DON’T GO TO WALES ON A SUNDAY.

I don’t mean to be beastly to the Welsh and I hope they don’t take this personally but I had the misfortune to go to Wales at the weekend as my wife had a course to do and I thought it might be a nice drive in my Bentley Arnage.

Now I know you can’t blame all my misfortunes on the Welsh but we started off with the usual M25 car park then on the M4 we suffered a 49 mile long average speed check slog at 40 or 50 mph, apparently for roadworks, although no-one was actually working nor was there sight of any workmen for the entire time.

Bearing in mind the Arnage has a 6.75 litre engine with a turbo charger the speed of 50 mph is attained at 1000 rpm which is just double the tickover speed of the engine, so motorway travel at that speed feels as if one might go faster if one got out and walked.

Later when we had cleared the roadworks a much higher cruising speed of 90 mph, attainable at 2000rpm and still very relaxing would have been experienced had the speed limit allowed it!

I must say we couldn’t fault the hotel, The New House Country Hotel in Nelson on the outskirts of Cardiff, especially as we were required to social distance due to Covid 19, all done in a very civilised and professional manner; I had considered staying in Cardiff itself but none of the hotels had parking suitable for a car some 18ft long and 6 1/2ft wide.

Sunday after breakfast I set off to take my wife to her course but as we had plenty of time we decided to have a drive round, unfortunately I was amazed to find Wales looked like a rather spread out Council Estate and even worse was riddled with speed cameras, average speed checks and speed humps, this from a country that gave us some of Britains finest rally drivers was quite a surprise.

I have to admit we didn’t see the entire country, however we did progressed up quite a narrow road with cars parked each side in the villages which had speed humps and a 20mph speed limit which I thought was overdoing the speed calming as I certainly wasn’t going to exceed 20mph in a car some 6 1/2 ft wide.

Undaunted we continued up the side of a small mountain where my wife had a funny turn when realising how high it was and requested we turn round and come down.

The other mistake we may have made was to have chosen to sightsee on a Weekend for I don’t know if this is the influence of Chapel or The Temperance Society or both, for it appeared to us that Wales is shut on Sunday.

For the first time, Wales has been able to flex its muscles' – could coronavirus tear England and Wales apart? | Wales | The Guardian

About The Diary of a Country Bumpkin

I am a retired actor, although to be honest I only retired because I wasn't getting any work due to losing my agent when I became a full time carer to my mother who had dementia. and the option of becoming an unemployed actor/waiter at my age was ludicrous, especially as my waiting skills are non-existent. Having said I’m retired, I don’t think there really is such a thing as a retired actor for I am still available for work, I just don’t have an agent or any connections with regards to obtaining any worthwhile work. I have over the years done student films when there is nothing else available, always low paid (if at all) the only incentive was always the promised copy of the finished film for your show reel which nine times out of ten always failed to materialise. I spent many years looking after my aged mother and shortly after her death I was lucky enough to run into an ex-girlfriend of many years ago and our romance blossomed once again, resulting in us getting married in 2013. My move to the countryside inspired me to write The Diary of a Country Bumpkin which tells of my continuing dilemmas in dealing with the rigors of the countryside from the unexpectedly large number of pollens, fungal moulds and hay products waiting to attack the unsuspecting townie. I enjoy writing, see my play Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori on The Wireless Theatre Company, The Plays Wot I Wrote and The Battle of Barking Creek both available on Amazon.co.uk and am very fond of classic cars so my ideal occupation would be acting in a film I had written set in the 1930s/40s, we live in hopes. I am delighted to say that since venturing to the countryside where space is not quite the premium it is in town, I have due to the availability of two double garages acquired more classic cars to form a small collection the pride of which are a 1947 Bentley Mk VI and a 2000 Bentley Arnage. My various blogs and websites are continually evolving and I’m sure that by following the appropriate links you will find something which will edify or amuse. I have written a number of different books all available on Amazon, so don't be shy should you feel the urge to purchase. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Joe-Wells/e/B06XKWFQHT/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

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3 Responses to DON’T GO TO WALES ON A SUNDAY.

Timothy Price says:

21/09/2020 at 5:51 pm

From my adventures in Spain, France, Portugal and Italy, where a lot of businesses closed on Sundays, I wouldn’t except much to be open in Wales on Sunday, either. I’ve heard most roads are really narrow in Wales. We get those slow work zones on the roadways here where you don’t see any evidence of work let a lone see a single worker. I think they block off sections of the road in anticipation of roadwork and to annoy motorists.

- The Diary of a Country Bumpkin says:
  
  21/09/2020 at 6:03 pm
  
  Sadly I think they do everything to annoy motorists, they certainly manage to annoy me!
  
  - Peter's pondering says:
    
    21/09/2020 at 10:05 pm
    
    I must say I hadn’t noticed!