Sunday 19th October 2025
The day started with a hearty breakfast at the Sidcot Arms Hotel with Martin and Julie, they stayed there last night. With all that’s going on at home; no bathroom etc, all we could offer was dinner!!!
Today we are off to Snowdonia where we have rented “something” deep in the countryside, part of an old mill; hopefully we won’t be disappointed!!!
Friday afternoon I changed my car and today is the first time I’ve had to get acquainted with it, normally this would not take long but I’ve gone “green” well partially, I’ve gone for a hybrid and every single control is via a “screen”; my goodness how on earth am I going to manage to remember what to press or when to scroll etc., and that’s besides getting to grips with electric and when the engine kicks in. Yesterday I also had a shock when I tried my cruise control, the car drove itself, took over the steering, What???? I headed back to the dealership to see if I could stop this function, they laughed but switched it off; thank goodness, I like driving!!!! The other strange feeling was filling up with petrol, I have been driving diesel cars for the past 30-years.
I digress. After saying our “good-byes” we headed off and hit the M5 and the first thing once we got up to speed was switch on the cruise control only to find that whatever speed I set it on, it would always bring the speed down to the speed limit, unbelievable, and as it came up on a slower car it reduced automatically and though I knew it had this particular feature, this was the first time I’d experienced it. When I pulled out it went back up to 70MPH.
The weather today was miserable, one of those days, dull due to very low clouds and continuous drizzle, typical, after weeks of good weather we chose the first week of real autumn to have a break. We were looking forward to our drive up through the centre of Wales through stunning countryside but alas we saw nothing other than rain and and leaves on the road. The only good things today were that only essential journeys were being taken, the roads were reasonably empty and the change in the weather highlighted the autumn colours.
We weren’t looking forward to unpacking the car in this weather as no doubt at our “out-of-the-way hideout” we wouldn’t be able to get the car to the front door!! As we left the main road and headed down the side road, miraculously the rain stopped and there was a break in the cloud then as we left the side road and headed along a rather long farm track, the sun came out, wow someone was looking after us!!!!!
At the end of the track we came across this big old renovated watermill, our home for the next five nights, and as expected the car parking area was at the bottom of the hill. The instructions told us to walk back up the hill, in through a small gate then back down the steps, our “cottage” turns out to be an “apartment”; half of the ground floor but right opposite the garden, very handy for the dogs. Thank goodness the sun was out during this time.
Once installed we headed out to give the dogs the exercise they needed after four hours cooped up in the car, though they do have more room now than the last car.
Up the steps, then back down the hill to the other side of the mill, naturally besides running water where there is a wooden bridge leading through to some woods and into a field, perfect for the dogs and us. They did their “business” and a lot of “running about” chasing the ball before we headed back for something to eat and a quiet evening watching the US Grand Prix, followed by an early night. Naturally we were tired after the four-hour drive, but also due to last night; Martin and Julie joined use for dinner and the wine flowed; say no more!!!!!