Would you Adam and Eve it?

A funny thing happened on the way back from a business meeting at Pantasaph Farm B&B today.  We had lunch.  Nothing unusual in that, I know.  But this was at a Pet Cemetery.  In Brynford near Holywell here in Glorious North Wales.  And the reason I’m letting the world know about this is ….  it was fabulous.  Sweet potato and coconut milk soup served with a hot roll.  Super (souper?) tasty and good value.

The Pet Cemetery itself is really well kept and looks lovely even on a wet and cold day in January.  The cafe is very welcoming and there’s lots of choices on the menu for lunches.  Worth a visit if you’re in the area.

 

It’s been a while …..

Moel Famau from our B&B

Yes, I know.  As my Dad would have said had he known about blogging, as a Blogger you make a good knitter.  There are, as I see it, two problems with trying to keep a blog:  finding the time and finding something to blog about.  And remembering to do it.  Three things, then.

So I have determined to find the time, will try to remember and think, nay, I am sure, that I have something to write about.  At the very beginning of my blogging career, I spoke of my love of three things (that are not people).  Bikes, Wales and food.  Well, two of them have come together in the perfect blogging storm.  Food and Wales.  The Clwydian Range to be more precise, those lovely hills that run north to south (and, strangely, south to north) between the Dee valley and the Vale of Clwyd.  This is what happened….

Around about May last year, a select band of brothers (and a sister) met to discuss an idea.  An idea that was to change the face of Western Europe and eventually, the world.  But as that was the G7 in Brussels, I didn’t get invited.  Instead, I turned up at the inaugural meeting of the Vale of Clwyd Food Trail Group, held in Cadwyn Clwyd’s offices in Ruthin.

The initial idea was to create a ‘food trail’ based in the Vale of Clwyd to showcase the wide range of high quality food being produced in the Vale.  We hoped it would encourage local people and tourists to visit these producers, spend their money and tell their friends what a great place Wales is.  Since the first meeting, we have met many times, I have been voted in as Chairman (the power, the power!), we have a written constitution, funding from several places and have appointed a branding consultant to consult about our branding.  We have also changed the name to The Clwydian Range Food Trail.

We’re working towards launching the trail before Easter this year.  So what will you see if you turn up in the Vale and go on the trail?  Well, details are yet to be worked out.  Some aspects are still very secret.  If Huw at Rhesgoed Farm Shop on the A494 near Llanbedr Dyffryn Clwyd knew that I had leaked his name, he’d be furious.  The same goes for Mark at The Denbigh Chocolate Shop . Which sells chocolate.  Or Jane at Caffi Florence in Loggerheads and Andreas from Leonardo‘s Deli in Ruthin.  Who happen to be on the committee.

There are still things to finalise.  We’re planning on a launch to rival the 2012 Olympics with at least one fairly famous celebrity, a bottle of sherry and a packet of sparklers.  As Chairman I’ve already been booked to appear on Radio 4′s Today Programme, News at Ten and Crimewatch.  Watch this space.

Other news related to bikes, food and Wales:

Motorcycling news – went to the NEC bike show last November by bike.  Not that cold and if the truth be told, not that interesting.  Only one bike stopped me dead in my tracks, the new Rickman.  I must be getting old.

Food in Ruthin – like many small towns, Ruthin is suffering from the Downturn in the Economy.  A couple of good restaurants have closed down but good news!  We will soon have a branch of Weatherspoons in the town.  Harrumble and hoorah.  Just what we need.  Cheap lager.  And an all day brunch.  Can’t wait.  Or maybe I can.

Wales – it’s been fairly warm with no snow.  Not a lot else to say.

If you need to know more (about anything except football) then get in touch.

I’ll be back.

Weather, walls, windows and wood filler

If you buy an old house, such as the one here at Plas Efenechtyd Cottage, you buy into more than just a house.  You buy into a lifestyle.  Our house is the southern ‘wing’ of a larger Welsh Hall or Plas, built in about 1820 of stone and brick and oak.  The roads around the house haven’t changed much since it was first built.  In fact, we have a copy of an 1899 Ordinance Survey map showing that they hasn’t changed at all.  However in all that time, water and weather and wind have taken their toll and done their damage.  So this summer has been spent up a ladder painting windows and walls and replacing rotten bits with new bits and generally cursing.

