Sunday, 17th September - Conwy to the Cotswolds

We had planned a leisurely drive through the English countryside to our next home-away-from-home in the Cotswolds, but we struck 2 problems. Firstly the weather – it was very wet and foggy (seems to be the usual on our driving days), and secondly the fact that it takes way longer than you expect to get anywhere, on the narrow winding country roads. Basically we spent most of the day in the car, with very brief stops along the way. However we did enjoy the scenery, and we had a couple of interesting stops. We visited Ironbridge Gorge, famous as the first bridge made of Iron in the world. The area is known as the birthplace of the industrial revolution, but now is a sleepy, picturesque valley with a striking iron bridge crossing a deep gorge. Keith was devastated because we just missed a performance by some Morris Dancers – we saw them all heading for their cars, with bells on their shoes, bright red clothes, and looking rather damp (the rain was well and truly set in by this time). We drove through Bridgenorth, a town built on the edge of a steep cliff, so really there are two towns, Bridgenorth Upper and Bridgenorth Lower, connected by lots of stairs, very narrow winding roads, and a very cool tram – next time we’d like to spend more time there.