Surprisingly it’s not the same everywhere as there are some isolated areas of Britain where broadband looks to be many moons away. For instance one of the b&b’s that we use for those of our guests that want to get away from the pressures of the mobile phone and the PC Is The Lion Hotel in Gwytherin.

Gwytherin is a village of 200 people in situated near Llanrwst in Snowdonia, North Wales and is the setting for Ellis Peters’ first Cadfael novel “A Morbid Taste for Bones”. The Lion, a classy 6 roomed b&b and restaurant is also the village pub so a great place to meet up for a pint with the locals after a hard day’s walking or visiting the castles of Conwy, Caernarfon and Beaumaris .

The thing about Gwytherin is that not only does it lack broadband and a mobile phone signal – the normal phone reception suffers when more than a handful of the villagers use their phones at the same time. Little wonder that the red public phone box is also a meeting point for villagers. It’s also conveniently close to the pub and the only phone box that I know that always has a vase of fresh cut flowers.

This lack of signal must be a little annoying for the villagers but for the rest of us this is just perfect for a few quiet days.

On the way we stopped off for morning coffee at Llangoed Hall, a country House hotel owned by Sir Bernard Ashley, widower of Laura Ashley. It was either that or The Little Chef in Builth Wells. No competition. Sorry Little Chef. There’s no reception desk at Llangoed Hall, so you really do feel that you’re walking into your very (very) rich uncle’s house. We wandered into the drawing room that looked out over the croquet lawn towards the farmland beyond, introduced ourselves to one of the staff, and ordered a coffee. I could have easily spent the rest of the day being waited on hand and foot reading the latest Grisham novel, but Lake Vyrnwy beckoned so off we set.

The rain didn’t stop on the journey north through the undulating Welsh hills giving them a mystical appeal as we headed towards Lake Vyrnwy and the hotel of the same name that sits overlooking this lake. This area of mid Wales if sparsely populated with no large towns so a great area for driving, where you can easily venture off the beaten track onto one of the side roads to find some amazing spots. No need for sat nav – just follow your nose.

Lake Vyrnwy is man-made and has major political significance in Wales as it was the first valley to be flooded to supply water for the industrial towns of England. The recipients of the water were (and still are) Liverpool and coincidentally on the day we visited, the dam was celebrating 111 years to the day since its taps (if that’s the right technical term) were closed to allow the water to start building and drowning the valley behind. As part of the project the inhabitants of the son to be flooded village of Llanwddyn were moved lock, stock and barrel to a newly built village a few miles below the dam. The iconic tower in the picture is part of the dam’s workings.

The hotel has an enviable position overlooking the lake and is a great base for exploring mid Wales. Anthony Rosser, General Manager had kindly invited us to lunch and as I sat there discussing Spa and Activity packages I could not help thinking that I was a very lucky fellow indeed to make a living doing this. The view over the lake from the hotel was stunning even though the weather was wet. Surprisingly there were still quite a few Gore-tex clad ramblers around. I guess that when you’ve got the right clothes there’s no such thing as bad weather.

This is a great hotel that make you feel immediately comfortable and at home – the sort of place in which to spend a few days to recharge one’s batteries. They have a fabulous newly opened spa with some amazing treatments and can offer a good range of outdoor activities ranging from walking tours to clay pigeon shooting. With enough dollars in your pocket they would also arrange some pheasant shooting for you. I can imagine that the shooting party made up of wealthy industrialists that were staying at the hotel when we visted would keep the hotel in pheasant meat for weeks to come as well as paying a handsome bill for the privelege

So two great hotels in one day that I would no doubt be seeing again in 2008 (with wife in tow of course). So it was that I set off on the journey home in a particularly good mood. In fact it was one of those “wonder were that road leads to” moods that meant, of course, that I got lost twice and reached home about an hour and a half later than expected. However on the up side I found myself in the small town of Montgomery, on the Wales England border, for the first time. With its bow windowed Georgian houses and cobbled pavements and dominated by a ruined 13^th century castle it was certainly worth getting lost for. If I’d had Sat Nav I never would have seen it. Thanks nose!

This is slightly different from my normal blog because it’s a bit of an appeal for you to vote for my chosen Big Lottery project. I’m not sitting on the fence with this one, as the time is quickly approaching for the panel to decide which project gets the £50 million from the Big Lottery Fund. This panel though, is made up of all the people of the UK. We’ve got until December 12 to decide a winner from four shortlisted projects and we’ll do this either online or by phone. As I live and work in Wales, and Newport, the city in which I live, is part of one of the projects, it’s no surprise that I’ll be voting for the Connect2 project put forward by the Welsh charity Sustrans. This particular project aims to overcome barriers that prevent people from walking and cycling for everyday journeys to school, work or the shops and is made up of 79 schemes across the UK. These barriers could be rivers, railways or busy roads and the project will pay for bridges and crossings that will link to walking and cycling networks. All the projects have merit and it’s interesting to view them – even if you’re sitting in the USA or Canada and not eligible to vote. If you are in the UK and eligible I’d urge you to get your vote in. These projects can make a major difference to the way we live and we need to support them in any way we can. So please vote and make it easier for me to get to the paper shop by bike every morning.