Braces Bakery

What a great day! Rick and I were lucky because our vocational day included a tour of the Braces Bakery (a local bread bakery.) Our tour was led by Colin Brace, an 84 year old Rotarian that still works everyday – he was incredible! His grandfather and father started it as a small bakery in 1902 and he has continued the company to grow as a family business and they now sell throughout the south of Wales and in the UK – they have 325 employees. The tour was fascinating – I fear the rest of the team might be a little jealous when I tell them about it tomorrow. Don’t worry, Rick and I got free samples for the rest of the group to enjoy! We toured two parts of the factory, one which specialized in the famous Welsh cakes (picture below.) The other factory was almost entirely automatic requiring only 4 people to run it. It produces 6,000 loaves of bread per hour - 24/7! About 580,000 loaves of bread a week – simply amazing! Colin offered several of the Welsh cakes and loaves to Rick and I to hold right as they were coming off the conveyer belt. Then we handed them back and watched as they were whisked away to be wrapped and then ultimately off to the store shelves. Hopefully Rick didn’t pass any of his germs on to the customers.

Welsh cakes headed to the oven.....by the hundreds! (reminded me of Krispy Kreme but on a far larger scale.)

Rick, Colin Brace and Betsy in the lovely Bakery fashion holding our 'goodie bags.'

Following the tour, we were invited to a Rotary Club lunch. We accepted the invitation, although I felt a little out of place – not only because I was the only female but because I was the only one in jeans and tennis shoes. Everyone else was in ties and jackets (bloody Americans!) The highlight of the lunch was the raffle drawing at the end of the meal. They offered me to draw the winner and as I drew the ticket I mentioned how funny it would be if I drew my winning ticket….and as luck would have it - I did. Not only was I the only girl and the only one in jeans but I also was the only one to walk off with a free bottle of wine. That’s my kind of Rotary meeting!……

Another day with great weather! Here I am standing on the hotel grounds where we had the lunch today and where we'll give a presentation on Thursday night. Behind me is a suspension bridge, very similar to the bridge in Charleston - only smaller.

I spent the rest of the afternoon having a great time with my host Spencer. First, we had a stopover in his favorite local pub. Great atmosphere. We then took a little walk through his neighborhood and he showed me the lot that he rents across the street to grow a vegetable garden. I was amazed when he told me that he only has to pay £2.50 a year – that’s about 5 US Dollars a year – incredible! I guess that’s why he has three plots instead of just one.

Spencer and his vegetable garden.

Tomorrow our team is off to visit a castle (the 2nd largest in Europe,) followed by a lunch in a pub with a beer tasting, then we’ll tour a well known cathedral in the area and we’ll finish off the day with a special dinner at an old farmhouse owned by David Curtis, one of the Rotarians that’s been showing us around. We were told to bring bathing suits tomorrow night, not quite sure what to expect.

Thanks to everyone following the blog and your comments. Keep em’ coming.

-Betsy