Thursday we went to the RHC Flower show.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Flower_Show
It takes place at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. We had walked on the property about six months ago, it was just a large grass field.
This is a yearly event that they've been doing since 1912. If you have a flower question or want something for your yard, this is the place.
We did get a few ideas for when we get back home. Fountains and lawn art were on our list of things to see.
This was not on our list, it was interesting what they did with all the horseshoes.
We did like this sculpture, but we were both sure it was out of our price range.
And if price was not a problem there were a lot of ideas for your yard.
If you like flowers and fountains,
or if you like grass teddy bears. There was something for everyone.
They had a large building that was full of every flower you could think of.
Some that we recognized,
And some we did not.
It was a nice venue, but a bit crowded at times.
Friday night we went to dinner at the Belvedere restaurant in Holland park. It was one of those restaurants that we always talked of going to. We decided we should have gone sooner, great food at a good price. As we were leaving a couple of peacocks walked by Leanne.
Almost close enough to touch, a great way to finish off the evening.
Saturday we were off to Chirk in Wales. We stayed at The Hand hotel that was over 400 years old.
The place was dated and some of the rooms were hard to get into.
After checking in and dropping off our luggage we did a 7 mile hike. This would take us by Chirk Castle.
https://www.chirk.com/castle.html
The castle was built in 1295, but the gate was not built till 1719. My guess is they had more salesman coming to the door in the early 1700.
There is a hand on the family coat of arms, it can be seen on the gate and
also at the castle.
This is one of the story's about it:
The Red Hand of Chirk commemorates a rather gruesome race. The Lord of Chirk died without naming his successor. His two sons agreed to a swimming race across the lake. The winner would inherit all. Alas for the stronger swimmer - his brother's enthusiastic supporters cut off his hand just before he could touch the shore, so his brother won the race and gained the Estate.
So now you know why the hotel is called the Hand.
The signs in Wales are written in English and Welsh. In norther Wales, Welsh is the first language and English is there second.
This is a view of the castle
There was also a moat around the castle, this was probably a dry moat used for a primary line of defensive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moat
Most of today's walk was thru fields with lots of sheep. This is lambing season so there were also a lot of little one. Coach was in his glory and wanted to play with all of them. He pulled hard on the leash all day.
We also did some road walking, this was Coach checking out a local cat. Yes he wanted to chase that too.
Coming into a small town, could not see the fields because of the hedge rows.
This was an old school house that was converted into a home.
Coach and I checking out his house.
He never told us he had a home in Wales.
We next walked along the Llangollen canal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llangollen_Canal
Llangollen is pronounced Klan-goc-lan.
Yes I know there is no K in it, I had the person say it four times before I even come close to saying it correctly.
This section had the Chirk Aqueduct, opened in 1801.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirk_Aqueduct
The train viaduct was built years later. The view in the background is where we had walked.
Built over 200 years ago and its still in use today for leisure crafts.
At the end of the aqueduct was Chirk Tunnel,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirk_Tunnel
This was also built the same time as the aqueduct,
The path on the right was for horses to pull the boats thru. Now it's just a walking path. We did not walk thru the tunnel as our hotel was in a different direction.
A good first days walk in Wales.
The next day we took a bus to the town of Llangollen. From there we did a day hike in the country.
We started in town and the walked the canal tow path for about a mile.
From there we would head out into the countryside passing a few stone walls.
More hedge rows but only on one side. Coach would have views of cows and lambs on the other.
My turn to hang on to him. Some times we would let him be with out his leash. As long as there was a fence between him and the sheep.
We walked by the ruin of the Valle Crucis Abbey, built in 1201
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_Crucis_Abbey
Its now used as a camp ground, and being it was a holiday weekend it was packed.
Coach and I disagreeing on which way to go.
A view of where we have been,
from the side,
and in front.
I'm tired can we take a break?
As soon as we get around the next corner.
This was an old church that was converted into a house.
Another great view. We were doing a lot of road walk thru this section. The nice thing is there wasn't any traffic, so we had the road to our self.
These cars belong to people either hiking or rock climbing. We had great views all around.
Another Welsh and English sign. If you didn't know it almost looks Spanish.
The top of that hill will be our next stop of the day. It is Castell Dinas Bran built in 1260.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castell_Dinas_Br%C3%A2n
But first we have to walk to the base of it. More great views and more sheep that Coach wants to chase.
Time for the walk up, we only had to stop four times to get to the top.
Coach was as tired as us at one of our stops.
Nearing the top we can see where we had walked.
We had 360 degree views when we got to the top. The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct can be seen in the distance. We will see that tomorrow.
Most of the castle was gone, it must have been impressive when it was built.
Now it's time to take a break, and get out the Prosecco and cheese.
A good spot with a great view.
Another direction from Coach view.
Leanne and Coach having a starring contest.
Coach says its time to get serious.
I win!
Old guy on the mountain.
one last view before we head down.
The view of the trail heading down.
We had gone up the back side of the hill which was not a steep or as high.
We would be walking down for a while
With an occasional break to look around.
This view shows how far we walked. We walked around the hill on the left, thru the valley and along the road on the right. Then up the hill to the castle.
When we finally got near town we turned to see how far it was to the top. From this side of the hill it would have been a very big up.
It was a good day of hiking and what better way to finish of the day than with a great meal. We found a great restaurant near our hotel that served welsh rarebit. We also had a pizza, we left full and happy.
The next morning we got up early and walked the canal path to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontcysyllte_Aqueduct
It rained the whole way there and back, but it was a nice rain.
A monument to the aqueduct, the concrete wall has a stack of pitch forks cast into it.
An information sign about it.
It took ten years to design and build. It is now the oldest and longest navigable aqueduct in Great Britain and the highest in the world.
A view of the walk across, the tow path on the right is where the horses walked pulling while pulling the boats.
A view of it when its not raining.
After getting a few picture and walking a little way across it, we headed back down the tow path to our hotel.
On the way we passed an old lime kiln.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lime_kiln
One of the reasons for the canal was to transport lime and coal.
As we walked back we passed a lot of leisure boats heading the other way.
This is the Whitehouse tunnel that we had to walk thru to the aqueduct and back. Yes it was dark inside.
For the whole weekend we did about 30 miles. Another great trip in the country side.
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