This Camping and Caravan Club site has really, really impressed me not only the site but it’s friendliness. Absolutely spot on.
Now here is an admission, myself, my ex-wife and children used to be members of the Caravan Club, which stopped when we sold the caravan during the divorce. But we had, had many great summers in the caravan, both my children although they are 17 and 15 still ask when we can go again.
There is one slight problem to doing some major work washing the tent then hanging it inside the garage have been scuppered by family of Robins that have nested in one of the tool and part trays I’ve fitted to the wall, while the Hen is as bold as they come and wouldn’t move when she was sitting on the eggs, now they have hatched and appear to be doing well, the Cock takes over at this stage but tends to do a runner every time I open the garage door.
Anyway back to the ride. I got packed up relatively quickly and I had made up my mind that I was going to get going straight away and then stop at Abersoch for breakfast. So if I even got moving before some campers had even emerged form their tents. It was a pretty quick run from the campsite to Abersoch, which has a weird feel to it. Not bad in fact very nice, lovely little port that has been overrun by yachties the whole feel of the place is all around ‘being the place to be seen’ It is alright and the facilities okay but small but this doesn’t stop some really famous seaside names having boutiques there.
Around the head from Abersoch is Sarn Bach and then Llanengan before entering Towyn one of three villages with the same name I would travel through inside 36 hrs. before a quick trip inland before coming back out to Rhiw and then Aberdaron.and the view of the headland.I wasn’t the other one that had stopped in a passing place to take the photos but at least I hadn’t parked it and locked it up and gone for a walk. At least I kept the engine running. This is not the first time I have come across this on my journey, in fact I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve come across this. 
I passed through Bodermid before heading out to the National Trust Car Park at the headland overlooking Bardsey Island, unfortunately I saw the first signs of the problems that I would face later in the day as the first signs of the sea mist was rolling in. 
I then pushed North again which always makes me feel better as for some strange reason I start to feel as if I am achieving much more than when I am travelling West, I think has something to do with getting to John O’Groats as after that it is all downhill back home.
Uwchmynydd was soon followed Capel Carmel. As I have mentioned I did a bit of a recce trip a couple of years ago around this part of the Coast and remember spotting a large dive support boat in a back garden next to the Chapel, it was a bit of a bizarre sight as it would have taken a major effort to get it to the sea, as there were signs saying unsuitable for large vehicles and caravans and this thing was far bigger than any caravan I’ve ever seen.
I stayed as close to the coast as possible for the half and hour to 40 mins before getting back on to the B4417 which was a wonderful ride up passed Morfa Nefyn and Nefyn. Anyone fancy a development opportunity. I don’t know what this building in Pistyll used to be, possibly a hotel but now it is pretty much derelict, all the windows gone, all the slates on the roof missing a really forlorn sight, in the background there are a collection of luxury wooden cabins being built next to the farm next to the ‘old hotel’. 
Further along I took a chance look over my right shoulder when going up around Yr Elfi towards the junction with the A499, I was greeted by the wonderful panorama across the Peninsular of Cardigan Bay behind me. 
When I joined the A499 I met by some major roadworks for the next approx 4 miles, they are building a whole new bypass and potential dual carriageway closer to the coast, but missing out on the villages along this part of the coast, the only problem being the speed was held at 40mph despite no work going on. When it finally cleared it was time to turn off at Llandwrog which took me to Caernarvon Airport, ex RAF Llandwrog (23) from one map it looked as if I could get through a back lane however it was blocked off by a Static Caravan Park.
RAF Llandwrog was opened in January 1941 as a Royal Air Force Bomber Command airfield for training gunners, radio operators and navigators.
It was the largest World War II airfield in Wales. The Air Observers School flew Avro Anson and Westland Lysander aircraft. On 10 October 1941 two planes collided at RAF Llandwrog, killing seventeen people.
Early in 1942, prompted by an increasing number of aircraft accidents in the North Wales mountains, the RAF Llandwrog Mountain Rescue Section was formed on a local, volunteer basis. The initiative came from the medical officer at the base, Flight Lieutenant G V Graham. The team at Llandwrog, and other similar teams elsewhere, were officially recognised towards the end of 1943. The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service was formed in January 1944.
