Planning a trip to the Elan Valley - roads to look out for?
Discussion
I'm going there next week, it's a stunning place. This is the loop you need to do.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/52.2995488,-3.5143...
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/52.2995488,-3.5143...
Allyc85 said:
I'm going there next week, it's a stunning place. This is the loop you need to do.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/52.2995488,-3.5143...
Thanks for that, much appreciated. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/52.2995488,-3.5143...
It looks lovely I was inspired by the chaps from C&M sharing pictures of a yellow 911 driven over there.
Update / stolen from my car thread.
Apologies, this is going to be an extremely long post….
Having missed out on the NC500 this summer due to my broken wrist, I decided that a drive out to the Elan Valley would be a suitable alternative. My friend Andy, who I should have done the NC500 with was in too. The only date we were both free was early October. A camping / driving trip to Wales in early October, what could go wrong?
The weather – it turned big time. The weekend previous I was still cleaning cars in shorts and T shirt. This weekend it pissed it down, a theme that would continue into Monday and Tuesday too.
We met at Macdonalds just outside Lichfield because we’d be taking the A5 most of the way. It was absolutely hammering it down and I was starting to wonder what I had let myself in for. As we hit Shrewsbury it brightened up a tad and the roads even dried up. The route into Wales was pretty frustrating because we were held up by lorries, tractors, camper vans and dawdlers. The only thing missing was a slowly driven Honda Jazz.
The A470 into Rhayader gave us a first taste of the local roads; it had a nice flow to it with some lovely scenery to the right. Our campsite was just outside Rhayader. Just as we arrived the rain reappeared with some wind which made setting up the tents fun! It seemed like a nice spot although we couldn’t see much of the scenery with the mist and low clouds.
[url=https://postimg.cc/zbKfSxWL]
And a beading shot just because…
We wondered down to Rhayader for a bite to eat and a few beers. Found a couple of good pubs then walked back in the dark because we’d both forgotten a torch but at least it wasn’t raining….yet. That came in the night and tents are pretty noisy when it’s hammering down. Add in the acorns being lobbed out of the Oak tree behind me in the wind and it wasn’t the best nights sleep I’ve had.
Woke up to wind and rain (there’s a theme here….). One tent carefully packed away.
Picture of my boot from my phone…
Breakfast was binned off because neither of us fancies cooking bacon in said wind. We headed off to the Elan Visitor Centre which presented a couple of opportunities for pictures. We saw a Mk5 R32 and new M135i heading the visitor centre, presumably doing the same as us.
From here we headed around the reservoir stopping at the dams to take pictures when it wasn’t raining too much and take in the scenery. The roads were good too, narrow but not too many people on them.
We then headed around the other side and on our way to Claerwen reservoir. More good roads and fabulous scenery. I’ll let the pictures do the talking. We drove to the top and bottom of the dam; what an incredible piece of engineering.
From here we headed to Devil’s Bridge – the road was absolutely amazing; not very fast, narrow, undulating with a few squirty bits. There were a few kamikaze sheep plus lots of stranding water so I wasn’t pushing hard. I think this is known as the Rhayader Mountain Road. On the way to Devil’s Bridge we stopped at The Arch.
Once we got to Devil’s Bridge we stopped at a café for well needed bacon sandwich. The weather was now pretty s
t but we carried on to Strata Florida Abbey. The roads there were really good too, slightly faster than the road to Devil’s Bridge. We turned around and did it in reverse. There was even more standing water on the way back but it was still enjoyable.
The Elan Valley and the surrounding areas are stunning and the roads are fun too. I definitely want to go back and do it again because I had lots of fun.
The return leg was pretty dull until I had a massive moment in the M54 when I hit some standing water accelerating off a roundabout. I really thought that I was going to have a massive crash when the rear end snapped to the right and then to the left when I tried to correct it. I end up with the back end swinging across the verge (which was luckily flush). I had a horrible vibration all of the way home so I feared the worst but the rear wheels were full of mud – I’ve power washed it down and it was fine when I took I out. It did st me up a bit if I’m honest. Some new MPSS for the rear will be getting ordered this week! It was totally my fault for accelerating too hard for the conditions, lesson learnt.
Apologies, this is going to be an extremely long post….
Having missed out on the NC500 this summer due to my broken wrist, I decided that a drive out to the Elan Valley would be a suitable alternative. My friend Andy, who I should have done the NC500 with was in too. The only date we were both free was early October. A camping / driving trip to Wales in early October, what could go wrong?
