The view from the Premier Inn
A Road Trip to Ireland Via Sandbach and Conwy, Cheshire and Wales - 21st September 2007
Nosher and Isobel head to Ireland, but on account of trying to boycott the horror that is Ryunfair, we decide to try out the ferry from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire. It's a fairly long way from Cambridge, so we stop off just outside Macclesfield in Cheshire for the night, on the off-chance that Nosher's dad might be in town, which he isn't. The following day we visit Nosher's old home-town of Sandbach, before heading out past Chester and along the coast road through North Wales. There's another stop at Conwy to see the castle, a drive over the Menai Bridge and then a detour to South Stack, on Anglesey - a place Nosher first went to on a school trip in around 1977 - to look at the lighthouse.
next album: 30th Birthday Party in Kilkee, County Clare, Ireland - 22nd September 2007
previous album: Stourbridge Fair at the Leper Chapel, Cambridge - 8th September 2007
Isobel scopes out a WI stall in Sandbach Market
Isobel goes for some cakes
Scones and damson jam are procured
Sandbach's indoor market
An 1890 market sign
Outside Sandbach Market
The square outside the Black Bear
The Olde Black Bear, dated 1634
Isobel strides across the square near the Saxon Crosses
The Saxon crosses and the Crown pub, Sandbach
The 9th Century Saxon Crosses in the market place, Sandbach
Another view of the Saxon Crosses
Nosher's old school, Sandbach Grammar, with form room top, middle
Isobel thinks it's all a bit 'Harry Potter'
The walls of Conwy castle
Isobel climbs up into the wall
The town of Conwy in Wales
Isobel wanders the castle walls
Conwy Castle looms over the town
The imposing towers of Conwy Castle
Peering over the wall
The river at Conwy
Isobel peers over a wall
A tidal river, when the tide is out
A derelict garage in Conwy
Billington Brothers garage and Conwy Castle
A discarded rear axle
Thomas Telford's Menai suspension bridge
Telford's Bridge spans the Menai Straits between Wales and Anglesey
On the moors of Ynys Môn
Heathland near the lighthouse, which is just peeping over the cliff
Isobel walks to the South Stack kitchen
A crenelated bird hide
South Stack
Some dude does a bit of rock climbing
South Stack Lighthouse
Dramatic cliffs at South Stack, Anglesey
It's busy around the bird hide
Walkers congregate on the cliffs
The road heads away from South Stack
The queue of cars at Holyhead ferry terminal
The Stena catamaran ferry starts loading
On the Stena's car deck
Boats in Holyhead harbour
A boat rounds the end of the breakwater at Holyhead
The car deck again
Cars exiting at Dun Laoghaire are sprayed for Foot and Mouth
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The view from the Premier Inn
The view from the Premier Inn
Isobel scopes out a WI stall in Sandbach Market
Isobel goes for some cakes
Scones and damson jam are procured
Sandbach's indoor market
An 1890 market sign
Outside Sandbach Market
The square outside the Black Bear
The Olde Black Bear, dated 1634
Isobel strides across the square near the Saxon Crosses
The Saxon crosses and the Crown pub, Sandbach
The 9th Century Saxon Crosses in the market place, Sandbach
Another view of the Saxon Crosses
Nosher's old school, Sandbach Grammar, with form room top, middle
Isobel thinks it's all a bit 'Harry Potter'
The walls of Conwy castle
Isobel climbs up into the wall
The town of Conwy in Wales
Isobel wanders the castle walls
Conwy Castle looms over the town
The imposing towers of Conwy Castle
Peering over the wall
The river at Conwy
Isobel peers over a wall
A tidal river, when the tide is out
A derelict garage in Conwy
Billington Brothers garage and Conwy Castle
A discarded rear axle
Thomas Telford's Menai suspension bridge
Telford's Bridge spans the Menai Straits between Wales and Anglesey
On the moors of Ynys Môn
Heathland near the lighthouse, which is just peeping over the cliff
Isobel walks to the South Stack kitchen
A crenelated bird hide
South Stack
Some dude does a bit of rock climbing
South Stack Lighthouse
Dramatic cliffs at South Stack, Anglesey
It's busy around the bird hide
Walkers congregate on the cliffs
The road heads away from South Stack
The queue of cars at Holyhead ferry terminal
The Stena catamaran ferry starts loading
On the Stena's car deck
Boats in Holyhead harbour
A boat rounds the end of the breakwater at Holyhead
The car deck again
Cars exiting at Dun Laoghaire are sprayed for Foot and Mouth