Llandrindod Wells is a 'Victorian' town with many splendid Victorian buildings including the Metropole Hotel shown here.

The town owes its existence to the discovery of mineral-rich springs here in the 18th century and the 'healing qualities' of the local spring waters attracted visitors to the area resulting in an economic boom.

Another well known building is 'The Gwalia', on the left, built in red brick with stone dressings and officially opened in 1900 and is now used as the Public Library.

During the 'season' between May and mid-September, visitors would take the waters at the pump rooms at the Rock Park and this was one of the hotels that they would have used.

As the town became more prosperous more large residences were built and this particular area, with its imposing houses, is very close to The Rock Park.

Situated in Middleton Street this is one of the original Victorian shop fronts which is now an organic/health food shop. All of the shops in the town would have been built in a similar style in Victorian times.

These three standing stones are not ancient but were erected to commemerate a medieval church, Capel Maelog, which used to stand nearby. The foundations were discovered nearby in the recent past and determined to be medieval but the church was finally abandoned in the early 16th century.

The Rock Park was originally set out in the 1860s to cater for the flourishing spa trade and now provides 12 acres of mature woodland together with the original Chalybeate Spring where you can still 'take the waters'. Many of the Victorian Spa buildings remain including the original Pump Room.

This shows the Main Entrance but there are various other entrances/exits around the town.

An ornamental lake was created, in the early 1870s, by draining marshland near the Pump House Hotel (which is now the current site of the Council offices). This lake is now a very pleasant area and it is an easy flat walk around the lake.

There is a sculpture of a water serpent and leaping carp which can be seen in the photograph at the far end of the lake. The scales on this sculpture are made of thousands of copper plates initialed by local people and visitors during it's construction.

We decided to visit the Cycle Museum although we weren't expecting to be impressed but we were very impressed and found it to be remarkably interesting. We have never seen so many bicycles (over 260 ranging from 1818 to the present day) in one place before.

As well as cycles there are many cycling memorabilia items on display. These include photos, club badges, silverware, jerseys, posters, lamps, signs, tools, maps, magazines and a special Sturmey Archer exhibition. This cycle museum is the National Cycle Museum for the UK and is one of the leading world cycle museums. At the time of writing the museum is open only on Mondays & Fridays.

For those of you who are interested in Railway Heritage this signal box on Llandrindod Wells Station is an old lever operated signal box. It is no longer in use and was once open as a museum but is currently closed.