Time Travel

We set off with a sense of excited anticipation; today we start out journey out of lockdown - hopefully a one-way trip. For the first time this year, we’re off to Conwy. - although prosaically it’s Tesco car park where we start our walk. 

We make our way towards the estuary, taking the footpath south towards the bird sanctuary which sadly still remains off limits. Glowering skies are breaking up before us, allowing slivers of spring sunshine to offer up some much needed warmth; the wind is brisk and icy. 

As usual, the castle on the opposite bank has an irresistible photographic pull. Light changes moment by moment, highlighting towers or battlements, illuminating the braken-covered hills behind. The harsh winds whip up the river surface meaning there will be no reflections today, and bird life is limited to a few hardy ducks seeking shelter in the reeds. 

Suddenly, G spots a train - the Avanti West Coast express from Euston to Holyhead - and reacts with all the excitement of his childhood self. ‘That’ll make a good shot,’ he says. Momentarily I just roll my eyes; why would I want to spoil this stunning landscape? 

But then I think again, and catch  it sleekly snaking along the tracks until it seems to enter Edwards’s fortress-  twenty first century technology seemingly being devoured by the jaws of a thirteenth century castle. 

In reality, of course, this modern dragon is disappearing into the iron tunnel of Robert Stephenson’s pioneering tubular rail bridge. Thankfully hidden from this angle, its engineering skill sadly has no aesthetic value, the industrial tubing ugly against the castle’s beauty - evident in my entry on December 31st. Nevertheless, it’s seen as a precursor of box girder bridges throughout the world. 

And so it’s home to an afternoon of rugby, with celebrations of a Welsh win and a Grand Slam still up for grabs. Congratulations too to England - what a stunning game!