Thursday 30 April 2009

Day 26 To Catterall














These pictures from the bottom: Preston town centre, the Lancaster Canal near the centre of Preston, ducks on the canal, and 2 of a heron on the canal.

Day 26th - Thu 30th April. Rain was forecast and we awoke to grey skies and drizzle which remained with us for most of the day. Our B&B was a large and unusual stone-built house with a Loire chateau-style turret at one end. Our landlady, Lisa, had inherited it from her parents and had one wing set aside for B&B where she runs a welcoming and efficient operation. She kindly donated £5 to our charity as we set off. We walked over fields and lanes northward until we reached the River Ribble a couple of miles from Preston. I have walked along the Ribble Valley up in the Yorkshire Dales where it is a pretty stream, whereas at Preston it is a big river and has been used to bring large cargoes to and from the city. The tide was out and it looked rather sad on this grey day. The flat countryside was littered with power pylons as there was a large electricity station which we passed. I wonder why people are prepared to accept these so readily but have such a problem with wind turbines, which would be fewer in number and are less unattractive?
Preston has changed a lot over the years and is a clean and lively city where we did some bits of shopping and had a coffee. We found our way out of the centre and onto the the Lancaster Canal, which is hidden away behind the houses. After a couple of miles we turned off the canal onto a pleasant cycle path that took us out to the countryside. As we found before, this was a charming way to walk through an urban area: it is restful, leafy, there is wildlife and it is easy walking. These sorts of routes have saved us from walking through miles and miles of suburbia,and we are very grateful!
We crossed the M55 Blackpool motorway, then north of Woodplumpton, rejoined the Lancaster canal which we followed for the rest of the afternoon. It rained steadily but the miles passed quickly, and our feet felt the benefit of not walking on concrete! John spotted some huge mushrooms growing out of a willow tree - about 50cms across the cap! It looked rather like a parasol mushroom (Lepiota) but they grow from the ground, not from trees. We had seen herons on the Ribble and lots of ducks, swans and coots, but there was a heron standing on the canal bank which stood long enough for me to get some great shots of it, including one of it taking off. Apparently there is a large heronry - a collection of heron's nests - nearby which is thriving.
The canal, main West coast rail line, the M6 and the A6 all come together at Bilsborrow, where we counted 5 open pubs and a canal boat marina, along with other services for travellers. The only reason must be the confluence of transport at this point as there is no actual town.
We stopped at a pub with nice rooms in Cotterall having done exactly 20 miles where, after dinner, I got to perform in the bar. It was quiet at first, but became quite busy later with locals who seemed to enjoy the experience, and we got to meet some people and get a better feel for the area and also pick up some donations. In spite of the day, we felt this was a successful and rather enjoyable day.

