North Wales Day Drive – Sunday 15^th September 2024 – (OR “Don’t ever believe the BBC weather forecast again.”)

Sunday 15^th September, and Brian Poole (aka “Age Concern” on the Club’s Facebook group) had organised his second day drive this year, this time around the Llangollen area of North Wales.

For me and Jenny, the day had dawned damp and dismal in Rochdale, but that’s not unusual – quite often when it is wet in Rochdale it can be “cracking the flags” just ten miles further east along the M62 in West Yorkshire. We’d been monitoring the BBC’s weather forecast for the Wrexham/Llangollen area during the preceding week, and it had consistently looked reasonably promising – it kept showing “Light rain and sunny intervals” for Sunday. But, as the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you …” etc – hence the alternative title for this report.

To make the meeting time of 10:30am at Morrisons in Wrexham, Jenny and I left home at 9:00am, by which time the earlier light rain had turned rather more torrential, and the journey on the M60 and M56 was far from pleasant. By the time we reached Chester though, it was starting to look a little brighter and when we arrived at the Wrexham meeting point there was just a light drizzle falling. There we met the other “boaters” – Brian himself (red, Newcastle-under-Lyme; unfortunately, Brian’s wife Hanna could not join us on this occasion), Neil Roberts (black, Chester area), Sean and Alison Murphy (black, Rainhill), Martin Eason (silver, Telford), Andy Logan and Becky Ingram (silver, Widnes), Nick & Krys Bailey (silver, Wrexham area), Mike and Marian Storey (silver, Nottingham) and, of course, us (green, Rochdale). Of the four silver cars, two had black tops and two were red. Some of the early Sunday morning shoppers at Morrisons looked a little bewildered at what was going on. 

After introductions had been made and the obligatory photographs taken, we set off on the 50-mile day drive. After a brief stop en route to photograph a weir on the River Clywedog near Bersham, the first visit of the morning was just five miles up the road from Wrexham at the Minera Lead Mines and Country Park. Unfortunately, contrary to the information boards, the disused mine buildings were NOT open at the weekend, so we had to content ourselves with a quick wander round the ruins.

The next leg of the journey took us 13 miles across hills and moorland on a mostly single-track road, passing through the appropriately named World’s End, then to Eglwyseg and Dinbren, passing Valle Crucis Abbey and via the Horseshoe Pass (A542) to the Ponderosa Café at the top of the Pass. The weather had turned again on this leg, and while on the single-track road around World’s End we passed several groups of very miserable-looking young walkers who, I suspect, were probably doing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award as they were all carrying huge backpacks; Offa’s Dyke Path runs alongside the road at this point.

Ponderosa Café was a “tea and wee” stop – a very large place, frequented by lots of motorcyclists; the steak and ale pie and curry smelled delicious, and the coffee wasn’t bad either. Suitably refreshed, we headed off again for 11 miles on the A542, A5104 and B5436/B5437 to Pont Carrog where a 17^th century stone bridge crosses the River Dee – a date of 1661 is carved into a stone on the bridge’s parapet. 

From Pont Carrog it was seven miles on the A5 to the pretty little town of Llangollen, again on the River Dee, where the weather had brightened up and we had some free time to look around; Jenny and I had never been here before, but it looks to be worth a longer visit in the future. The Llangollen and Corwen Steam Railway was operating, and I just managed to photograph and video the 14:45 departure of “Owain Glyndwr” (Number 7754). Martin Eason and Sean and Alison said their goodbyes to the group in Llangollen as they had other commitments at home.

Our final visit of the day was five miles east of Llangollen at the world-famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (“A Stream in the Sky”), where the Shropshire Union Canal (Llangollen Branch) is carried across – yes, you guessed it (!) – the River Dee at a height of 126 feet. The 18-arch stone and cast-iron bridge was designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1805 after ten years of construction and at a total cost of £47,000. The iron trough which carries the canal is just shy of 12 feet wide, is just over 5 feet deep and has a total length of 1,007 feet; a narrow footpath which is barely wide enough for two people to (carefully!) pass one another runs alongside it across the aqueduct. 

Neil left the group here, while the remaining five barchettas and nine occupants made our way back to Llangollen and just beyond, to the Chainbridge Hotel where we rounded the day off with drinks, courtesy of the Club, and a meal.

Yet again, the weather took a nosedive while we were having dinner; annoyingly, both of the days before and after the drive were dry and sunny. Nevertheless, I think all twelve people in the seven other cars enjoyed the route which Brian had devised and our thanks go out to him again for another successful (albeit totally tops-up) day drive.

Steve Auty 

Brian who organised the meeting also wished to make the following comment.

Following on from the owners meeting in North Wales I would like to thank those who attended for their support in turning out with a poor weather forecast and a mixed bag of weather on the day.

It also should be an encouragement for other owners to seriously organise a meeting in their area. Six weeks before having the idea of holding a day’s drive and meeting for owners, notifying the club’s organisers with an itinerary for the day. They will help promote it.

The weather is the only issue you can’t plan for. That’s where my thanks to the members is. For a week the forecast was rain on Sunday. Members are interested but they all know as I do the weather is expected to rain more. I’m personally against calling any event off after it’s been advertised and had an interest. Sunday morning preparing the car thinking I’ll be lucky to have three cars on the run because of the weather. Arriving early at the meeting point one Barchetta was already waiting. Over the next half-hour six more Barchetta’s arrived, eight in total. Even with a nice weather forecast, eight cars for a one day run and meeting would be an achievement.

For me a meeting is about building up a network of like minded owners willing to share their stories of ownership, journeys and Barchetta maintenance. This Sunday I found out that two members on the run knew and had the relevant parts/cables and could reset the air-bag light.

Thanks again Brian