In the afternoon I visited Powis Castle, which was only partially open but the Clive museum had some lovely items from India. Interesting guided tour of the cellars and ground floor, lunch in the cafe and avoided the rain.Overnight I stayed at the back of the Horse and Jockey in Church Stoke. Unfortunately (and typically) they did not serve food on Sunday evenings. Also the only takeaway was closed as the owners had gone back to China.
So I headed off in to the dark and found the Ganges restaurant in Bishop's Castle where I had an excellent chicken and red spinach curry.
My new oil-filled radiator did the job and I was nice and cosy all night, despite the hail and high winds shaking the van. The next morning I woke to blue skies - this is the life I thought! But by the time I came out of the shower block it was black skies and freezing sleet again.
Heading back to the route south, I came across Kerry Vale vineyard. Although closed, the owner was out pruning vines in the snow and opened up to sell me a few bottles - lovely white, ok red.
Drove over to Brecon on a moorland road, just below the snowline thankfully.
Had a nice lunch at Roberto's - build your own wrap and a mug of fresh tea, and then joined the A470 and had an uneventful drive to Lou's house (apart from getting lost in the last 2 miles).