Almost 71,000 bombs containing the nerve agent tabun had been seized in Germany following WWII, and these were stored in the open at RAF Llandwrog, until 1954 during the handover to civilian use, as part of Operation Sandcastle, they were transported to Cairnryan for disposal aboard scuttling ships at sea 120 miles (190 km) north-west of Ireland. One further note on the Gate Guard of Caernavon Airport and Museum is a Hawker Hunter T4 trainer. It has certain markings that would lead the un-informed to think that it was once based at the nearby RAF Valley, however with the lack of a serial number that is usually hard to prove, However looking at her, there was something not quite right. I couldn’t see the bay which we used to shove our arms up to change the 3inch blanks shells that were used to start the motors, also the drop tanks were missing, she may have been there but I doubt it. I spent a fair amount of time working on Hunters at RAF Valley, hence my statement. To be honest she looked something of a 'bitsa' (bits and and pieces of a number of things)
So with that it was a loop back and then up to Llanwnda and Llanfaglan and then into Caernarvon through the back lanes and to be met by Castle (28) Caernarfon Castle. Now the following may well be the longest piece of history, however it does reflect how important this castle has become.
Edward I built castles and walled towns in North Wales to control the area following his conquest of the independent principality of Wales, in 1283.
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales, having rejected a bribe of one thousand pounds a year and an estate in England, if he would surrender his nation unreservedly to the king of England, had been lured into a trap on 11 December 1282, and put to death. His brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd had continued the struggle for continuing independence, but had been captured at Bera Mountain in the uplands above Garth Celyn, in June 1283.
Edward surrounded and overshadowed Garth Celyn, the royal home and the headquarters of resistance to English domination, with Caernarfon and Conwy castles, and later Beaumaris Castle. The other fortress in the iron ring encircling Snowdonia was Harlech Castle.
The site selected for Caernarfon was strategically important, located on the banks of the River Seiont where it flows into the Menai Strait. It had been the site of a Roman fort, and a later motte and bailey castle built c. 1090 by Hugh d'Avranches. The castle was, at the time, surrounded on two sides by water, and the other by the Caernarfon city walls, but in the 19th century, the area on the River Seiont was filled in to enlarge the port of Caernarfon, and is today part of the castle's car park.
Begun in 1283 after Snowdonia - the heartland of Gwynedd - had been overrun by the massive army, it reached something like its current state in 1323. It was never completed, and even today there are joints visible in several places on the internal walls ready to accept further walls which were never built. Contemporary records note that the castle's construction cost some £22,000 – an enormous sum at the time, equivalent to more than a year's income for the royal treasury. The castle's linear design is sophisticated by comparison with earlier British castles, and the walls are said to have been modelled on those of Constantinople, Edward being a keen Crusader. The castle dominates the Menai Strait.
Edward II of England was born here, during the initial stages of the castle's construction in 1284. In the uprising of 1294–1295, Caernarfon was taken by the forces of Madog ap Llewellyn, but recaptured in 1295 and its defenses brought nearer to completion. In 1403 and 1404 it withstood sieges by the forces of Owain Glyndŵr. During the English Civil War its Royalist garrison surrendered to Parliamentary forces in 1646.
The tradition of investing the heir of the monarch of Britain with the title of "Prince of Wales" began in 1301, when King Edward I of England, having completed the conquest of Wales, gave the title to his heir, Prince Edward (later King Edward II of England). According to a famous legend, the king had promised the Welsh that he would name "a prince born in Wales, who did not speak a word of English" and then produced his infant son to their surprise ; but the story may well be apocryphal, as it can only be traced to the 16th century. However, Edward II certainly was born at Caernarfon while his father was campaigning in Wales, and like all infants, could not at the time speak English. (Indeed, growing up in the royal court over the succeeding years his first language may well have been Anglo-Norman, not English.)
The castle was used again in 1911 for the investiture of the then Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, because of its past associations with the English crown. This set a precedent which was to be repeated in 1969 with the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales.
The castle houses the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum, and is part of the World Heritage Site "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd". A diesel locomotive on the nearby Welsh Highland Railway bears the name Caernarfon Castle.
