If you havn’t been to Cardiff for a while then be prepared for it’s shiny new image and we were right in the middle of it at Mermaid Quay with it’s trendy bars and restaurants, Welsh National opera House and Welsh Assembly. If you don’t believe me then take a look at the new Dr Who spinoff, Torchwood, which is set in this very area ! One thing about Cardiff hadn’t changed though, the rain. Around forty F/TFs turned up to shelter in the covered car park on the Quay optimistically hoping for sunnier climes as they set off for the 180 mile drive from Coast to Coast. The destination was the north Wales seaside resort of Llandudno but before that we looked forward to enjoying the sights of Wales as we travelled from the once coal rich southern valleys to the rugged mountainous scenery of the north. However our views were slightly misted thanks to the rain which lasted most of the day and prevented the tops coming off. It did , however, give rise to some spectacular industrial landscapes as we drove through Blaeneau Ffestiniog with it’s sleek black slate polished by the driving shards of rain. Some cars stopped for an attempt at a bleak industrial landscape photo in the middle of a slate mine but were beaten back by the black mud and horizontal rain .

We finally beat the weather by the time we got to Llandudno and settled in to the Kensington Hotel , hastily re christened “Fawlty Towers” by some after experiencing their somewhat unique management style !

By early evening everyone was looking forward to their evening meal , raffle, quiz and the highlight of the evening—a traditional Welsh Disco.

All thanks go to the MGF Centre who donated a large number of prizes for the charity raffle which was being held in aid of Prostate Cancer Awareness. The F Register donated some more regalia items and a further £200 was raised for the charity.

The grand prize was a set of alloy wheels and the winning ticket was picked from the air in a flurry of raffle tickets tipped over Dave Morris ! The winning ticket belonged to Paul Smith who has a choice of two F/TFs to add the wheels to !.

The tricky quiz was set by Adrian Clifford and the winning team collected their bubbly prize whilst Ann Young collected the wooden spoon on behalf of her hapless teammates !

The dancefloor was then occupied by gyrating young limbs rocking to the latest beats ...well maybe twenty years ago—this time we creaked around breathless whilst the younger ones gyrated around us.

Sunday we ran out in better weather for a route that took us along the dramatic north coast to Conway and then inland across Snowdonia to finish at Lake Bala where we split up and went our separate ways.

We got to see more of the spectacular scenery this time and only ended up in some mist at the top of the mountains so we managed to get the hoods down as well.

We watched in amazement at a stormy Lake Bala as a silver haired octagenarian plunged into the choppy waves with just his swimming trunks on as we huddled around warm cups of tea in the nearby café. The Welsh people must be made of sterner stuff than us I think !