And all this means that time spent out on the bike has been severely limited.  No big rides since the Big One (the National Rally) and very few little ones.  The Triumph has had a couple of short trips but the Sunbeam has stayed put, quietly sulking.  I have had some success with the Midget, though.  You may remember that I bought a lovely looking  MG Midget off eBay (by mistake).  That was about a year ago and I’ve only just got it running properly having replaced the whole ignition system, overhauled the carbs and sorted out the brakes.  From a top speed of 38 mph when I bought it, it will now hit over 70 mph on the flat!  Allegedly.  Officer.

So there are no new roads to write about and no new cakes emporia to describe.  But we did have a few days in August when we had no guests at our B&B and so went a-touring.  Chirk Castle was first, a really interesting place with amazing gardens and a truly depressing dungeon.  Then on to Pistyll Llanrhaeadr, the highest waterfall in Wales.  Pretty, easy to find and worth a visit.  A bit smaller than Victoria Falls but easier to get to.  But next day we went on to Ty Mawr, near Betws y Coed.  Google it and when you’re read about Bishop Morgan and the Welsh Bible, go and have a look.  But stop off and see us on the way and stay at our B&B.  Find us at www.plas-efenechtyd-cottage.co.uk

Chirk Castle

Pistyll Rhaeadr - the highest waterfall in Wales

I Ain’t Seen Ruthin Yet

Just found this rather brilliant spoof video by one of the greatest unsung Welsh comedians – David Garland Jones.  Have a look and then come and have a look if you ain’t seen Ruthin yet.

Jam and “Do you sell ‘em?”

Do you see what I did there?  In the title?  Sounds like “Jam and Jerusalem”.  A bit.

But in the real world …….

We do sell jam!  We grow lots of fruit and make jam from some of it.  Why might this be of interest to you?  Because we hope to be at the “Real Bread” festival at Ruthin Gaol on 31st July.  Selling our jam.  Every month in the summer there’s a local produce market held in the courtyard of Ruthin Gaol, itself a fascinating glimpse of how cruel we used to be to each other (in the name of justice).  This year we’ve had a good crop of gooseberries, raspberries and blackcurrants and are looking forward to lots of damsons and some plums.

We make the best jam in North Wales, possibly the world, and sell it for the ridiculously low sum of £2.25 a jar.  I know, a bargain way beyond belief.  If you’re in the area go and have a look at the Gaol or better still, stay with us at Plas Efenechtyd Cottage and try our jams for free.  Well, after you’ve paid for at least one night’s B&B, obviously.

Last time I promised to tell you about BRO Ruthin and Ebb and Flo and to keep an eye on Nick and Dave.

First off – the BRO Ruthin Loyalty Card.  “Support Ruthin and let it support you with the Bro Rhuthun loyalty card.  Enjoy special offers and promotions from a range of independent shops,
restaurants and businesses.”  That’s the official line from the website   http://ruthindirectory.moonfruit.com/  It’s a brilliant idea to help small, independent local businesses survive the current troubled times.  Go and have a look at the website, get the card and spend lots of money in Ruthin.  We haven’t decided yet what our own special offer ought to be.  Suggestions welcome.  I’ve already come up with “Stay 2 nights and get a free hour’s lecture on the history of the British Motorcycle”  and “Two hours gardening will get you an extra big sausage”.

Ebb and Flo.  Obviously they are our new hens, light Sussex hybrids.  We bought them as young ‘uns from a smallholder near Cerrigydrudion.  They’re proper hens, they are not like the poor worn out brown ones who are ex-batts.  Ebb and Flo lay lovely eggs, regular as clockwork (that’s once a day).   Even though they are now bigger than the rest, they are still at the bottom of the pecking order.  The others are Big Hen, Dora and Nondescript Hen.  Only Nondescript Hen doesn’t lay eggs regularly.  Maybe it’s because of low self esteem brought on by being called Nondescript Hen.  Such fragile egos (or should that be eggos?).

