Llangollen

If you're not au fait with the old Welsh placenames they can be a little daunting.  Google came up with 'klan goth luhn'.  Another site suggested 'lan goth luhn'.  The way I was told it the first syllable is more guttural than plain old 'lan' - imagine clearing your throat and you're half-way there.  Anyway, however it's pronounced, Llangollen lies on the River Dee in North Wales and we stopped off there a weeks ago on our way to Oxford.  Forty years ago when I was at Uni we would drive a minibus into Wales and go canoeing.  I was, if you pardon the pun, well out of my depth as in winter time when there's a flood on the Dee - well, let's just say it's not for the faint-hearted.  We had some International Canoeists at Bath Uni and they were out in the Grade 5 water having fun.  I was just trying to survive, keeping close to the bank and hoping I made it home alive.  I did - just, though.  I remember capsizing a couple of times and on one of those occasions I did actually think my number was up.  I was caught in a stopper wave after negotiating a weir which tossed me upside down. My spraydeck wasn't coming off and I was beginning to panic - it was one of those times where you think you are underwater for ages but in reality it was probably only a few seconds.  After trying unsuccessfully to rip the thing off I remember thinking 'I have to get this spraydeck off or I'm a goner here' and I pulled on it with all the strength I could muster.  It came off and I got myself out, head back above water.  One of the more experienced guys towed me to the side and I was able to compose myself.  I then had to paddle another hour or so downstream before reaching our pick-up point. I don't think I ever sat in a canoe again. 

Llangollen, North Wales.  A bit like Ireland the rain is never far away in North Wales, even in June.  It's a beautiful part of the world, though.   
M6/28mm/HP5+/HC-110/Ilford MG Classic paper.

Llangollen was busy the day we stopped in it.  Too busy, too many tourists, ourselves included.  We walked up and down, visited a couple of Charity Shops and bought a couple of gifts for folks back home.  Given so many people around I was surprised to see a Fujica film camera (STX type) and two lenses (50mm and 135mm) for sale in one of the Charity Shops.  The lenses were spotless but the camera wasn't working and it didn't seem like an easy repair - the winder was broken.  The shutter release button worked in that it reset the winder but the mirror didn't flip up and the shutter wasn't opening.  It had £8 on the ticket for the camera and the lenses.  £8! It's rare to see a camera in a Charity Shop at a sensible price these days and I was certainly tempted, if only for the glass. But I seemed to recall that Fujica had a proprietary mount and I told myself I didn't need the distraction, so I walked on. Yes, I know.  Idiot I am.

PS As I hurriedly post this on Monday morning there is a kind of organised chaos in the house.  Today my stepson marries Clare and in a couple of hours we depart for the day's celebrations.  Last night we hosted the Groom's party (the lads) and now all that's left to do is feed them and make sure they are suited and booted.  I shall endeavour to take some shots as the day unfolds.