I wanted to push on to Rhosneigr to have my lunch, thankfully I knew the next section was pretty straightforward, I knew the roads around Anglesey well so had a good idea how long it would take me, so was feeling fairly confident. So it was onto the A487 before taking the road to Y Felinheli, I had always known this place as Port Dinorwic, into Bangor to then on to the A55 to take the Britannia Bridge to Anglesey which was the World’s first Box Girder Bridge designed by Robert Stevenson and which sadly (or not) burnt down in 1970 as it led to the re-construction during the 1970’s which gave us today’s bridge when a road running over the old railway line and into the town with the Longest Village name in Britain or Llanfair PG for short.
Before reaching the village centre I took the A4080 that would take me around to Rhosneigr but before that it was couple of points of note along the way, after leaving the village of Brynsiencyn and then around by Newborough Warren and into Malltraeth on the edge of Malltraeth Sands and the outlet of Afon Cefni which has a huge man made section that runs inland to Pentre Berw and the marshes around there and ultimately up to Cefni Reservoir north of Llangefni.
I stopped to take some photos in Malltraeth as it has some bitter sweet memories for me. I went out with and ended up getting engaged to a beautiful girl called Janet Roberts who came form the Village her Mother and Father and what a pair they were, used to run the Royal Oak public house at none end of the village. Bitter sweet in the sense that I made a mess of things, which seems to be my way when it comes to romance. In the off chance that she may one day read this; Sorry your big Sister was right I didn’t deserve you and I hope life has worked out well for you. My only excuse is that I was a naïve 20 year old, who thought he was smarter than he was.
Heading out of Malltraeth I took the road round to the left, if I had carried straight on and into Bethel where I had spent a couple of nights in a tent guarding the wreckage of an aircraft that had crash landed in a field shortly after taking from Valley due to fuel problems.
I took the lane at Hermon and into Bodorgan and then to the dunes at Aberffraw It was now lunchtime a there were large crowds looking for somewhere to park their cars, then to walk the dunes. From Aberffraw the road takes you passed the Anglesey Race Circuit based at an old RAF Base, RAF Bodorgan (Aberffraw) however it was not an airfield but used as a Anti Aircraft and Radar base, hence when you see Fifth Gear on Channel Five, you will hear about a corner called ‘Radar’ (it doesn’t actually appear on the circuit map so may be some journalistic licence), it was closed in 1945 as a military base. Since it’s inception as a Race circuit a lot of developments have been made and quite frankly, if this circuit was closer to a main centre, people would be trying to push this for major international events. It is a very interesting and challenging layout, with the scope for further development.
Into Rhosneigr I could see the sea mist I had encountered earlier in the day had reached Anglesey, which didn’t surprise me in the least, having been stationed at RAF Valley which was my next major stop, it was known at as an MDA or Major Diversion Airfield, when the country was fogged in RAF Valley was clear and when the mainland was clear we used to get a major sea mist, that although it used to disrupt operations never stopped them, as the mist never really got above 100ft. On one occasion I remember 3 tourist aircraft on route to Manchester got diverted to RAF Valley due to the bad weather there, we had clear blue skies. I was on Station Flight then and tried to invite some of the flight crew from Monarch Airlines to the Enlisted NAAFI, I was quickly out trumped when they were offered accommodation in the Officers Mess, the term ‘Pulling Rank’ seems to come to mind, when these starry eyed stewardesses saw a set of ‘Wings’ it was game over, C’est la Vie. I stopped briefly in Rhosneigr as I found it difficult to find a spot to stop near one of the few cafés they have, so after a couple of photos it was on towards RAF Valley. But before I did, I had to avoid some idiot in an init car, lowered suspension to accompany the IQ, Loud exhaust, to block out the abuse they get and finally darkened windows so you they can’t be identified as a wanke**.
Before I left I did take the following photos.
The photos do not do justice to the amount of sea mist that was coming in, in reality it was much thicker.
After leaving Rhosneigr and the Golf Club, which is a lovely Links Course by the way. I got over confident and decided to take a back lane with a sign saying unsuitable for caravans and long vehicles, for some reason I thought I recognised it as a back lane that would take me to Capel Gwyn and then into RAF Valley by a back route. Through Llanfairyneubwll. It didn’t take me long to discover I got that wrong, or the 30 years plus, since I last used it it had gone down hill a very long way. After a mile the track went from a tarmac track either side of a grass centre to serious gravel worse than the lane to my house, on that basis I decided to retrace my steps and use more major roads into the back of RAF Valley my 24th and 2nd ex-base I have passed.
