Borth.

We're back from a successful trip to Borth in Wales when we looked at a bungalow which subject to all the usual checks we are buying. Even though we are only buying and not having to co-ordinate a sale the whole buying process takes a long time and we don't plan to move until all the work needed is done so we'll be in Pilton for a while.

Borth is a characterful seaside village 7 miles north of the university town of Aberystwyth with good rail and bus links to Aberystwyth bringing the students during term times. One of our house hunting criteria was to be in walking distance of shops and basic facilities and so far have seen a doctors' surgery, 2 supermarkets, a post office, a rowing club, pubs and a small zoo as well as all the usual seaside businesses. Being within 10 miles of  Aberystwyth Hospital and having good train and bus services also fit in with our future proofing plans.

The 2 mile long sand and shingle beach attracts many holiday makers who stay in the numerous caravan and holiday parks that are found all along the Welsh coast.

We drove up yesterday, a journey that began with finding out that having done the update on the Satnav as advised on the radio it then failed to get any signal as I tried to put in the post code. Then followed a visit to the petrol station to buy a road map and try to remember the route I briefly looked at when finding out how long the journey should take. The four and half hours turned out to be seven hours due to rain, roadworks and getting stuck behind slow vehicles. This was done without a break until near the end to reschedule the house viewing and to give me a chance to recover from feelings of car sickness brought on by map reading and a splitting headache. I didn't even get out to stretch my joints which were not helped by my less than comfortable car seat. At least we were able to take some breaks on the return journey. We went up in the car as the fuel money saved by not taking the camper plus campsite fees was more than enough to cover the cost of a very nice B&B a few miles outside of Borth. Even though the weather was wet yesterday the sight of the beach lifted our spirits. After settling in at the B&B we went back into Borth to check out the village and to get something to eat. There are 3 pubs in Borth; the one we went in which was the working men's' haunt (the beer met with Peter's approval), a posher one which does restaurant style meals and the 'hippy' pub. We were told that Jimi Hendrix had visited that pub and an on-line check confirms this. I felt that following giant pink dinosaur footprints painted on the pavement was a sign that it could be my type of place. Everyone we met in the pub or in the street was really friendly, another good sign. We were both so tired that instead of going to the smarter pub for a meal we shared fish and chips sitting in the car by the beach. An early night in our pleasant B&B followed by a tasty cooked breakfast set us up for the day. Then we drove down to Borth to see the beach in the sunshine before the long journey home.

Wales shares the same geology as North Devon and the Cambrian mountains (which would be called hills in any other part of the world) are similar to Valley of the Rocks and the North Coast but instead of ending at the top of the valley go on for miles and wonderful miles. Can't wait to go exploring the wild countryside.