Nick and Dave:  still together but their friends are getting fractious.  Vince is turning intellectual somersaults to try to prove that he’s right now, whereas before he didn’t know as much so he was wrong then but now he knows more, he must be right now.  Dave meanwhile, is trying to look grown up when playing with the bigger boys.  Even Ken and Michael are falling out about how many of us should be in prison.  Which is where we came in.  Jam and Gaols.  It’s a good mix.

See you at the Gaol on the 31st of July.

Detours, dykes and rabbits – the National 2010

Back from the National Rally.  A ‘motorcycle navigational scatter rally’ for masochists.  I explained a little about it in my last blog. The idea is to cover exactly 500 miles around England overnight.  My Rally went a little differently.  Good bits were riding along the fen roads near Wisbech with the canals higher than the roads.  Calling in at my daughter’s home for a family barbecue.  And riding over the Horseshoe Pass at daybreak dodging rabbits who dive across the road on suicide missions.

Somewhere around 2pm I’m nearing Milton Keynes, 285 miles into the rally. There’s some roadworks and a detour at the entrance to the M1.  So I take the detour only to find it’s not any old detour but a 10 mile detour south down the M1 through contraflow at 50 mph then turn round and come back the same way for another 10 miles.  This takes about half an hour and somehow, takes the edge off the whole thing.  I’m 150 miles from home and getting cold.  To finish the rally would mean another 200 miles to the final control then 100 miles or more home.  England seems to consist of dual carriageways, 50mph limits, speed cameras and traffic.

I call into the services, Newport Pagnall, I think.  It’s awful.  Loud music everywhere, including in the dirty, broken toilets.  Coffee is luke warm and weak.  I’m going home.  And I won’t be doing it next year!  I promise.  Got home at 4.30 am, just as the sun was coming up.  North Wales never looked more beautiful.

So what about Dave and Nick?  It’s beginning to unravel.  Mark my words.  The Right hate the Lib Dems and the Lib Dems will only be able to bear being in the same room as the Tories for so long.  I’ll give them six months.  Tops.

All of which means this is a great time to have a break, soak up some Welsh sunshine (not an oxymoron) and chill out.  We have some vacancies in July and August.  Have a look at our website on www.plas-efenechtyd-cottage.co.uk and decide for yourself.

Next time:  what is the ‘Bro Rhuthun card’?  Who are Ebb and Flo?  What happened to the ‘cakes, bikes and North Wales’ guide?

Tiger at the Horseshoe Pass - beware rampant rabbits

3 Daves and a Midget

The New Toy

Right then.  I’ve been away but I’m back now.  Many, many things of which to speak.  Since I last wrote we’ve had a vicious and beautiful winter, Dave and Nick have got married and I’ve bought a new toy.

Winter was quite something.  Minus 12 degrees, snow that wouldn’t go away.  We were trapped in the house for a week.  It was hell.  Actually, it wasn’t that bad, a bit dull but there’s always re-runs of Top Gear and QI on Dave (my own personal TV channel) and the internet.

The damned internet.  It makes you do things that later you come to regret.  Like bidding on eBay for a car you don’t need, don’t want and can’t afford.  How is this possible?  Well, idly leafing through eBay’s classic car pages you come across a Midget 1500, for sale reasonably locally with no bids against it.  It looks gorgeous so, thinking you might get it for silly money you put in a bid and 5 seconds later it’s yours.  Not such silly money, then, if no one else wanted to outbid you.  On the way back from the vendor’s house you realise that the speedo is not working properly.  Surely it should do more than 48 mph flat out?  Two hours to cover 25 miles seems a bit slow.

So let’s have a look at the mechanicals.  The bodywork is just about flawless but why are the plugs ancient and of different types to each other?  Why are the air filters about 20 years old?  Why are the carbs loose and the plug leads broken and frayed?  Another £200 worth of ignition and carb parts, umpteen hours under the bonnet and hey presto!  It goes almost as well as it looks.

But only almost.  The brakes are now binding.  They get hot in a few miles and tend to spoil the fun.  Bugger.

