A drive with clues, to Sian & Martin's home for a shared picnic

Another really good turnout for a Wye Dean drive on September 24th. In all 22 of us, comprised of 20 from Wye Dean, and Andy & Jill from Glavon. We met at the Raglan/Monmouth services for coffee, and then made our way to the Countrywide store just outside Raglan to be given our instructions for the drive to Tal y Coed. Martin gave us a briefing, and set us off at intervals. This was a non-competitive event you understand, but no-one wanted to be the holders of the wooden spoon at the end of the day. Some were old hands at such events, and others of us were raw novices.........as quickly became obvious in our car, when we turned over to the second page without a single answer to our credit!

I understand that there was a bit of to & fro, and possibly even a few 'words' exchanged in some cars! The route followed single track country lanes, that would normally be very quiet on a Sunday, but we managed to come across 4*4s, tractors, and even a huge sheep wagon - all added spice to the journey. In due course, 9 cars rolled up at Sian & Martin's (they'd gone straight home with the picnic goodies) leaving just Julian & Wil to arrive. Julian had stopped & called in to Martin for further help with the route a couple of times - in fairness, it's easy to take a wrong turning & get hopelessly 'mislaid' in the spaghetti of lanes in this area. Cameras were primed, and we paced up & down the drive until eventually they came into sight - to their credit, they were in good spirits, and we quickly settled in to eating and supping.

The 'picnic' was excellent, and thanks are due to those who contributed such delicious and creative fare. The weather was on our side, & we were able to sit outside. Martin tallied our answer scores, and Pete & Andrea were presented with the magnificent winners cup (non-competitive you understand!), with Julian accepting the wooden spoon with good grace! So it just remains to offer a massive thanks to Sian & Martin for organising such a very enjoyable day out for us all.

A series of photos will soon be found on the gallery tab.