Train in Vain

Wednesday, Feb. 25th. Destination: Llanfair Caereinion, Wales, near Welshpool, Powys, Wales, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, Enland.

Mary Ann, Barbara and I rendezvoused at Marylebone Station for a 12:15 train to Shrewsbury. We arrived in a timely fashion after three hours on the train. We then had a two hour layover due to the fact that the next train to Welshpool (run by a different train company) had left Shrewsbury seven minutes prior to our arrival.

This allowed us to peruse the town of Shrewsbury at our leisure. We toted our heavy suitcases up the hill to the castle. On the way, we passed the public library with its statue that honors favored native son Charles Darwin (see previous posts for Darwin-Day festivities).

We took explored the castle forecourt and took pictures of the evocative architecture and early blooms. Then we passed a women's spiritual retreat center, that called to me. I popped in to their cafe for a spot of tea and a scone while Barbara and Mary Ann explored the town. I chatted with the proprietor, who told me that he had leased the former Methodist Church after the county tax council had abandonded their use of it. They had a small paperback library, a women's workout center, and treatment spaces for Reiki, etc. They were just about to set up for their monthly Psychic Reader event, which was sold out, but time didn't permit anyway as we needed to be on our way to Welshpool that very eve.

Note to reader: Have you noticed that none of the words in use in this missive contain the letter that follows "F" in the alphabet, since that key is not functional on the computer at this time?

Our train to Welshpool was delayed for about twenty minutes due to a "landslip" somewhere up the line. When Mary Ann asked the station master how much of a delay we could experience, he
"reassured" us that it would be any where between 20 minutes and 20 hours.

Some clever train router decided to split a train in two: the front half would travel to Welshpool while the back half would travel somewhere else. We were in luck!! We arrived in Welshpool just as dusk descended, and found that there was not a taxi to be had.

We cleverly called our hotel (Rhymes with "Boat", but has that letter that follows the letter "F"), and they kindly telephoned John, of Amber Taxi Cabs, who picked us up and delivered us safely to the hotel.

Our hotel stay was certainly an experience. The edifice must have been constructed in the 17th century, and the plaster and waterworks seemed to be from that era as well. Our "family" room with three beds was under the eaves and had floors that sloped as much as the eaves. The toilet in our "en suite" facilities was not firmly bolted to the floor, so that when one sat down, there was a thump that accompanied an abrupt movement of the entire commode. The tank (cistern) also appeared to have a pressure-assist mechanism that made a loud water-hammer type sound intermittently after the flush. Tiles and chunks of plaster were absent from the bathroom's decor, as well. We were fortunate to have, just down the hall, another bathroom (tub and toilet, no sink) which Barbara and I used in the darkness as we has consumed some yummy ale at fireside with our knit projects after dinner. We can report that the dinner itself was delicious, well-prepared, and inexpensive, tho' we were informed that the soup of the day was "Roasted Plum", not the yummy Roasted Plum Tomato that it turned out to be.

Our slumbers were punctuated by the church bells which pealed every fifteen minutes until dawn and beyond. Other than that, we enjoyed our stay at that Hotel.

After a hearty breakfast, (included) we meandered thru the little town of Llanfair Caereinion, across a wooden footpath that led us to the other side of the river, and entered into the sacred womb of Colinette Yarns.

We worshipped at the Colinette shrine, especially the sale room, where every skein of sale yarn was four pounds for 3 1/2 ounces. That's six dollars per skein for you Yankee-types! Several creative projects were planned, and Mary Ann seemed to buy one of each pattern book in the place.

John the taxi man collected our suitcases from the hotel and then came to pick us up at the Mill. He drove us back to the station via the scenic route. There were lambs in the verdant fields with their mothers, and the clouds occasionally parted to reveal a small patch of less-cloudy sky.
We stopped at the top of a hill at a scenic overlook to take some photos, but our visit was curtailed by the aroma of Sheep Manure which wafted across the hills.

Our journey continues, and will be chronicled at a later time.