Saturday 21 July - travelling
Late Friday night, we discovered that the motorways on our main route - the M5 and M50 - were both closed due to the flooding. Early the next morning (and I mean early, as in about 5.30 am) the news headlines said tens of thousands of people were stranded there overnight. So we sorted out a new route avoiding the motorways and just hoped we'd manage to negotiate the floods. All was fine until we got to Banbury... where it took us over an hour to crawl 2.5 miles round the ring road. (We did see Banbury Cross, but no white horses.) Stopped briefly at Stow, then on to Marstow. The A40 was littered with abandoned cars; although the road was flooded it was passable. I really feel for the people who've been flooded out.
Late Friday night, we discovered that the motorways on our main route - the M5 and M50 - were both closed due to the flooding. Early the next morning (and I mean early, as in about 5.30 am) the news headlines said tens of thousands of people were stranded there overnight. So we sorted out a new route avoiding the motorways and just hoped we'd manage to negotiate the floods. All was fine until we got to Banbury... where it took us over an hour to crawl 2.5 miles round the ring road. (We did see Banbury Cross, but no white horses.) Stopped briefly at Stow, then on to Marstow. The A40 was littered with abandoned cars; although the road was flooded it was passable. I really feel for the people who've been flooded out.
Finally we arrived at the cottage. It's about 250 years old, and has the most incredible view of Symonds Yat from the conservatory - a real romance writer's haven. Went for a walk after dinner; the narrow lane to the cottage was flooded, and the local tributary of the Wye had burst its banks - wiping out the campsite at the bottom of the lane. The lane opposite was also flooded, and DH wondered how deep it was… but stopped just before it overflowed his wellies.
Sunday 22 July - Cardiff
Reasonably bright start to the day. Just in case the weather turned nasty, we decided to do the bit we knew son was looking forward to most – i.e. Cardiff. Spent a while in the science museum
(here’s Madam playing the foot piano – I had fun on it, too – and the drums were fab), then went for a wander in the Bay area.
Reasonably bright start to the day. Just in case the weather turned nasty, we decided to do the bit we knew son was looking forward to most – i.e. Cardiff. Spent a while in the science museum
(here’s Madam playing the foot piano – I had fun on it, too – and the drums were fab), then went for a wander in the Bay area. Son spent the entire time telling us exactly what we were seeing and which episode of Dr Who it 
featured in (down to the episode name and number – and I bet if pressed he could give the time as well). He was delighted with the Dr Who exhibition; he wore his pinstriped trousers and stripy shirt in honour of Dr Who, bless.
featured in (down to the episode name and number – and I bet if pressed he could give the time as well). He was delighted with the Dr Who exhibition; he wore his pinstriped trousers and stripy shirt in honour of Dr Who, bless. 
Then we took the water bus into the city (part of it was at speed, which we all enjoyed) and wandered round Cardiff Castle. Lots of narrow spiral stairs (but they weren’t open tread so I could cope – it’s open stairs that freak me).
3 comments:
I'd been wondering how you were doing with the weather, Kate. I think in your shoes I might just have cancelled the whole thing, but then I'm a wimp when it comes to travelling at the best of times.
Glad the s&h enjoyed Cardiff and Dr Who. And the cottage looks gorgeous. The views at SY are unbelievable! Good to have you back. Can't wait for more "diary"!
I'd been wondering if you'd managed to get there safely when I heard about the motorways.
I'm a wimp about d*nt*sts but I'm reasonably brave about exploring - and we wanted our castle fix! Really glad we went.
More diary to come... :o)
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