Best touristy things in southern Wales

[Rod]

You have to remember most of our villages and towns were laid out in pre Roman, Roman, Saxon etc times and didn't always follow a grid system.
They were designed for horse and carts and most rural roads are basically surfaced farm tracks. Over time these gradually widened with subsequent surface applications and over- running, eroding the verges and bringing the carriageway closer to hedges, walls etc.
Most of the trunk roads started life in this way, becoming coach roads, then widened and improved over the years.

Roundabouts are a great invention but taken too far sometimes with the introduction of mini ones.

I've enjoyed driving in the States, especially the rural areas but in towns it can be very frustrating especially with the frequency of traffic lights at every junction. I've also been caught up in very large traffic jams especially in LA. You do have lots of space though and parking is generally very easy.

I could say you can get your direction from where moss is growing on trees and the direction of bent trees [emoji3] but before Sat Navs - good maps and planning the route before you set off. The AA used to provide a very good detailed route planning service - even for routes on the Continent (Europe).

Rod

 

[RogerS]

..... The AA used to provide a very good detailed route planning service - even for routes on the Continent (Europe).

Rod

Oh my...that's taken me back in time. Those printed paper routes bound together, flipping each one over as the journey progressed. My old man with his cap driving and smoking Senior Service, mother in the rear back-seating driving with my sister and me with the map.

 

[AndyP]

One road sign made me laugh in the USA was this one

Not my photo.
A No Entry sign would be too difficult to understand I guess.

And what is it with putting traffic lights on the far side of the junction?
And how was I suppose to know you had to pull up that lever cradle thing on a petrol pump to get it to work?
Oh and junction numbers on the motorways. Took me 3 weeks to work out why there were so many "missing" exits.
Having driven half the length of Manhattan on a Friday afternoon I am sure Newport is a cakewalk.

next time Kirk try and make it to France. Roundabouts here are great fun:-
Firstly I do not think indicators are checked as part of the annual controle technique (roadworthiness test) They certainly do not work on most cars.
Secondly if they do work then they never indicate the direction of travel.

 

[kirkpoore1]

Andy, that Wrong Way sign has the implied "You idiot, you're about to get killed" portion on it that just doesn't come out with a "No Entry" sign.


Kirk

 

[timothyedoran]

Having driven around Nairobi for 3 months when I was 21 I have found all other places ok to drive around in.

Here is a photo showing a typical city centre road.

You forgot that mums will only drive their own kids to and from school. That means that Rupert and Tarquin don't get to see each other until they are in the school despite living next door.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[Malc2098]

Well, Kirk,

I am so pleased you have enjoyed and survived your sojourn in our little country and have started to understand that our two great nations are truly separated by a common language.

You see when one of your countrymen talks about a road, they mean as what here in the UK understand as a runway, where we would land aeroplanes on.

And our roads, which are proper roads by the way, not runways, our roads as others have said, have been evolved from Pre-Roman, Roman, Saxon and right up to Victorian times. Indeed, the Victorians had to create new road systems when they built the railways, because in places like here in the Southwest, the engineers built railways following the river valleys. But then, because the local road network only served the next market town or village some seven or so miles away, the distance a drover could walk a flock in a day, the Victorians then had to blast out more granite to build the roads for that drover to walk the flock or herd to a railway station, and for the farmers to take their produce to the station.

I am digressing somewhat, because your experiences have reminded me of meeting a couple of your countrymen back in the 80s. At that time I worked on what was called the Special Escort Group. We were tasked in providing Road Safety and Security for VIPs passing through our area. I was privileged to be part of the team providing the escort for President and Mrs Reagan while they were here for the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana.

On one particular day we were to meet our Principals at Northolt Airport and escort them to Chequers, the official country residence of the British Prime Minister. Now, those forum members living around London may well know that Northolt Airport is on what we call a large dual-carriageway west of London and otherwise known as the A40 or Western Avenue.

Now you can look at Google Earth or Maps and see that this road maybe our version of a ‘runway’. The role of the SEG was not just to pose in front, alongside and behind the convoy, but actively ensure the convoy passed safely, without incident and timely along its route to its destination. This means, that while one biker, let’s call him Blue Leader, sits in front of the convoy, he is in fact controlling the convoy’s pace and is in constant touch both with the convoy and the bikers, who’s job is it s to leap frog the convoy to get to the next junction to ensure that there is a sterile area in front of the convoy and that no vehicles enter that sterile area from any side road junctions.

A few miles west of Northolt, the route moves on to the A413, which for a short distance remains a dual-carriageway, but then becomes a single carriageway until the village of Great Missenden. Now, for the escorts, this does not present too much of a challenge leapfrogging the convoy, because even a road of this size, combined with the skills and experience of the escort bikers, enables leap-frogging of the convoy to take place relatively easily.

But….at Great Missenden, the route changes to one of those little country roads bordered by green tunnels. Now, on those roads, the escort bikers really earn the money, leapfrogging the convoy where the space between the convoy vehicles and the hedge is less than the width between the bikers’ mirrors!! And have you counted the junctions between Great Missenden and Chequers, when the escort group actually only comprised of Blue Leader and 4 escorts?!! (We Brits know how to put on a good show for visiting VIPS!)

