This was the day we had to pack up and go home, so we set an alarm to make sure we didn't sleep too late, as Ann needed to be able to get in and clean the caravan before the next people were due to arrive early in the afternoon. Apart from dropping a few crumbs, I don't think we left Ann with too big a cleaning job.
My packing of the car on the way to Wales had apparently resulted in the rear speakers no longer working, so I packed less into the void between the boot and the back seat. Our shopping from the Tweedmills Factory Outlet ended up in there, as it was soft. That did mean that my swimming bag and the medium format camera had to be found alternative homes for the homeward journey. I was a bit worried about fitting it all in, but we managed it and we were waved off by Ann and Dewi at about midday.
We retraced our route when we'd driven to Wales a week earlier, but we made a side trip in the Telford area to the Ironbridge Gorge. The iron bridge at Ironbridge is part of a World heritage Site, as it's a very early example of an arched bridge built of iron. They're still not sure how it was actually erected.
We stopped on the road before arriving at Ironbridge and photographed some picturesque countryside with a meandering river running through it. We could also see the Ironbridge Power Station, with its single chimney and four mellow red cooling towers. The power station didn't appear to be operating, as no smoke or steam was in evidence.
When we got to Ironbridge itself, we were able to walk onto the iron bridge, and each took a photo of the other by the iron railing in the middle of the bridge. We were also able to walk under the bridge, as there was a path along the river bank. There were a lot of fishermen out at fishing stages along the bank, and we saw one pair of fishermen measuring their catch and photographing each other holding their fish, before they put them back into the water.
We could have spent a whole day in the Ironbridge area, but didn't have a whole day, so we moved on after we'd seen the bridge itself, and rejoined the M54, and just followed the motorway system home. We stopped at Newport Pagnell and patronised Burger King, and then drove the rest of the way home. I think it was the first time Stephen had been over the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which forms the southbound part of the Dartford Crossing. (The northbound part uses both the tunnels, although they can still divert southbound traffic into the east bore if they need to close the bridge for any reason. e.g. high winds or maintenance)
We arrived home just before 9pm. We unloaded the car, but didn't unpack our bags. I had nearly 500 emails waiting for me, but about 200 of them were spam, which MailWasher dealt with. I also downloaded about 18,000 news items from Usenet. There must be some newsgroups I should unsubscribe from!
While on the Internet, I checked my eBay auctions and found I'd won three pairs of earrings. I'd warned the sellers that I was going to be away, but wanted to get my payments sorted out as soon as possible once I was back.
Stephen also needed to get on the Internet as his hotmail account needed pruning. Once that was done, we went to bed.
Summer Holiday in North Wales, June 2004 - Holiday Report Index
Helen Stephenson's Holiday Reports Page
Helen Stephenson's Summer Holiday Pictures - June, 2004 - Index
Last Revised: 11th July, 2004.