Conwy - June 2008
North Wales

  After deciding to point the Ducati into North Wales this year, we just had to find somewhere to stay. Rejecting the pubs because we felt it was time for a change, we found a couple of proper "Bed and Breakfast" places to stay, and we had a great time, mostly.

  For our first night, we like to stop off somewhere sort of half way to our final destination, it breaks the journey even though we're not going very far anyway. It also means we get to stay in two different places and drink in different pubs. This year, we chose The Old Manse Guesthouse, in Buxton in the Peak District. It was probably a lucky choice, as the weather, which had been threatening rain for a while, broke just as we headed into Buxton and within minutes was torrential, it didn't really stop until the next morning. The Old Manse had changed owners since we booked, new owners Sally and Simon were welcoming and friendly, even to two motorcyclists dripping water everywhere we went. After a shower to warm up and a rest over a cup of tea, we headed into Buxton through pouring rain for dinner at the Kings Head in the town square. The food was OK although it's a busy 'chain' pub, beer was some very good Jennings Cumberlands. When the pub filled up and got noisy, we moved up the road to The Eagle which was quiet and sold a very nice pint of Hydes Eager Beaver. It finally stopped raining and we got back to the Old Manse without getting wet again.

  Saturday morning arrived and it was still damp, we had a reasonable breakfast, said our goodbyes and packed the Ducati before heading for the local Morrison to fill up with petrol before heading off towards North Wales. Mid morning, we fancied a coffee stop to warm up and found Mickey Broxton's garage where we got coffee and some very nice home made pasties.

  After warming up on coffee, onwards towards Wales, mostly through pouring rain which is Dave's excuse for getting lost in Wrexham. Seeing signs for Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, we just had to turn off to see the famous sight as we'd never been there before. Walking across, the views where spectacular, especially as the rain had stopped and we even got a glimpse of the sun. Watching the canal boats passing over the aqueduct looked ever so slightly scary, it's a long way down if you drop something over the side. Lunch was sandwiches and cola at the Telford Inn, overlooking the canal. From there, we headed over the Horseshoe pass and stopped at Rhug Farm were we had ice cream in the pouring rain, we were too full to eat the fabulous burgers they seemed to be producing. As the rain eased, we headed off to Betws-y-Coed where we made room for afternoon tea at The Plas Derwen before finally riding off into blue skies and sunshine. Arriving in Conwy, we had beautiful sunshine and great views, we'd even dried out by the time we found and got parked at The Bryn Guest House.

  Arriving at Bryn in sunshine was lovely, and we were met by owner Alison who was extremely friendly and showed us to the room which we'd picked out from her website when we booked. Recently refurbished, room 3 was lovely and had great views past the castle and town walls to the estuary. On Alison's recomendation, we went to the Castle Hotel in the town to try to book a table, it was full but they took our mobile number and rang us back when they had a free table and we had a great meal and some very nice Conwy Brewery Bitter. After that, a walk down to the river side and along the embankment with great views across The River Conwy, complete with the sculpture of some very large muscles. Afterwards, we finished off with a couple of beers in the riverside Liverpool Arms. What a long day, nothing but eating and drinking...

  Saturday dawned and it was overcast skies with a promise of sunshine, so after an absolutley superb breakfast it was back on the bike and away to Anglesey, via a garage of course. There always has to be a garage, these bikes just don't hold enough petrol. Beaumaris was cold and windy, although still as pretty as I remembered it. After a walk round, we headed off to Red Wharfe Bay, which was more hassle than it needed to be due to poor map reading and some closed roads due to floods. A guy cam out of his house and gave us some directions and we finally made it, just in time for lunch at the Ship Inn. After a wander around the beaches, we took off again towards South Stack Lighthouse, stopping only for the public loo and a handily placed ice cream stall on the Holyhead sea front. The weather at South Stack was horrible, cold and misty with a really strong salt spray laden wind which made it difficult to stand up, and made everything taset of salt. We didn't bother with the walk down to the lighthouse, too many steps in motorbike boots, but the views were great in spite of the weather.

  Leaving South Stack, it was a trip back across Anglesey with a stop for tea and cake at the Holland Arms garden centre at Gaerwen. It was about here that we remembered what a dull place Anglesey can be on a miserable day. Lots of nice places but with lots of boring riding between them, probably it's a lot nicer on a good day. After crossing the Menai Bridge back to the mainland, we had a quuick blast along the A5 to Betws-y-Coed and back up the A470 to Conwy in warm sunshine, enjoying great views as we rode along.

  Evening meal was Fish and Chips at the Galleon in Conwy, which was OK just as long as you didn't look too closely into the corners, which were a bit grubby. Afterwards, we walked around the riverside to the Marina, which is pretty smart and quite new. Another of Alyson's recomendations was The Mulberry, a bar overlooking the marina and named after the WW2 Mulberry Harbour, which was developed in this area. A full and lively bar, serving a very nice pint of Robinsons Unicorn Bitter. On the way back, we stopped off in the town for some nice Brains SA bitter at the less pleasant Blue Bell, before grabbing a bottle of chilled wine from the Spar supermarket and heading back to Bryn for the night.

  Sunday started grey and cool and with another superb breakfast, where we talked to some American guests who'd been to Anglesey the day before and also found it a bit dull, they'd also got wet which we'd managed to avoid for once. After a couple of days out on the Ducati, we planned to walk across the bridge out of Conwy and along the far side of the river. We got as far as Deganwy, a couple of miles, before the rain started and became so heavy that we were dripping wet. Put a hand into a pocket and finding the mobile phone was full of water was the last straw. Sheltering in a public loo, we decided it couldn't get much worse so we carried on and eventually, the rain slowed and we found a cafe looking out to sea where we had tea and cakes and started to feel vaguely human again. In the next 1/2 hour, the sun cam out and it got so hot we got sunburnt! The cafe was on the quiet west side of Llandudno, so we walked across the town to the more populated East side, where all of the touristy bits are. With superb sunny views up to Great Orme, we walked along the sea front and the pier, stopping for ice cream of course. The walk back along the riverside path to Conwy was much warmer and more pleasant that the outward trip and the views were great.

  We finished the afternoon by stopping off at the very useful Spar supermarket again, for some tins of beer and a packet of pringles, and sat out in the sunny garden of Bryn Guesthouse enjoying the warmth. Dinner was at Alredo's Italian restaurant, as pricey as the Castle but not as good, still we enjoyed ourselves. Finishing the evneing with a couple of pints of Brains SA and some wine, we watched the sunlight on the river outside the Liverpool Arms, before heading back to Bryn for a last restful night before going home.

  Monday saw us with yet another great breakfast, and probably larger waistlines than we started with judging by the tightness of Dave's motorcycle leathers. North Wales seems to be one long line of caravan parks stretching from the far side of Llandudno most of the way to Queensferry, very dull and unexciting to us. We decided to head back across the Peak District and ended up stopping for a fish and chip lunch in a cafe in Buxton market place. After that, a quick blast back home and we stayed dry all the way, which is unusually lucky for us, the Ducati seems to attract bad weather although it coped with it very well, never causing any problems at all.

  There are lots of other Bed and Breakfast places along with guest houses, hotels, pubs, restaurants and cafes in Conwy. It's a great location for exploring North Wales, and the welcome at the Bryn should be every bit as good as it was for us, we'll certainly be back when we get chance to fit it into our holiday plans.

Website for some of the places we visited, along with our opinions:

(Links open in a new window)

Hawes tour 2007

Pictures and text are copyright © Dave & Karen Petty- All Rights Reserved, please don't copy anything without our permission. Thanks, D & K.