Wednesday 29 April 2009

Day 25 - Towards Preston








Day 25 - Wednesday April 29th. I was planning routes until 11.30 - right up to Glasgow in order to get timescales and distances into perspective, and I was awake before 6am, so it wasn't the best night's sleep. I have forgotten what it's like to just wake up, have a cuddle and turn over and go back to sleep till... whenever. Anyway, job done and I was awake enough to tackle the day. We had breakfast in the Little Chef over the way, which was what one would expect. Why does everything have to come wrapped in plastic? Can you imagine the cost of that in resources and waste, all for 1 man's crappy meal?
We walked a bit to traffic lights to cross the busy St Helens - Liverpool road, then walked up a lane through an industrial estate where it was still gritty and oily and industrial. This is good because it means people are working, but the poor stream that ran behind it actually had rubbish embedded in it's bed - the remains of bits of plastic and metal. We were then out onto a landscape that was now beginning to show signs of rolling, rather than being completely flat, comprised mostly of huge fields of green grass, or wheat or some other grain - very different from the sheep of Wales and the small fields of Devon. Being Lancashire, there is usually some sign of industry, but we were keeping out of the towns and industrial areas. The path took us into a wood and became very narrow and muddy at and we slopped along this for several hundred metres before emerging back onto fields again. Luckily the ground was firm under the mud and water so it was passable. Although the land was rising, it seems to have been very marshy at some time because there are drainage ditches around the fields and woods tend to be boggy. A watery bonus was the Orrell Water Park which is a large area of woods and ponds with well laid paths and bird watching points: it was busy with people out taking their exercise.
From the point we entered Orrell, we were walking on streets, past houses for several miles as one village led into the next. It was not unpleasant because the places were well looked after and we were climbing a hill, so began to get some good views east. We didn't find anywhere to stop for refreshments until noon, when a pub was just opening that was well run and provided some excellent soup. Spending day after day for weeks on end in the exclusive company of one other person, other than one's partner, is an unusual situation. Even with a partner, you usually go out to work rather whereas we are together pretty much all of the time. We both seem to be adaptable, and happy to give each other space and haven't had any serious problems or arguments, but I was feeling that John was having some problem with me. We are both finding this challenge tough and not relishing the prospect of more weeks doing the same: we want to get back to normal life with our wives. I have done a directional walk like this before, albeit in stages, so was better prepared for the fact that some days are just boring and hard work, but John had not so had a rather different expectation. We discussed the situation over our soup, and it transpired that there wasn't really a problem, but John's silence was his way of coping with a situation he wasn't enjoying very much. We agreed to make the best of it, and enjoy what we could and try to be a bit more responsive to each other, and continued our walk in better spirits which were enhanced when John got news that his old employer, Xerox, were contributing £5,000 to Precious Lives (www.justgiving.com/johndrinkwater).
We are approaching the 500 mile point today (ended the day at 498.4 miles!) so I reckon that, if we stick to the planned route and keep the pace going, we are close to half way! And we are still walking, with no injuries and no serious problems.
We emerged from the villages onto paths on top of the hill with great views to the East: considering the view included the industrial heartlands of Bolton and Chorley, it looked very green, and the trees are particularly lovely with the new leaves coming out. The remainder of the day was long lanes and minor roads through land that was flat again so was easy walking but not very interesting. Croston was an attractive, older village with an intriguing area around the church, a pretty green and 5 open pubs, but completely choked and spoiled with parked cars and traffic. We reached our B&B at 5.30, very relieved to be able to get off our feet as usual.







Day 24 - Tuesday April 28th. This was a day we had been rather dreading as we had to get through the towns of Runcorn and Widnes in order to cross the Mersey, and in addition, the countryside would be flat and less interesting. The weather was suitably drizzly as we walked down the hill on winding streets towards the A56. It was the rush hour, and there were traffic jams along the road, children going to school and people rushing to work all around us. The A road was the only route across the River Weaver and the Weaver Navigation which is, or was, a ship canal. The couple of miles into the edges of Runcorn were quite interesting with the bridges over the water and the marshy countryside leading up to them.
We soon joined a cycle route and from that point for a couple of miles hardly saw a house! The route was tree lined and separated from the suburbs around us, which made for pleasant easy walking. We did have to walk up the side of a large road and through some housing estates over the last bit, but it was a great deal better than we'd expected. Runcorn is mostly a new town, but there is an old bit by the River Mersey, however we only saw it from above as we climbed up onto the bridge that crosses the Manchester Ship Canal and the river. The Mersey is very wide, flat and sandy, and with the tide out, the actual river looked quite small compared to the size of the channel.
On the north side, we went down into the area called 'West Bank', made up of older house in the Coronation Street style, then followed the streets through the east side of Widnes into Halton, one of the suburbs. There were a lot of business and industrial buidings, but most seemed to be empty and there were plenty of To Let signs. Quite depressing. We had coffee and a tea cake in a cafe on the main street of Halton, then continued through the suburban streets and out into the flat countryside. This part of the day was dominated by the huge power station which sits with it's 8 cooling towers to the east of Widnes, so each time you looked up, it loomed large until the mid afternoon.
We trudged along roads, lanes and the occasional footpath across mainly agricultural land and the occasional small settlement or industrial area. We passed through part of the Merseyside Forest, which is new forest planted over the past decade in order to replace forest chopped down in previous years. It was good to see large numbers of young trees growing, which will be very lovely in years to come. We took one small diversion through a marshy nature trail area that looked rather dry and had to circle a field to get back to the path. Then we passed an extraordinary property just south of Haydock where the first thing we saw was a rusty field gun pointing out across the fields. There was a lot of scrap metal, vehicles, wood and rubbish and a smallish stone-built house in a compound surrounded by a high fence, with barking alsations inside and two women incongruously sitting in the garden. What an odd place!
The lane took us into new housing developments, and then into the streets of Haydock where we found a Travelodge to stay in at 4pm - we had done our 20 miles, but finished early for a change - a benefit of walking on flat country with no stiles!