This weekend is the National Rally.  It happens every year.  A whole load of masochists set off on motorcycles of all ages, sizes and types and try to ride all night.  Why?  To win a small, cheap, plastic medal of course!  Why else?  If you manage 500 miles between 2pm on Saturday and 10 am on Sunday you get a Gold medal.  You have to visit manned checkpoints dotted around the country to prove you’ve done it but that’s all there is to it really.  So why do it?  Each entrant has his or her own reasons of course.  For me it’s about undertaking something difficult, a challenge  and a chance to get away from worldly worries for 24 hours.  I always do the National alone because a) I have no mates and b) I’m in charge.  I decide the speed, the rest points, the route and whether or not we finish.  Last year after about 250 miles I got bored and went home early.  Got to bed about 3 am. No medal but it was fun nonetheless.

So by lunchtime on Sunday I’ll have covered nearly 700 miles, (including getting to the start and back from the finish).  I’ll have seen England by night and by early morning.  I’ll have spent 24 hours inside my own head with nothing to think about except the road ahead.  Bliss

See you soon when we’ll think about the state of the economy, see if Dave and Nick’s honeymoon is over and suggest why you should stay with us here in Plas Efenechtyd Cottage.

Eating out in Ruthin

In between all the riding or driving round North Wales, testing and tasting cakes and soups and hot chocolate, you’ll need somewhere to stay (that’ll be with us, then) and somewhere to eat at night.

For such a small town Ruthin has so many fine restaurants and pubs serving great food. Here’s our top 5 places for great grub, in and around Ruthin in no particular order.

1.  A favourite of ours is the Manorhaus, in Well Street in the heart of Ruthin.  Not cheap but good value.  The only restaurant in the whole county (that I know of) to be recommended by Alistair Sawday.  There are only 2 places in Denbighshire recommended by Alistair Sawday:  the Manorhaus and us, Plas Efenechtyd Cottage B&B!  High praise indeed.

2.  Restaurant On the Hill at the top of Upper Clwyd Street just off the Square. Expensive by local standards but highly commended by regular diners.

3.  Wynnstay Arms in Well Street.  Very good value, good food, often open when others are not.

4.  The olde Cross Keys in Llanfwrog on the B5105 road from Ruthin to our B&B.  We use it as our local.  The owners, Terry and Jess, are very welcoming and serve really good food at great prices.  They’ll also go out of their way to produce food for vegans or people with food allergies etc.  If you want to experience a real Welsh pub, hear Welsh spoken and enjoy good company, this is the place.

5.  The Leyland Arms in Llanelidan.  A few miles out of Ruthin, off the road to Corwen down a narrow lane.  The pub is part of the Naylor-Leyland estate.  Fabulous setting, lovely pub with great food and good beer.  Very welcoming, too.

Leyland Arms, Llanelidan

If you’ve read any of my blog so far you’ll know that food, motorcycles and Wales are amongst my obsessions.  In future blogs I hope to persuade you that you can combine all 3 by booking a break here in Efenechtyd.

More soon.

Back to Ruthin – but not directly

So you’ve followed the route so far and you’re somewhere near Ffestiniog.  You could go north up the A470 to Betws y Coed and mingle with the coach loads of tourists or you could head further west towards another tourist hotspot, Porthmadog.  Don’t hang around Porthmadog,

instead head north to Beddgelert.  There’s another lovely little tea shop there, near the bridge but I can’t remember its name.  Beddgelert is small and very pretty with a great mythology surrounding it.  Go and have a look for yourself.

From Beddgelert head north east along the A498 to the junction of the A4086.  This is the beginning of the Llanberis Pass.

Now, this used to be a highlight of any trip to North Wales but it’s become a little bit too famous.  I rode this road many years ago in midsummer on a Norton 650SS and overtook 13 caravans on the way up.  These days it would be just about impossible as there are so many vehicles coming the other way.  Go there in spring or late autumn and you might get a good run at it.  Go there in winter and you may freeze to death!