The weather – it turned big time. The weekend previous I was still cleaning cars in shorts and T shirt. This weekend it pissed it down, a theme that would continue into Monday and Tuesday too.
We met at Macdonalds just outside Lichfield because we’d be taking the A5 most of the way. It was absolutely hammering it down and I was starting to wonder what I had let myself in for. As we hit Shrewsbury it brightened up a tad and the roads even dried up. The route into Wales was pretty frustrating because we were held up by lorries, tractors, camper vans and dawdlers. The only thing missing was a slowly driven Honda Jazz.
The A470 into Rhayader gave us a first taste of the local roads; it had a nice flow to it with some lovely scenery to the right. Our campsite was just outside Rhayader. Just as we arrived the rain reappeared with some wind which made setting up the tents fun! It seemed like a nice spot although we couldn’t see much of the scenery with the mist and low clouds.
[url=https://postimg.cc/zbKfSxWL]
And a beading shot just because…
We wondered down to Rhayader for a bite to eat and a few beers. Found a couple of good pubs then walked back in the dark because we’d both forgotten a torch but at least it wasn’t raining….yet. That came in the night and tents are pretty noisy when it’s hammering down. Add in the acorns being lobbed out of the Oak tree behind me in the wind and it wasn’t the best nights sleep I’ve had.
Woke up to wind and rain (there’s a theme here….). One tent carefully packed away.
Picture of my boot from my phone…
Breakfast was binned off because neither of us fancies cooking bacon in said wind. We headed off to the Elan Visitor Centre which presented a couple of opportunities for pictures. We saw a Mk5 R32 and new M135i heading the visitor centre, presumably doing the same as us.
From here we headed around the reservoir stopping at the dams to take pictures when it wasn’t raining too much and take in the scenery. The roads were good too, narrow but not too many people on them.
We then headed around the other side and on our way to Claerwen reservoir. More good roads and fabulous scenery. I’ll let the pictures do the talking. We drove to the top and bottom of the dam; what an incredible piece of engineering.
From here we headed to Devil’s Bridge – the road was absolutely amazing; not very fast, narrow, undulating with a few squirty bits. There were a few kamikaze sheep plus lots of stranding water so I wasn’t pushing hard. I think this is known as the Rhayader Mountain Road. On the way to Devil’s Bridge we stopped at The Arch.
Once we got to Devil’s Bridge we stopped at a café for well needed bacon sandwich. The weather was now pretty s
t but we carried on to Strata Florida Abbey. The roads there were really good too, slightly faster than the road to Devil’s Bridge. We turned around and did it in reverse. There was even more standing water on the way back but it was still enjoyable.The Elan Valley and the surrounding areas are stunning and the roads are fun too. I definitely want to go back and do it again because I had lots of fun.
The return leg was pretty dull until I had a massive moment in the M54 when I hit some standing water accelerating off a roundabout. I really thought that I was going to have a massive crash when the rear end snapped to the right and then to the left when I tried to correct it. I end up with the back end swinging across the verge (which was luckily flush). I had a horrible vibration all of the way home so I feared the worst but the rear wheels were full of mud – I’ve power washed it down and it was fine when I took I out. It did s
t me up a bit if I’m honest. Some new MPSS for the rear will be getting ordered this week! It was totally my fault for accelerating too hard for the conditions, lesson learnt.Glad you had a nice time. Great pitures. Having been there a few times on the hills I was going to say I bet it p#sses down. It is either that or fog on the hills.
I think Chris Harris did a drive there in his Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 before he sold it. It is on YouTube as 'Last drive' or such like. The village he stops for a coffee looks like the place in Elan Valley.
Pip
I think Chris Harris did a drive there in his Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 before he sold it. It is on YouTube as 'Last drive' or such like. The village he stops for a coffee looks like the place in Elan Valley.
Pip
Pip1968 said:
Glad you had a nice time. Great pitures. Having been there a few times on the hills I was going to say I bet it p#sses down. It is either that or fog on the hills.
I think Chris Harris did a drive there in his Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 before he sold it. It is on YouTube as 'Last drive' or such like. The village he stops for a coffee looks like the place in Elan Valley.
Pip
I remember that video. Enjoyed it a lot. I think Chris Harris did a drive there in his Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 before he sold it. It is on YouTube as 'Last drive' or such like. The village he stops for a coffee looks like the place in Elan Valley.
Pip
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