Decided on a few days in Brecon ( Cand MC Club Site). We think the car had different ideas. it did that to us last year too.

Two days before leaving we noticed one front wheel was getting hot and smelly so we had to rush it in to our local very patient, garage owner who worked on it most of yesterday, pushing aside others who had booked in weeks before and we got it back, ready to load up just as the monsoon started.

This morning, not too bright but still fairly early ( the site doesn't officially take people in before 12 noon) we got the van hitched up only to find our off side brake light decided, not for the first time, to play up. This was just as today's monsoon started and by the time I got it working and started the journey. we were both soaked through.

Couldn't see a thing as the car was totally misted up and the rain was lashing down. Boy, do we enjoy holidaying in Britain.

Over the hills and not too far away, we crossed the Brecon Beacons and the rain stopped. Good old C and MC Site Brecon, we were first in the queue at just before 11;30 am minutes before 2 or 3 large campervans pulled in behind us, one of the wardens walked past us and opened reception early only for one campervan owner, a Scot who was 3rd in the queue, to push through the door first. He couldn't possibly go anywhere as we were in single file. He annoyed me a little later too as he impatiently squeezed past me as I was reversing the van onto a pitch.

Yes, reversing, as the wardens suggested I reverse in . The only problem is that the white pegs on this campsite are nearer the right of the pitch than the left so putting an awning up on an Eriba would be a tight squeeze. We cheated however and parked 600mm to the left of the peg.

Just as we started to build the awning, the monsoon hit us again.

Apart from that a nice site although squeezed between two major roads of a roundabout. Brecon can be reached by walking 2 miles along a canal tow path but not before crossing two lines of traffic. It's a haven for large campervans but there are still quite a few VW Campers and WWBs on site, Best of all a 15 year old Airstream with a 4 wheel drive Jag tow car.

Why we bother with these short trips away I don't know. Brecon is only 40 minutes away from where we live.

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Another mod to the awning. I've fashioned a glass fibre folding tent pole to fit over the tops of the front door poles. It keeps the poles apart so stops any sag when the door is open. Works a treat

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Randa

Oh 'Eck, I hope I wasn't rude to you in any way Arti. I was in very bad mood and I can let Team Eriba down when I'm an angry driver

Randa

Yes, the photo of the mod shows it with a "tipped" roof to shed the water off on one side. Really pleased with it as the open front is as steady as a rock even in the winds. As for the rest of the awing, it takes on a different shape each time we erect it We're really going to have to read the instructions.
Randa

More about this campsite.
It's a very clean site with two toilet blocks. Block One closes 10am-12noon for cleaning, Block Two from 2pm-4pm. Now that makes sense.

However please see map. We have discovered that the pitches furthest away from the entrance are on top of the busy main road Brecon to Crickhowell with a lot of road noise. Don't think the other road that the entrance is on, Brecon to Hay, is as noisy and the pitches are further away from it anyway.

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The tall hills/mountains you see in the distance are Pen y Fan and if you take a 15 minute drive from Brecon south towards Merthyr, at the top of the steep hill you get to Storey Arms where you can park if you're lucky and scramble up to the top.

Another 20 minutes or so and turning off the Merthyr road heading for Penderyn and Hirwaun, have a go at the new ZIP LINE at the old Tower Colliery. It's a sit in one but our son reckons it's great.

Brecon. Very disappointing and looking rundown and scruffy particularly when one would expect it to be decked out for the Brecon Jazz Festival which starts this week.

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Hay on Wye. About 15 miles away. As good as ever. We used to spend hours here when the kids were little, pouring over the many book shops particularly the Old Cinema. Book prices have gone up but the wonder still remains.

The streets were lively with a number of good looking eating houses and the River Wye, about 1 mile away was afloat with an armada of canoes.

A must go to place.

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The cat? Although she puts up with travelling in the car in her large dog cage perched high up behind us (the best view in the car) and also seems to like being carried around in her own rucksack, We're sure she's more content staying in the Eriba and Keeping Guard ............zzzzzzzzzzz

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Randa

On reflection perhaps I'm being a bit harsh on Brecon. It does have the navigable canal and the Royal Welsh Museum (Rorkes Drift and all that) and home to the Ghurkas, something I think our good friend Mr Calder would enjoy.

On our way to and not far from Hay on Wye, we passed this campsite which looked to be quite nice with new looking facilities block
http://www.ashbrook-caravans.co.uk/campi...ns-hayonwye.asp

Randa

There's a chap about my age on this campsite who obviously suffers from a walking disability and by the look of it he can walk around his car and caravan using either as a steady if he needs to but I'm amazed and impressed how he has conquered his disability.

He tows a large WWB with a VW T5 mini bus. The sliding side door of the bus has an electric ramp probably specifically designed and fitted for wheelchair use but he "flies" around the campsite using one of these instead which is small enough to fit into the side of the van by only removing the handlebars.

https://www.freee.de/en/product/the-freee-f2.html

How cool is that.

Randa .

So the moral of the story Mike is to visit the local optician who will provide you with a pair of rose tinted glasses?

Randa

So, home today after a few nice days, weather wise. Rained a lot last night but replaced the awning with the Isabella Shadow before it started. A lovely day today.

Visted Abergavenny yesterday where there was a bric a brac market. A really nice town with ample parking and a picturesque drive from Brecon. Had to stop for a photo of the flower basket display outside this pub in Crickhowell. Detoured a couple of miles to have a picnic lunch at Llangorse Lake.

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The journey south over the Beacons this morning.

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Almost home. Our valley on the horizon. Looks overcast

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Randa

So a tasty pie with your CHiPs glasses? Sorry, best I can do
Randa