No. 4 Flying Training School takes RAF and Royal Navy pilots from 1FTS at RAF Linton-on-Ouse and trains them to fly fast jets, prior to training on an Operational Conversion Unit. 4 FTS is divided into two squadrons; 208 Sqn provides the advanced flying training, students then moving onto 19 Sqn to receive tactics and weapons training. Valley is also home to C Flight of 22 Sqn with Sea King helicopters. These are busy in the Search and Rescue role, rescuing people from ships in the Irish Sea, from the mountains of nearby Snowdonia and elsewhere. The mountain rescue work in Snowdonia is coordinated with the Wales Mountain Rescue Association.
The base is also home to SARTU (Search and Rescue Training Unit), part of the Defence Helicopter Flying School, using Squirrel and Griffin helicopters, and newly home to the relocated headquarters elements of both 22 and 202 Squadrons.
RAF Mona, also on Anglesey, acts as a relief landing ground. Although I would go no where near this small airfield.
The National Assembly for Wales announced on 21 February 2007, that Public Service Obligation (PSO) services was launched, from RAF Valley, in April 2007, connecting north Wales with Cardiff International Airport. "North-south airlines is revealed". BBC News. February 21, 2007.
A terminal facility, costing £1,500,000, has been constructed at RAF Valley, which will be named Anglesey Airport (Maes Awyr Môn); the capacity of which is projected to handle up to ten such PSO flights, each day. Inverness based Highland Airways operates the Cardiff route, using BAe Jetstream 31 aircraft. The first public flight took place on 8 May 2007.
The Station opened on 13 February 1941, in No 9 Group, Fighter Command, and for the first few weeks of its existence was called Royal Air Force Rhosneigr after one of the nearby villages, but was re-named Royal Air Force Valley on 5 April 1941.
On 3 March 1941, No 312 (Czech) Squadron moved in from Speke with its Hurricanes and began flying convoy patrols over the Irish Sea, and by the time it departed for Jurby on 25 May 1941 it had claimed the destruction of a Ju 88 during one such sortie. It was replaced by No 615 Squadron from Kenley, also flying Hurricanes, and was joined on 10 May by 'A' Flight of No 219 Squadron who brought their Beaufighter IFs on one month's attachment from Tangmere and whose nocturnal activities claimed several enemy aircraft. In the June, 2 sections of Hurricane IIBs of No 302 (Polish) Squadron and one section on No 68 Squadron with Beaufighter IFs arrived at Valley for one month's fighter defence duties.
In October 1943 the Sector Operations Centre at Valley closed down leaving only No 125 Squadron’s Beaufighter VIs for air defence duties, and No 275 Squadron which continued its air/sea rescue duties until the following April when it departed south to Warmwell. The Station’s effort during the remainder of the war was devoted almost entirely to the task of receiving incoming aircraft from the United States of America and Canada and despatching them to their war stations in Britain. They came in ever-increasing numbers until it was quite a common occurrence for 60 to 70 aircraft to arrive in a single day. In the main, they were handled by the United States Army Force Movements Section, whilst the Royal Air Force element took care of the diverted British aircraft.
Control of Valley changed once more in April 1948 when it was passed to No 12 Group, Fighter Command, and the uncertainty of its future was resolved by the decision that it was to become a permanent Royal Air Force station. Although the Station had been officially designated a Master Diversion Airfield in 1947, it remained on a care and maintenance basis and provided only limited diversion facilities. The Mountain Rescue Team, which had been formed in 1943, continued to turn out for crashed aircraft and stranded climbers in the Welsh hills.
During the period of inactivity, a number of improvements were made to the Station; 4 barrack blocks were built to a new design which provided a single room for each airman; It sounds so grand, I can assure you when I was there in the 70’s they were the same and more like a cell than a bedroom, when I was moved to one of the modernised rooms in the mid 70s they were much better and at least twice if not 3 times the size.
A new dining hall was constructed originally called the Junior Ranks Mess it now goes by the grand title of Junior Ranks Restuarant and a considerable number of married quarters built, and since 1951 it has been one of Flying Training Command’s principal stations.
