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UNITED
KINGDOM TRAVELS, JULY AND AUGUST 2002.
COUNTRY TOWN FAIRS Wales is much more mountainous than England. Luckily, with our cycling every day over the last few weeks, we feel in much better shape to tackle the hill climbs. Don worked out a wonderful ride, leaving from Llanyre and going to Nantmel, then west to Llanwrthwl, and down the National Bike Route 8 to 
Newbridge on Wye, then back to Llanyre. Once again, this was a great
bike ride on quiet country lanes. The hedges are a bramble of wild
honeysuckle and blackberry vines. The air is sweet with the smell of
blossoms.When we reached the part of the ride that was the official route, as usual, it started out as a nice paved path. This quickly degenerated into a grassy, rocky trail, which went up, up, up. Even though the route is supposed to be along the 
river, it goes up the mountainside and then down again, rather than stay
on the flat next to the river. So, I pushed for a way, rather than
risk taking a fall on the rocky surface. Plus, we were sharing the
route with hikers, and had to proceed with caution. When we came out
the other side we crossed over a bridge that had been built in 1850 and were
back on those great country roads again.When we got back to Llanyre, we saw a big white tent erected 
in a field, and the townspeople pouring into the field through a gap in
the hedgerow. After a quick shower and lunch, we decided to follow
the “When you see a green field full of people, join in!” rule which has
served us so well this trip, and so we went back over to see what was happening.
It was a cute little old-fashioned town fair!
We had fun watching the little kids in egg-in-spoon races (they used potatoes
instead), sack races and three legged races. There were races for teenagers
and adults too. Everyone participated, kids and adults alike, and nobody
was self-conscious about winning or losing. They all just had a good
time with their neighbors and families and set a great example for their kids.Next we checked out the tent, where we found competitions for the tallest thistle, neatest hay bale, best 1 square foot of meadow. The competitors actually cut a one foot square of turf out of their meadow for the competition! The winning thistle was 8 feet high. The cookery contests included scones, quiche, cake, and pie. The produce contests included potatoes, peas, cabbage, eggs and jam. We were sorry to have missed the children’s costume competition and the pet show. After the races, as is the custom, everyone had tea, and then it was football (soccer). A great time was had by all. The following day we did another terrific ride starting in 
Llanwrtyd Wells, on to Abergwesyn, Cefn Glancamddwr, and back to Llanwrtyd
Wells. When we returned to our starting point, what did we see, but
a good ole Truckee parade, complete with a fire engine, kids on floats, townspeople
dressed up and marching along. Llanwrtyd was having their town fair,
so we went to that one too, and enjoyed the kids costume competition.
There were lots of fairy princesses and super-heroes. |
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