A cold foggy day in London

Lunch in Ottolenghi's

This was my Christmas present from my son

Web photo.

Web photo.

Web photo.

After the meal we had a wander around as we had a few hours to kill before the train home

Spitalfields Market.  There has been a market here for over 350 years but the original fruit and veg market has  moved and the old buildings are now a covered general market.  

Another shot of the Gherkin, The Royal Exchange and St Paul's as we wandered back to the station, via a couple of pubs!! 

 A great father and son day out.

Llantrisant

Our mid week ride was to Llantrisant [see Strava route]  Normally its just a tea stop but this time I took a wander around the place.  I've been coming here for years but have never taken the time to explore the town.

Its situated on a hill and was originally surrounded by common land, this bit has survived.

 This is the stature of William Price a 19th Century doctor, druid and eccentric. 

He was the pioneer of cremation as we know it today. 

The Model House was the Workhouse and was built in  the square in 1884, replacing the original workhouse built in 1784  which is now a row of cottages.

The square was also used for bull baiting.

The church and churchyard are the highest point of the town, with fine views over the Vale of Glamorgan.

Llantrisant still has a few pubs but wandering around you can see that in the past there were many more, a sign of how popular this town once was.

Cowbridge ride

Great weather for the mid week ride so seven of us went out to Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Its one of our usual runs and being in the Vale there's lots of lanes and many different ways of getting there.  Chris lead us on his route which is on the Strava side panel.  

During the war the RAF used the now dis used Llandow airfield and the rumour is that all the surrounding road signs were removed in case of an invasion.  Consequently they have never been completely replaced so unless you are familiar with the lanes, or have a sat nav, its very easy to take a wrong turning.   But there are many landmarks to look out for so you never get hopelessly lost.

A favourite cafe stop in the town  is: 

Cowbridge Happy Days vintage home store

You can spend so much time here just browsing and think.........we used to have one of those.

                                

There's always a huge selection of cakes, and my choice was Bara Brith 

Here's the recipe for Bara Brith 

A wet start to the new year.

...but, a Happy New Year to you all.