You could carry on past the left turn to Llanberis Pass and go as far as Capel Curig (cafe selling good bacon butties) and turn onto the A5 going north.  This takes you to Llyn Ogwen and the Nant Ffrancon Pass.  You’ll go past Tryfan and the lake and probably want to stop, turn round, and do it again. It has been frequently used as a filming location for British film-makers, including doubling for the Khyber Pass in the Carry On film Carry On up the Khyber, and doubling for the Himalayas in the Doctor Who serial The Abominable Snowmen. (A little bit of colour there courtesy of Wikipedia)

Time to head back east on the A5 all the way to Cerrigydrudion and left onto the B5105.  This will take you back to Ruthin and Efenechtyd where you started from.  If you’ve decided to stay at our B&B you’ll be ready for a cuppa and a chat.  Next morning you’ll probably want to have a go at the next route which takes in the highest road in Wales.

Wet and wild – I need my wooly

A wet weekend in wonderful Wales. Damp, dark, dismal and decidedly drab. Time to think of warmer days and fewer alliterations. Time to discuss one of the 3 major themes of my life (after wife, daughters and family, of course). It is time, the Walrus said, to speak of many things, of soups and cakes, of hills and lakes and noisy oily things. The 3 themes? Food, Wales and motorcycles. It is time to talk bikes. Not pedaly types but ones with engines.
One of the great joys of living in North Wales is that we are surrounded by some of the best roads on earth. Not necessarily the best surfaces but if you know where to look there are some real gems. Take the B5105, for example. I live about a quarter of a mile from it, it’s the road from Ruthin to Cerrigydrudion, is about 15 miles long and has it’s own website, run by the Welsh Space Agency. I kid you not. Go to Youtube and type in B5105 and have a look at some of the videos made to celebrate this road. When I learn how to do it I may post one or two of them on the blog.
A really great trip would be to start from Annie’s coffee shop on Upper Clwyd Street in Ruthin. Annie makes the best cakes in the Vale of Clwyd and the hot chocolate is pretty good, too. From Ruthin travel West on the B5105 through Clocaenog Forest to Cerrigydrudion. Then turn right onto the A5 and take your time. Although this is a fast and open road and sometimes not covered with crawling caravans it is wise to go carefully and watch out for camera vans. The Police are fond of catching speeding bikers here, and to be frank, most of them deserve to be caught if they’re much over the limit.
The issue of speeding and motorcycling in general in North Wales is a hot topic and you may have seen Motorcycle News’  campaign “Reclaim North Wales” in the press and on TV. Thousands of bikers descended on North Wales, gathered at the Horseshoe Pass and a few other biker haunts and ‘showed the Police what we’re made of”. Naturally I went along to have a look and noticed several things. Firstly, Harley riders never travel alone, they are always in groups of 20 to 30 and they ride slowly. Very slowly. Part of the ‘Harley thang’ I’m told. Secondly, most bikers stick to the main roads. Go ‘off piste’ and the roads are empty. Thirdly, the average rider is terrified of sheep. And quite rightly.
Digression over. Travel west along the A5 and soon after Pentrefoelas, turn left onto the B4407 signposted Ysbyty Ifan. The first few miles are nothing special, narrow lanes between hedges with very little traffic but no views to speak of. Then the road opens out onto the moors and becomes a sinuous ribbon of biking heaven. Not fast, definitely not kneedown country but beautifully smooth and with no traffic. The scenery is stunning, the road rolls across the moors for mile after deserted mile and you find yourself riding slowly, taking in the sheer emptiness of the place.

At the end of this road lies Pont yr Afon Gam with another greta place to stop for cakes and coffee.  Doesn’t look much from the road but inside is clean and warm and the cakes are to die for. Only open at weekends in the summer., though.

Turn right onto the B4391 and head towards Ffestiniog.  Stop at the small car park about half a mile from the cafe and marvel at the views.  Or try to shelter from the rain.  I did this road earlier this year whilst on the Welsh Rally.  I chose this route just so I could ride this road again.  It poured down.  Not all day but for a goodly part of it.  I was riding along the B4407 and feeling a little miserable.   I don’t like riding in the rain, it takes away a lot of the pleasure and adds to the danger for no positive reason.   You can’t go fast, you can’t really relax and you sure as hell can’t see the views.  So there I was thinking “Why am I doing this.  I could just turn round and go home and be warm and save some money into the bargain.”  Then I overtook a cyclist.  Head down into a gale, soaked and straining at the pedals.  Suddenly, life seemed so much better.

Back to the route.  From Ffestiniog there are so many routes to choose I think I’ll leave it for another day.