Foray to Fishguard


The brilliant blue skies of Spain and Portugal were now behind us, and it was time for on our annual pilgrimage to Fishguard. This tour to Wales is organised by our local BMW dealer Williams Motorcycles Manchester (see https://www.williamsgroup.co.uk/motorrad/news/peak-ride-outs-williams-ride-outs-2018/). The Williams organized ride-outs have been instrumental in our discovering the joys of motorcycle touring, a story which began with a chance meeting outside a Costa Coffee shop, but I will tell you more about that another day.  

So on a Saturday morning we assembled on a not so sunny day (yes, the spectacular British heat wave has run out of steam just as most families want to enjoy their summer holidays), and set off for our first tea break at Sleap airfield (www.facebook.com/pages/Sleap-Airfield/103497646370355). Sleap is a highly recommended destination for a ride-out for anyone living in Lancashire, Cheshire and Shropshire. On the way there or back you can stop off for a wander round the lovely small town of Wem, and when you get to Sleap, you can enjoy a nice cuppa, all day breakfast, homemade cakes, and watch light aircraft take off and land. There is also a small museum with lots of interesting memorabilia from when Sleap was a training centre in WWII.





From there we headed towards Newtown, and then along the beautiful A483 to Tregaron via Llandrindod Wells and the aptly named Devils Staircase. 




Due to some necessary motorcycle maintenance we unfortunately arrived too late in Lampeter to enjoy some delicious ice creams at Conti’s. The annual Fishguard trip is notorious for testing the efficiency of our waterproofs, but this time we arrived at our destination for the night just before 7pm having got only marginally wet. The Fishguard Bay is a charming - and like many places in Wales - slightly old-fashioned hotel with wonderful service, and a great stopover on the way to and from Ireland, with the ferry port literally just round the corner from the hotel.




The next day we headed south to St Davids, and the sun came out just in time for our photo shoot at the cathedral. 



From there we continued south to Broad Haven before heading back north to Aberaeron, a particularly picturesque fishing village.






The promise of narrow twisty roads discouraged a few of the less hardy souls, so only 11 bikes continued along the B4342 to Tregaron, and from there along the B4343 to Devils Bridge with impressive views of the dam and reservoir.

A few hours of fast riding brought us to a late lunch at the welcoming Dyffryn Café on the A458, where we refuelled your bodies for the final hours of our trip. We arrived back home after a roundtrip of 509 glorious miles, and while Husband hosed down the bike, I enjoyed a nice long shower.

Sorry but not many photos from day 2 of the trip because selfiestick broke – very sorry to Mrs Peckham who had provided it for our big tour of Italy 2 years ago. When I can show you its replacement I will explain why a selfiestick is crucial for taking photos on the back of a motorbike. 

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