The is many rumours around this site, one of which relates to the American inhabitance. There is a lake next to the Officers Mess, that is not only quite deep it is also very murky. Both swimming and fishing is banned, the reason for this is ‘said’ to be due to the American’s driving all the vehicles and equipment they couldn’t take with them, in there. It may be heresay but when I was stationed there a member of the sub-aqua club said that there had been a dive in the lake a few years before and due to the depth of the mud and the fact that it was fresh water etc, the vehicles were remarkably well preserved.
I had many, many escapades, while stationed here, far more than I could list here but I do look back on my time with a smile.
Once again the Gate Guard is wrong, this time there is something that is even more stand out. It has a rear arrester hook not something that was ever fitted to an RAF variant and none that I ever worked on at RAF Valley, okay this aircraft may have been re-numbered and posted there at some point, but certainly not during my time. I suspect this one spent it’s life between RNAS Yeovilton and Culdrose.
I took a back lane out of Valley and on towards Holy Island but came upon another dead end, well almost, if I didn’t have a fully loaded bike I would have gone around the track that went around the edge of the land and over the small causeway, however given my luck over the weekend I wasn’t going to push it. So it was back around again and on to the A55 at Caergeilliog and then turning left at the Valley crossroads and through Trearddur Bay, unfortunately the sea mist was getting thicker and I ended up riding through it on the way up to the South Stack lighthouse, very worthwhile seeing but I didn’t make it today as the mist was too much as well as wasting too much time with the detours in the last couple of hours, so I bypassed the dead end road to the lighthouse itself and went on to Holyhead.
I then took my next stop off the bike to take a photo, I had been riding for close to 6 hrs by now, so my backside was getting a bit on the numb side. So it was nice to stop for a short while over looking the harbour.
As it can be seen by the last photo the sea mist was getting stronger now on this side of the Island so I could imagine it was going to get worse as the day would go on.Having missed my lunch earlier and I also needed to refuel, I stopped on the way back to Valley Crossroads to refuel both ‘My Baby’ and myself, then on to the Crossroads before turning left onto the A5025 towards Cemaes Bay and beyond. A quick stop on one of the back lanes to take a photo and eat the pasty I had bought at the garage. Whilst it may not be the most scenic view it is interesting in the distance is the Wylfa Power Station It is the largest and last reactor of its type to be built in the UK. It was the second British nuclear power station, following Oldbury, to have a pre-stressed concrete pressure vessel instead of steel for easier construction and enhanced safety.
A second plant (generally referred to as Wylfa B) has been proposed, in part to provide for the needs of the Anglesey Aluminium smelter located in Holyhead. This proposal has been the subject of some local opposition, led by the group People Against Wylfa B (PAWB). The subsidised electricity supply to the smelter company will end, even if the life of the nuclear station is extended by a year or two. Substantial works were needed to strengthen the reactors against deteriorating welds discovered in the safety review in April 2000. Amid public controversy, Greenpeace issued an independent safety appraisal by the nuclear engineering consultancy, Large Associates, but the permit to restart operation was given in August 2001. In addition to welding weaknesses, radiolytic depletion of the graphite moderator blocks was still of concern and PAWB continue to campaign for early shut-down of the plant as well as against any nuclear replacement. Nevertheless, in March 2006 the local council voted to extend the life of Wylfa A and to support the construction of Wylfa B, citing the potential loss of employment in the smelter works and nuclear station.
I stopped a bit further on for one of the last times before hitting Chester, after coming through traffic in Beaumaris and the Castle there (29) built as part of King Edward I’s campaign to conquer the north of Wales. It was designed by James of St. George and was begun in 1295, but never completed. Beaumaris has been designated as a World Heritage site.
Beaumaris castle was positioned to face Garth Celyn on the opposite shore of the Menai Strait and was intended, along with Conwy Castle and Caernarfon castle at either end of the Menai Strait, to overshadow the Welsh Royal home and centre of resistance to the English forces.
The plan was nearly perfect, but the castle was never completed. The Welsh conquest was practically complete at the time of construction, and the immense cost of completing such a massive fortress would have drained funds needed for the Scottish campaigns. Neither the towers of the inner ward nor the great gatehouses were built to full height and many buildings of the inner ward were left unfinished when large scale work ceased in 1298. Small-scale work was carried out in the early 14th century. However, the outer walls were crenelated, and unlike many other castles Beaumaris did not suffer damage or demolition during the Civil War — the extant castle is very well-preserved.
