Newport Travel Guide

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Every two years my town of Newport hosts a floodlit cycle race the Newport Nocturne and it has attracted top cyclists from past and present including names such as Sean Kelly and British Olympic gold medallist Jason Queally. The race is the UK's only floodlit street race and possibly the only floodlit cycle race in Britain too. There is as yet no regular date for the event other than some time in September. Newport used to host a daytime cycle road race annually but I must say that I prefer the night time race as the atmosphere is that much more exciting!

Equipment: No equipment necessary unless you'd like to bring along a camera

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Fondest memory: My home town of Newport, Shropshire holds the record for the lowest temperature ever recorded in England and Wales. This was during the severe (by British standards) winter of 1981-82 when on the 10th January 1982 Newport recorded a low of -26.1 C, this temperature was only beaten (the same night I believe) by Braemar in Scotland which recorded -27.2 C. I remember standing in the back garden that night determined to experience "real" cold for the first time in my life .. I must admit I was somewhat disappointed, nothing cracked or fell off and it didn't feel anywhere near as cold as it was supposed to be! The following day we recorded the lowest daytime maximum temperature of -11.3 C .. that, for some reason felt an awful lot colder.