Monday 27 April 2009

Day 23 - Marford to Frodsham







Day 23 - Monday 27th April. It was dull and drizzly as Annona drove us back to Marford, but hey, it makes a change! The day was to be mostly on streets and lanes over the level north Cheshire countryside - a lot easier but less scenic than recently. We walked along the B5445 out of Marford, then through a few villages lying to the west of the Duke of Westminster's estate. A lot of houses were painted black and white with rather gothic windows, but not very old, that seems to have been a local style. We turned onto a long straight country lane to Eccleston, a pretty brick village just south of Chester. Here we could see that we had left the limestone behind and were back onto an old red sandstone geology as we passed through a cutting; this rock has been used to build many of the cities in the West of Britain, and Chester is no exception.
The entry to Chester was on another straight country lane, then along pleasant streets with some very impressive houses: there seems to be a lot of money in this part of the world judging by the homes and the tidy state of the countryside. This as my first visit to Chester, and I enjoyed the real and mock-tudor architecture - although there are a lot of original tudor buildings, in Victorian times, much of the city centre was re-developed in a tudor style. We had a sandwich in a pub and took a bit of time to look around this attractive city, then set off northward through less prosperous suburban streets. There followed a long walk along lanes and a main road towards Helsby, but then decided to take a more scenic route to the east. There was another long lane walk to a range of hills, where we joined the Sandstone Trail: this was well marked and very pleasant, winding through the fields and woods and worth the few miles xtra on our day. In the last mile, the route started to rise, and we climbed up and up to about 450 feet before it levelled out. Then the signpost pointed to a further short sharp climb and some steep steps, or an easier route to the left. We made a bad mistake in taking the latter as we were, in fact, within a few hundred yards of the hotel we would be staying at. However the easy path took us downhill to the village of Frodsham (where we thought we would be staying) whilst the hotel was right at the top of the hill. So we descended to Frodsham, doing a circuit of the hill and woods and then had to climb steeply once more to arrive half an hour later at the hotel! We were very annoyed with ourselves - the end of the day practical joke again. The Beatles and lots of other Liverpool groups played in the club that used to be at this venue apparently and we had dinner with a spectacular view overlooking the Mersey river and the towns and factories along it.

Sunday 26 April 2009






Day 22 - Sunday April 26th. John drove us back to Craignant where we had ended yesterday, and we bade him farewell and set off for a delightful morning in the sunshine, walking up and down the hills of mid Wales. And the hills were very steep at times, if only a few hundred feet high, but the views at the top were great. The dyke was quite high at this point with a well-preserved ditch - it's amazing how it has stood the test of time, running mostly through farmland and with trees growing out of it.
We descended into a deep valley to get good views of Chirk Castle from below. There followed a 400 foot climb through woods and fields, and we found ourselves on fields looking down on the same castle. The air was sparkling clear,so the views over England to the east and over the castle to the south were huge, and we could see back to some hills we had been on in previous days. There followed a more gradual descent down to the Llangollen Valley and you could see why Offa had put his dyke along here as his guards would have had uninterrupted views over all the country below.
We wound down through the little hilly streets of Froncysyllte, reaching the Shropshire Union Canal (again) just below the village, but still high above the valley floor. The canal unusually took a 90 degree bend to the North at this point, and was very busy with canal boats and people watching and walking. The canal then crosses the Llangollen Valley and the River Dee 165 feet up in the air by an Aqueduct! It is just wide enough to enable canal boats to cross with about 6 inches to spare on each side. There is also a footpath on the east side which was busy with walkers. It was built by Thomas Telford in the nineteenth century, and is an extraordinary construction, especially since it is still useable 150 years later! The Llangollen branch canal continues on the north side of the aqueduct.
We stopped for a pint of shandy at the Telford Arms and heard the locals talking about jobs being lost and exported as factories closed down. We were now in an industrial development on the approaches to Wrexham and the countryside we were walking through changed dramatically. We were in maze-like streets of little houses between large factories, and there was the usual mess associated with such places, vacant lots, litter, dereliction in some places. Our route took us up the hill and out of the urban sprawl back onto fields and farms on the east side of Eglwyseg Mountain - this was very different from the soft grass-covered ridges we had been on during previous days, and was a high rounded moorland covered in heather. After about 6 miles of country lanes, we dropped down to villages that lie to the West of Wrexham - these have sprawled into housing estates that are utilitarian, and far from interesting. Lower down, we were amongst older houses, normally terraces of small stone houses on steep winding roads.
We started to tire as we walked up and down miles of these streets - it's much more tiring than attractive fields and woods! For a while we had to follow a path between a railway and a high fence, which opened out into a strip a rough woodland. This ended at a railway bridge over the A483 dual carriageway which we had to cross safely. We thought the path would then continue along the railway but were disappointed because it dissolved into scrub, and we were forced to climb a high steep bank, which was far from easy with tired legs, and take the lane above into Gresford. Only a couple of miles to go, and we were now in streets that were much easier, being flat, and prosperous than those on the north side of the tracks.
We were being met at Marford to which the most direct route was through a wood on a footpath. We found a path and it was a pleasant last section through the trees, but then it transpired that this particular path went the wrong side of an old quarry, which added 15 minutes to our walking day and made us late. Thus the last part of the day turned out to be the most difficult once more, and I felt as if I'd put my body through the mill. However we were in Annona 's car before long, driving through the sunlit Cheshire countryside. She treated us royally, and I had a wonderful bath followed by the most delicious home-cooked meal. We also met Annona's neighbours, who were curious about these two 'gentlemen' who were suddenly spending a night with this mature single lady.

