlings, and bought the castle in 1862. Morgan Williams, the owner from 1901 to 1909, carried out extensive and careful restoration.

After seeing photographs of the castle in Country Life magazine, it was bought and revitalised by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst in 1925. Hearst, who at the time was having an affair with the actress Marion Davies, spent a fortune renovating the castle, bringing electricity not only to his residence but also to the surrounding area. He is renowned for holding lavish parties at St Donat's; guests included Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and a young John F. Kennedy. Upon visiting St Donat's, George Bernard Shaw was quoted as saying: "This is what God would have built if he had had the money."

Hearst's newspaper empire fell on hard times; the castle was put up for sale but requisitioned for use by British and American troops during the war. Hearst died in 1951 and the castle was bought by Antonin Besse and given to the Governing Body of Atlantic College. Since 1962 the castle has housed the international Sixth Form College Atlantic College.

Getting onto the B4265 to St Brides Major, at which point I had a choice to make but I thought sod-it I will do this one last piece before heading for home, so I turned left and headed around Southerndown and Ogmore by Sea. The following photos do justice to how wet and windy it was at this stage you can just make out the rain on the camera and screen in front of me.

Around the corner I got my first view of my next destination when I restart over the next Bank Holiday weekend, although it’s not very clear this is Porthcawl across the Estuary. I hope it is better weather.

Looking to the North I gained an idea of what I was in for on the ride home, I was hoping that I would be heading east before I reached the real bad stuff.

However before I got much further I racked up another castle (16) Ogmore Castle, was initially constructed in 1116 by William de Londres as part of the Norman invasion of Wales.

It is one of three castles built by the Normans in the area at the time, the others being Coity Castle and Newcastle, Bridgend. Ogmore Castle is situated on the south bank of the River Ewenny shortly before it joins with the River Ogmore.

The castle was in use until the 19th century for a range of purposes, including a court of justice and a prison, but is now a substantial set of remains and local landmark. A popular set of stepping stones cross the river near to the castle site and a footpath leads to the village of Merthyr Mawr.

I took one photo but it hasn’t turned out very well, so won’t be putting it up. 5 mins later I was in the centre of Bridgend and stopped for fuel of both types, both for the bike and me. I also took time to get my wet weather gear out and put them on, I didn’t want to have to stop on the hard shoulder. It was gone 3.00pm by the time I got going again and then 5 mins later I was on the M4 at junct 35. The weather was getting worse, although it wasn’t raining any heavier the wind had really picked up and I was getting blown all over the place at times.

What worried me most about this was the Severn Crossing, I can still remember riding across the Humber Bridge a few years ago and being blown all over the place, it fact it was down right dangerous being blown from the inside to the outside lane in a matter of 50 yards, and leaning over as if I was taking a sharp corner, whilst riding in a straight line.

Imagine my relief when I started to ride across, they have fitted the more modern Severn Crossing with a series of rails that are fitted at different heights, this has be obviously done to break up the gusts of wind and boy does it work.

One thing that was starting to suffer at this stage was my backside. I was really starting to ache, I had been riding for probably 7 hours a day for the last 3 days on average with very little break, this was now taking it’s toll.

So despite hoping to make it home in one stage, I had to pull into Leigh Delamere services for a break, thankfully it wasn’t raining and all I was basically stopping for was a drink from my water bottle and a walk around the car park for 15 mins to get the circulation going. It was heaving seldom have I seen a Services so full. When I finally got back underway, the next drama occurred pulling back on to the carriageway, the needle on the speedo flicked twice before it died and so did the trip computer, which is fed form the speedo. Bugger! 50 miles to go and no speedo, thankfully after pushing a few buttons on the Sat Nav I was able to get that to show my speed.

One more job to add to the list of service tasks I would need to complete before I restarted. I finally got back home just before 6pm which was pretty good going in the end and to be honest I just put her back in the garage as it was starting to rain. I unloaded a couple of things but I had got back home tired but very satisfied.

Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old, you stop when you get back home!’