DAY 8 - Bishops Castle to Holt (Farndon)

Just a warning for anyone on the O2 network, there is no reception in Bishops Castle nor anywhere until about halfway to Chester!

We rejoin our route after the 2 mile diversion overnight, caused by the Bridges YHA being full the night before.  Just as well as we would never have found the array of ales described in detail by Simon last evening and we went through Bridges, without noticing it anyway, in just another 6 miles.  We come across a very fit older couple, also doing LEJOG. They had absolutely no luggage with them but we soon learned that she would do a few sections and then return to a relief car to bring up the provisions in the rear. Very sensible.

We stop in Pontesbury for a coffee in a shop selling pet food, hardware and home made clothing run by a very cheery, enterprising lady. These rural towns seem to foster very creative and practical local businesses.  Although the terrain continues thankfully flat, a strong headwind hampers our progress.  By Baschurch we are flagging and should have stopped for lunch but continue on to Ellesmere and find the Black Lion pub.  Simon believes he has bonked. At least twice. We have done 40 miles with barely a stop. Two baguette sandwiches and a pint of lime and soda later we recover in front of the TV to see the first 30 minutes of the FA Cup – Stoke vs Manchester City who we later learned won 1:0



We head on to Bangor on the river Dee. The wind is now full frontal. Light rain has started., but is  lateral. Simon irresistibly spots the Bangor Racecourse on our left and talks our way into the ground in time for the 4^th.  I place a fiver each way on “Fair Gale” and “Lean Burn”on the strength of the weather and the state of our legs. No luck. However, we have time to  soak up the atmosphere of this beautiful country course and head north.  It is now approaching 6pm and we decide that another 10 miles to Chester is a bridge to far.

We find a country pub with rooms – The Greyhound – in Farndon just over the bridge from Holt.  We are met by hosts Peter & Sylvia who offer us a twin room for £50 including breakfast. We are the sole guests. The promise of wifi and a lockable shed for our bikes do not materialise, neither does the bedroom window open. It has been painted shut. White. Our door has a key but the lock is also sealed by a coat of white paint. However, Simon is happy. There is a full size bath down the hall. 

 
Just up the road we find a more salubrious 4 Star AA Hotel – The Feathers – where we have an excellent meal.  With wifi included we are able to find a hotel on line for the next evening near Leigh as Simon’s wife, Bridget, would be joining us. We had better get it right. Hard to find something suitable when we do not know where we are likely to end up.

I go to sleep and have a bad dream. The toilet seat in the loo down the hall  has also been sealed shut with a massive coat of white enamel, and I have to pee in the sink!

Simon Sez,

Raining but not hard. On we go. Past the Long Mynd. Very beautiful. Cycling is not great for bird watching – you turn your head as they fly by and try not to crash as your bike goes AWOL.  Not great for butterfly watching either, particularly as butterflies tend to fly in 6 different directions at once.

Reasonably flat. 5 miles out of Bangor-on-Dee I mention to John there’s a small, country racecourse there. Five miles later we are flying along down to Bangor and – Strike me Pink – there is the racecourse and there is a race meeting in full swing! So we stop. After talking to a Steward we are let in free and we watch the 3:40pm, a 2.1 mile handicap hurdle. Very exciting finish. Lots of lovely legs on display, only some of them equine.

I could murder a cigar