Day 21 - Near Oswestry




Day 21 - Saturday 25th April. After breakfast, John F drove us back to The Powis Arms at Pool Quay. It was cool and rather grey as we crossed a stile off the main road and onto the banks of the Severn river. One week ago, we had just crossed the mouth of the same river at Chepstow, where it was a mighty, but very muddy, estuary. Here it is a modest little river winding and twisting through the green fields, but it is still muddy! This was the Offa's Dyke route but the dyke we were walking on was a flood control dyke that runs for some miles in this area. It made for easy walking with pleasant views of the hills around and we occupied ourselves with chat, jokes and the odd song: John F is a great fund of jokes and having his company made for a lively and pleasant couple of days.
After about 6 miles, we arrived at Four Crosses where we thought we might be able to sit down and have a coffee; the sun had come but there was nowhere for elevenses. A largish pub called the Golden Lion advertised all sorts of things including coffee but was firmly shut and even had a nasty guard dog in the yard at the side, but was firmly shut. We then had to yomp along the main road for a mile to Llanymynech - this is always noisy and rather intimidating, so to be avoided if possible. We quickly found a pub that was open and with a great welcome - the Bradford Arms. Bob and Kath Headley run this pub beautifully, and we had a good cup of coffee whilst talking with the locals, then decided to have a toastie as lunch to keep us going for the afternoon. The pub is decked out in red and white with lots of St George's flags. This is because the village is both in Wales and Enland, and the Bradford is on the English side of the border. People used to cross the border for a drink on Sundays when Welsh pubs had to close by simply crossing the road!
We alse met David Beeston who keeps the records of animal movements at Dudley zoo, where they breed rare species.
After lunch we set off in high spirits, climbing up a limestone hill, past a quarry to the first of several great views of the day, (each with it's climb of course) with the best above Tyn y Coed where the Rotay club had placed a plaque showing distances to the places around. We were delighted to see that we were only 40 miles from Liverpool, which made us feel we were making serious progress! Also interestig was the old Oswestry horse racing track which is now just an open space and ruin, but with an interesting history.
This was a delightful day of views and lovely valleys, but we were happy to descend at last to a hamlet called Craignant to be met by my old friend Caroline and taken back to our start point to collect John's car. That evening we took John out to dinner in Shrewsbury as some return for all his hospitality, generosity and company. Thanks a million John!