The grey clouds were starting to build over the mainland as I took this photo of the Menai Strait.
Into Menai Bridge and the bridge that carries the same name. Thomas Telford was assigned the task of improving the route from London to Holyhead, and one of the key improvements was his design of the suspension bridge over the Menai Strait between a point near Bangor on the mainland and what was then the village of Porthaethwy which is now also known as Menai Bridge. The design of the bridge had to allow for Royal Navy sailing ships 100 ft tall to pass under the deck at high water slack tide, and no scaffolding was allowed during construction which broke this rule.
Construction of the bridge began in 1819 with the towers on either side of the strait. These were constructed from Penmon limestone and were hollow with internal cross-walls. Then came the sixteen huge chain cables, each made of 935 iron bars that support the 176 metre span. To avoid rusting, each cable was first soaked in linseed oil. The bridge was opened to much fanfare on 30 January 1826 and succeeded in reducing the 36 hour journey time from London to Holyhead by 9 hours meaning it only took 27 hours. it is one of the first modern suspension bridges in the world.
Without stopping it was quickly on to the A55 and on towards Llanfairfechan and ultimately Conwy, this was achieved in rapid time as the main dual carriageway runs right along the coast. Then past Conwy Castle (30) and up the B5106 to Ty’n-y-groes before crossing the river an coming back down on the A470 Into Llandudno Junction then up and around the Great Orme.
Conwy Castle was completed in 1289. Six years later Edward I was besieged here during the rebellion of Madog ap Llywelyn. The siege lasted for several months and supplies ran low. However the castle and town were not captured. In the 14th century alterations were carried out under Edward, the Black Prince.
In 1403 Welsh forces led by Rhys and Gwilym, sons of Tudur ap Gronw, and the cousins of Owain Glyndwr, captured the castle and its English garrison. The fortress and the soldiers were later ransomed back to Henry IV. Tudur ap Gronw was the forefather of Henry Tudor. During the War of the Roses Conwy was taken by William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke under orders from Edward IV in 1461.
But by the early 17th century, the once great Royal Castle had become dilapidated and was largely unused. However at the outbreak of the English Civil War Conwy was again garrisoned for the King. It was captured after a three-month siege by the Parliamentary army in 1646. It was slighted and left as an empty shell.
Later the restored Charles II granted Conwy Castle to Edward Conway, 3rd Viscount Conway. In 1665 the remaining timber, iron and lead was removed from the castle by William Milward on behalf of the peer and sold.
Today the castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and managed by Cadw. It is also part of the World Heritage Site entitled "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd".
The trip around the Great Orme had to be taken in an anti-clockwise direction, which was a bit strange as everything I have done so far has been in clockwise direction. One piece of trivia for you . The Great Orme is the site of world’s first known Prehistoric Copper Mine.
It was then quickly through Rhos-on-Sea into Colwyn Bay then back onto the A55 for the fast run to Pensarn before turning off to Towyn, Kinmel Bay and Rhyl. On the A548. I used to think about Rhyl as this exotic place to visit, full of excitement when I was 10 years of age, now it is sad, run-down and very, very tacky. From a recent program, I think it was Secret Millionaire they talked about the level of unemployment and desolation in the town.
I didn’t have time to stop it was now getting more and more overcast and the threat of rain was imminent, the problem being, even when I got to Chester today, I still had around a 4 hour ride back home and at this rate I was going to hit Chester at about 5.30 - 6pm so it was going to be a long, long day.
Going through Prestatyn then on to Talacre along this part of the coast you can see the huge Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm and further on when I reached Mostyn Dock I saw the massive drilling rig and main towers for more wind turbines that will be installed on West Hoyle Bank. After seeing this heartening sight of the future, I then came upon a very sad sight indeed at Llanerch-y-mor. The Duke of Lancaster Along with her sister ships the Duke of Rothesay and the Duke of Argyll, these vessels were amongst the last passenger-only steamers built for British Railways (at that time, also a ferry operator). Built at Harland & Wolff, Belfast and completed in 1956, she was designed to operate as both a passenger ferry (primarily on the Heysham-Belfast route) and as a cruise ship. In this capacity, the Lancaster travelled to the Scottish islands and further afield to Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
The Duke of Lancaster was sold to Liverpool based company Empirewise Ltd, who intended her to be used as a static leisure centre and market. She arrived at her new home at Llanerch-y-Mor, near Mostyn on 10 August 1979. The ship was beached and the hull was sealed in concrete. Known as "The Fun Ship", it was also possible to visit her bridge and engine room. Conversion for use as a 300-room hotel did not appear to go beyond the preliminary planning stage. Its use as "The Fun Ship" was relatively short-lived and was subsequently closed to the public. Over time, the vessel has become increasingly derelict.
