Part 1

I was born, educated and married in the Rhondda Valley, and I was seventy two years of age when I left Treorchy and went to live in Athelney in Somerset. It surprised me that Athelney was not better known, because, although it is now a hamlet, it was the place where King Alfred had lived in the ninth century - which is a fact; and where he, reputedly, had his ears boxed for burning the cakes - which I believe is fiction. The hamlet is about 10 miles from Taunton and the bus passed the house at 9.05 on Saturday mornings only, so it was essential that I should continue driving.

When my grand-daughter, Lowri, had twin boys, - Dafydd and Rhys - I decided to return to Wales so that I could enjoy watching them, and their brother Daniel, grow up. They were living in Neath Abbey, so I went to live in Bryncoch, Neath, which is not very far away.
By this time my eyesight had deteriorated and I realised I could not drive safely for much longer, and I had no idea how long I would have to wait for the cataracts to be removed. But I was very lucky, because during the six years I was in Somerset the over -sixties had been issued with free Bus Passes, so as soon as I had settled in Bryncoch I applied for a Bus Pass and sold my car.
It was a new lease of life! I no longer had to worry whether I was turning into the wrong road; I didn't have to worry whether there would be a Parking space when I reached my destination; I no longer vexed over the increase in parking costs; and I was delighted I no longer had to bear the frustration of the spiralling cost of petrol. So I cheerfully used my Bus Pass.
I had told my friends in Somerset that I could travel anywhere in Wales without paying, but until we went on the Big Trip I had only travelled to Neath and occasionally to Swansea, once to Llanelli and once to Port Talbot.
But I was sitting and thinking one day where could I travel using my Bus-Pass. I thought to myself, "I could travel around Wales." And that was the beginning of the special journey.
I decided that I would go through the original thirteen Counties which were formed when the Act of Union of England and Wales was passed in 1536. The first thing I felt I had to do was have a clear picture of Wales in front of me. I explained to my friend, Mrs. Jean Jones-the Neath branch Librarian-what I needed, and I was very grateful and delighted to receive a map of Wales with the outlines of the Counties only.
I worked out the direction I would take, and I decided to start from Glamorgan, then go clock-wise through Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire, Montgomeryshire, Merionethshire, Caernarfonshire, across to Anglesey then on to Denbighshire, Flintshire, down through Montgomeryshire for the second time, through Radnorshire and Brecknockshire, on to Monmouthshire and Home.

Now I had to work out where I was going to stay and how many nights I would spend in each place. When I had a rough outline of the journey, I told my friend Miss Margaret Lewis of this idea I had, and she was so enthusiastic I asked her if she would care to come with me, and so I had company to go.
I thought perhaps we could go in September 2006, but Margaret was hoping to have a knee re-placement in September, so the adventure had to be postponed, and I put all ideas and planning away until after the New Year 2007. I then planned to go in May 2007. But Margaret was now looking forward to having the other knee done in May, so I thought we could go in April, then I remembered that I was going to Rhyl to a Conference with the W.I. after Easter, so April was out. "Right Margaret", I said, "we must go in March and cross our fingers that the weather will be kind to us."
I settled down to really planning the tour. I got out the blank map and firstly, marked the position of Neath. Next I marked Swansea, Carmarthen and Haverfordwest - our first stop. Then I marked Cardigan and Aberystwyth where we were stopping for two nights; Dolgellau and Caernarfon where we would stop for two nights; Holyhead and Rhyl for a one night stop; Wrexham two nights, Welshpool two nights and our final stop for one night - Abergavenny.

What was the next thing I had to do? Well I had to work out the times of the buses and the changes we would have to make. Now this is where I was most fortunate. Another friend, Mr. Mark Jones, gave me a copy of the " Wales Bus, Rail and Tourist Map and Guide" which was invaluable. This guide contains information about places, routes and times of all the buses throughout Wales.
The first day I had to make sure we were in Carmarthen in plenty of time to catch the only bus that was going to Haverfordwest and that was going at 12.15pm. I worked out that we should leave Neath in plenty of time to change buses in Swansea and catch the 9.35 to Carmarthen where we would change buses and have enough time to have a break for tea and a sandwich before leaving on the 12.15pm for Haverfordwest. And so on.