Club Autumn Weekend Away - Cardiff

Thanks to Graham Moss, Jayne Middleton, John Neave and David Davies for the photos

Brief details :

We leave early Friday morning to visit the cathedral in Hereford and see the Mappa Mundi and the chained library.

We then go on to Westons Cider for lunch and a tour.

On the Saturday we have a coach tour of the city then visit the Welsh Assembly, afternoon free.

On the Sunday we visit Tredegar House (NT) and, to break the journey home, we will visit a cheese producers selling local produce.

That's a rough guide!

David

What We Did in Cardiff by Don Howard

It could have been the extraordinary weather of course; it could have been the splendidly safe driving of Owens’ Coaches driver, Stuart; or it could have been the fellowship that gives us the ‘glue’ which makes our Club so remarkable. But we all knew that it was Dave and Heather Foden’s brilliant organisation, care of their charges and calm grasp of the programme that made our Welsh adventure the autumnal tonic we needed.

Mind you it could also have been the cracking start at Hereford Cathedral, the awesome Mappa Mundi, the Chained Library, a building groaning with history and yes, spirituality. It certainly was the Weston’s Cider Brewery, with its hugely successful family run business which grabbed our imagination – oh and the sampling and the huge ploughman’s lunch!

The next day youthful, lively Cardiff welcomed us with a guided tour from striking architecture, to the Bay and the shimmering Bristol Channel. There is no doubt, however, that the privilege of being able to visit the National Assembly was the part of our adventure that we will long remember. It was the young but very experienced guide who brought the place alive, with its local slate and oak structure and modern technology; such pride in his work, such a humorous gift of the gab. ‘Home’ then to Rugby – the game not the place!

We ended our trip, as we had begun, on a high note. At nearby Tredegar House we walked with history with the incredible Morgan family and as a popular TV location spot we ambled where Dr Who and Fiona Bruce had recently been. Yet the tiny Leominster Cheese Dairy, its tasty tea and cakes, was an ending as perfect as the whole weekend. Oh and Dave said that he would get us home by 6pm and he did!

Don Howard