The ship was later used as a warehouse by its owners Solitaire Liverpool Ltd, a clothing company registered to the same address as Empirewise Ltd. Despite rumours of the ship being scrapped, the company stated that they have no plans to sell it, or restore it and its current use is uncertain. Despite having large amounts of its exterior paintwork covered in red-leading, the interior of the ship is in very good condition.
I do think it is tragic to see a once great vessel in this state, either re-furbish her or scrap her, she doesn’t deserve this.
I was pushing on as best I could but the weather was getting more and more grey and dark, the last part may have been due to still having the tinted visor fitted to my helmet. Still on the A548 I came upon a new dual carriageway that would have taken me up and around over the estuary and but I pulled off to go through Flint and then on to Connah’s Quay and Queensferry, however before that I was to pass Flint Castle (31). It was the first of a series of castles built during King Edward I's campaign to conquer Wales.
Flint was the first castle of what would later become known as Edward I's 'Iron Ring'. A chain of fortresses designed to encircle North Wales and oppress the Welsh. Its construction began almost immediately after Edward I began the First Welsh War in 1277. Five years later Welsh forces under the command of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, brother of Llywelyn the Last besieged the castle in an attempted uprising against the English Crown. In 1294 Flint was attacked again during the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn; this time the constable of the castle was forced to set fire to the fortress to prevent its capture by the Welsh. The castle was later repaired and partly rebuilt.
With the conclusion to the Welsh Wars, English settlers and merchants were given property titles in the new town that was laid out in front of the castle. The plantation borough was protected by a defensive ditch with a wooden palisade on earth banking. Its outline remains visible in streets patterns. In 1399 Richard II of England was held by Henry Bolingbroke at Flint before being returned to London.
During the English Civil War, Flint Castle was held by the Royalists. It was finally captured by the Parliamentarians in 1647 after a three-month siege. To prevent its reuse in the conflict, the castle was then slighted in accordance with Cromwell's destruction order. The ruins are what remain today. By the 19th century part of the site's outer bailey was used as Flintshire's County Jail. A quarry also operated nearby and in 1838 J.M.W. Turner did a painting of the Castle that is now part of the collection in the National Gallery.
The back roads along this section took me past one more airfield (25) it was never an recognised RAF base more of a factory. The aircraft factory at Broughton was established during the second world war as a Shadow Factory for Vickers-Armstrongs Limited. The factory produced 5,540 Vickers Wellingtons and 235 Avro Lancasters. Post-war the factory was used by Vickers to build 28,000 aluminium prefab bungalows.
The RAF's No.48 Maintenance Unit was formed at Hawarden on 1 September 1939 and until 1 July 1957 stored, maintained and scrapped many thousands of military aircraft, including Halifaxes, Wellingtons, Horsa gliders and DH Mosquitos. No.3 Ferry Pilots Pool/Ferry Pool, Air Transport Auxiliary, was based at Hawarden between 5.11.40 and 30.11.45. Its veteran pilots ferried thousands of military aircraft from the factories and maintenance facilities at Hawarden and elsewhere to and from RAF and Naval squadrons throughout the UK. On 1 July 1948 The de Havilland Aircraft Company took over the Vickers factory and over the years built the following aircraft types:
de Havilland Mosquito
de Havilland Hornet
de Havilland Sea Hornet
de Havilland Vampire
de Havilland Venom and Sea Venom
de Havilland Dove and Devon
de Havilland Comet (13 only, and two aircraft that became the prototypes for the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod
de Havilland Sea Vixen
The company became part of Hawker Siddeley Aviation in the 1960s and the production of the Hawker Siddeley HS125 business jet, designed by de Havilland, became the main aircraft type produced by the factory for nearly forty years. Production was moved to the United States when the 125 business was sold to the Raytheon Corporation. Raytheon still have a 125 and Beech 400 support centre on the airfield, renamed Hawker Beechcraft Ltd in early 2007.