I am proud to report we delivered our principals safe and sound on on time to the half minute to their destination. (We never got to meet them, by the way, unlike other VIPS who would come and express their thanks!) Anyway, having a cup of tea with the Police security at Chequers after it was over, we met up with the President’s Secret Service guys who turned up an a big black armoured 4x4 thingy, so wide it was scratched all down the side from the brambles in the hedges in those country roads you love, and that John Denver wrote and sung about, and we asked them how the drive was for them and would they fancy doing escorts full time over here. I can’t quite remember all their reply, and some of it may have had to have been translated for me, but basically, they said, “No, you’re all a bunch of nutters!”

 

[Pinch]

From the often 'one-liner' chap (or even one-word'er) to several very interesting paragraphs... oi, you're a nutter! :lol:

Excellent story Malc and hats off to you Sir! That must have been an amazing experience. Superb skills.

:text-bravo:

 

[RogerS]

From the often 'one-liner' chap (or even one-word'er) to several very interesting paragraphs... oi, you're a nutter! :lol:

Excellent story Malc and hats off to you Sir! That must have been an amazing experience. Superb skills.

:text-bravo:

:text-+1:

Just before I took my driving test I went out with a neighbour who was a Traffic Officer (apologies if that's the wrong term, Malc). I learnt more about driving in that hour with him than I had all the time spent with my old man.

We need more on the roads.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Fabulous review of our country Kirk, though I have to disagree on the Indian food comment! Not that I don't love Mexican, I do, but a good curry is a fabulous thing to devour.

Great story Malc.

Cheers
Mark

 

[woodstalker]

Kirk,

I have been off the forum for a few weeks because i am now overseas with work. I am really sorry i have only just seen this as i catch up with what's been happening. Too late now but I grew up 3 miles from Raglan Castle and my parents are still there. I am sorry to say they have a little holiday cottage they used to let out so i could have arranged for you guys to stay there (its is absolutely tiny mind but if you're just after a place to stay and some local knowledge!)

I now live 3 miles from Stonehenge (as the crow flies, when i am back in the UK).

If you come over again the castles of North Wales are really good Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech are good.

James

 

[kirkpoore1]

OK, guys, let's see if these pictures work:

First up, the amount of crap we dragged along:

That's my friend Joan in the back and my daughter Kate in the front. 10 bags between us. No wonder people thought we were moving.

Here's where we were camping--very idlic:

Now, why this site is special:

Main gate. We got to fight in the area in the castle where that road goes inside.

Bridge to the keep. We got to fight on this because it had wood railings and there was little chance of actually falling off.

The keep. That flagpole is where I took the two high pictures from. There were lots of very cool details in Raglan castle that hinted at what a magnificent place it was. Too bad it got slighted in the 1600's after it fell in a siege.

Kate at Stonehenge:

I was really struck by the size of this, even though you can't get right up to it. I also liked the fact that you have a mile-plus walk from the visitor center. Gives you a sense of scale.

And what's the deal with these tiny hay bales?

One of the great things about driving around the UK is being out in the sticks and turning a corner to find stuff like this:

Tintern Abbey. A very cool ruin that I didn't know was there until I just stumbled on it.

This is where I was going on that day:

Chepstow castle. Much bigger and older than Raglan, but with fewer ornate details. It did have this, though:

Castle gates from the first major expansion. Dated 1192 dendocronology, so a mere 825 years old. They replaced them in the 1990's, I think.

A great trip. I'll be back!

Kirk

 

[kirkpoore1]

Oh, if you guys can't see these pics please let me know. I can see them, but then it's my Photobucket account...

Kirk

 

[Malc2098]

Pictures OK here, Kirk, and I've been having particular trouble in viewing some members' images.

Looks like you had a brilliant time! Glad you did. You're welcome back anytime!

 

[Rod]

Nice photos - love the door.
Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell have a lot to answer destruction wise.
Tiny hay bales - moved by tractors and can be stacked and left in the fields rather than barns/hay lofts but you probably knew that [emoji3]

Rod

 

[Malc2098]

Tiny hay bales - moved by tractors and can be stacked and left in the fields rather than barns/hay lofts but you probably knew that [emoji3]

Rod

But unstoppable if they roll. They weigh up to half a tonne, and if not secured on a hillside are known to roll down, and if there is a road and perhaps vehicles in its way....well, fatalities have occurred.

Scroll down to the image of the van.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ber-ELO-killed-falling-half-ton-hay-bale.html

 

[kirkpoore1]

Oh, we have plenty of round hay bales here. I just meant that I'd never seen them so small.

Kirk

 

[AndyP]

Looks like you had a great time. I like that walk to stonehenge. For the most part you cant even see it, which makes the first site if it even more impressive.

 

[Malc2098]

Oh, we have plenty of round hay bales here. I just meant that I'd never seen them so small.

Kirk

Ha!! :lol:

 

[9fingers]

Those black bags are for silage, they are filled with grass cuttings which ferment in the bag aided by the absorption of heat by the black surface and used for cattle feed in later months.

I think the straw bales here are bigger and nearer to the size you show Kirk

Bob

 

[Pinch]

Great piccies Kirk. Amazing old buildings. As Rod writes, Henry VIII and Oli Cromwell destroyed many of them. :|