Since the early 1970s the Broughton factory has been the centre of wing production for all the Airbus aircraft. Initially these were taken by road to Manchester Airport to be flown out by a Super Guppy, they are now taken by Barge down the Dee Estuary to Mostyn Docks to then be loaded on a cargo ship to France.
Raytheon System opened a new facility in 2003, to support the Bombardier Sentinel R1 entering service with the Royal Air Force. I worked at the factory making wings for a short time before it got SO! boring. Also whilst I was there and I believe still to this day one of the best preserved versions of the Mosquito is still based there. Along with a couple of very interesting wrecks, one of which looks like a MIG 21 that is sat around the back of one of the hangars as if it was one of the staff’s projects to rebuild it and get it going again.
Anyway enough of this it is actually taking longer to write about this last part than it did to ride it. It wasn’t long before I was in Chester itself closely followed by the rain. I pulled into the City and followed the roads past one of the first flats I ever owned, before the river Dee at Handbridge passing Chester Castle number 32 and last of the day before going up Watergate Street and then making my way to The Groves. Chester Castle It is sited at the southwest extremity of the area bounded by the city walls. The castle stands on an eminence overlooking the River Dee.
During the Civil War Chester was held by the Royalists. The castle was assaulted by Parliamentary forces in July 1643, and in January and April 1645. Together with the rest of the city, it was besieged between September 1645 and February 1646. Following the civil war the castle was used as a prison, a court and a tax office. In 1687 James II attended Mass in the chapel of St Mary de Castro. In 1696 Chester mint was established and was managed by Edmund Halley in a building adjacent to the Half Moon tower. During the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion a gun emplacement was built on the wall overlooking the river.
In the castle complex are the remaining parts of the medieval castle together with the neoclassical buildings designed by Thomas Harrison which were built between 1788 and 1813. Parts of the neoclassical buildings are used today as Crown Courts and as a military museum. The museum and the medieval remains are a tourist attraction.
Down at the Groves, I got off the bike after a very long day riding it was just before 6.00pm, thankfully I had kept a can of Red Bull I had kept over from earlier as all the kiosks were either closed or closing. All the pleasure boats were being tied up for the night. It was also starting to rain, so I took the opportunity of getting a few things sorted and put my waterproof over jacket on.
Just before the bridge is a weir which is the full extent of the tidal element of the River Dee, whilst it is largely silted up now, the Dee used to be a major navigational river in the past, and when I get further down the Wirral Peninsular to Parkgate next time around the road forms the old quayside where sailing ships used to tied up to and load coal from a small mine close by in the late 19th and early 20th century, it is now over a mile from the water and now a major marsh and Bird Sanctuary.
It is amazing how they get these Pleasure Boats on to the River, as they can’t be sailed up the river because of the weir and about 5 miles up river it gets to narrow and shallow for something of the size of these. Basically they were brought in by road overnight, to a point a couple of miles up river and then craned in. The Lady Diana has been plying her trade on the river for over 25 years now, I remember when she first came in as she was viewed as very large and vulgar in comparison to the traditional wood built boats that used to be there.
Anyway it was now 6.15pm and I had a long way to ride back home. The rain brought a stiffening breeze and a drop in temperature by at least 3 degrees so I was pleased to put another layer on. Now for the boring part M53 – M56 – M6 – M42 – M40 – A34 – M4 – A340 to home. With one stop for fuel and another Red Bull at Warwick Services I finally got home at bang on 10.00pm; 12 HOURS after I first got on the bike at that wonderful Campsite at Llanystumdwy.
I pulled up in front of the garage, put the side stand down went to get off but stumbled and fell off as my knees where locked into a position with stiffness from so much riding, when I picked myself up I took the main bits of kit off the bike and put her away, another largely successful ride which had lead me to covering the largest amount of coast to date. It did however leave me needing to do some significant work to My Baby before we got going again, the first priority being sourcing another Rear Shock Absorber.
Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old; you stop when you fall off the bike!
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1 comment:
Honestly, you got your blog too long and my laziness got me but we I saw your photos, it tell your story and it is nicely done. I really enjoyed watching it. Hope to also make it something beautiful in my short break in wales.
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