Day 20 Fforden to Craignant (Oswestry)









Day 20 - Friday 24th April. We had a relatively leisurely start to the day, and first went to Welshpool for some essential items, then on to John F's office so I could post the latest blogs. So it was after 10am that we set off from Woodlands farm, down the road to the cross-roads where we had finished yesterday. It was dry again, but more cloudy and breezy. The first part of the day continued over farmland but was fascinating for John F because he has lived and worked around here for 20 years but never seen Offa's Dyke nor walked these paths and seen Welshpool from this perspective.
It is good to have some company for a while: John and I have been together all day every day for nearly three weeks, and conversation inevitably becomes more stilted and predictable. There are some strains, centred around our different walking speeds (I tend to go on ahead and then wait for him) and shear over-familiarity combined with missing our loved ones. Overall, we are getting on well and don't argue but cooperate well, and this will have to continue for the next 5 weeks or so. Therefore having another's company for a couple of days is a pleasant diversion and John F is always lively and amusing.
Our route then climbed steadily up to 1,400 feet through pine forests, then over open grass with great views over Welshpool. We might have seen the mountains of Snowden had the weather been clearer. 'Our lunchtime destination was a pub on the main Shrewsbury road that we crossed just after 1pm, but it was closed. We then made a rather silly decision, to walk towards Welshpool where John thought we'd find another that was open. This took us a couple of miles out of our way and meant that we would not reach our target for the day, and also involved some walking on the main road. We did get our beer and some food and enjoyed it, but had we continued on the path, would have found a better, open pub without the diversion.However there was no way we could tell - you just can't rely on pubs to be open at lunchtime any more. One benefit of our diversion was that we got to walk along more of the Shropshire Union Canal that runs through Welshpool. It is quite delightful - a peaceful gentle waterway running through the woods and fields and only a few yards from the trading estates and main roads.
At 4.30 we finished at The Powis Arms, a pub by the canal run by a local farmer's wife as a sideline, and very nicely too. We had walked 16 miles and were still 4 miles short of the day's objective, but it was a varied and amusing day. Vera who is John F's business manager, collected us from the pub and took us first to a supermarket in Welshpool where I did some food shopping in order to cook us a nice dinner, rather than going out again. So after I'd had a shower, I got everything out and started chopping. I put some chicken stock on to boil, but couldn't work out how the hob worked - it was just a glassy black plate. John came in telling me it was an induction hob and showed me how to press the invisible buttons, so I waited for the stock to heat and continued chopping. After 10 minutes, I realised that the hob wasnt heating the stock and we then spent about an hour trying to get it to work. It was now 8.30 and I had prawns and a boned chicken and veg to cook. It was rather late to go all the way into Shrewsbury and we had spent quite a on food, so what to do? Well, I cooked garlic prawns in the oven, which worked OK, so we had a starter. Then John called someone he knew who was living in another flat who kindly said I could use their kitchen. I decided to knock up a stir fry and rice and carried everything out of John's flat, along the road in into his friend's flat. 20 minutes later we were sat around the dining room table eating our main course, and I went to bed early.

Friday 24 April 2009

Day 19 Knighton to Fforden Nr Welshpool







Day 19 - Thusday 23rd April. Our full packs were waiting for us in our pleasant rooms at The George and Dragon pub, so packing was a bit more complicated than it had been for a number of days. We also had some reservations about how the day would go on the hills with all our kit on our backs. It was cloudy and cool again but with the promise of sunshine later. Knighton is built on steep land and the main street was quite a climb up to the clock tower and beyond. We then passed the Offa's Dyke information centre (closed) and down to a footpath which crossed the River Teme and then joined a minor road northward.
We had decided again to save time and our legs by using the road for the first few miles as it avoided a very steep climb, so it was an easy start overlooking the river valley, then up a valley to rejoin the pathway, which we followed for the rest of the day. Offa's Dyke often follows a pretty straight route north-south and was built up and down very steep hillsides in some places. Where it is still visible, which is for most of it's length in these parts, it consists of a ditch on the west (Welsh) side and an earth wall on the east side. These must have been steeper and deeper in the past as they don't look like much of a defence now, but apparently they were reinforced with spikes in the walls and thorns in the ditch. I could not imagine how men without steel tools could have built something so huge, nor how it could have been defended.
Whilst we were up on the hills, it was very pleasant walking in the hazy sunshine along the dyke or next to it, on a wide track or on springy turf. There were also deep valleys to descend to and climb from, sometimes on a very steep incline, which were hard work with our packs. However we managed OK, so perhaps are getting fitter.
We encountered a handful of walkers during the day but the byways and paths are really very empty; Offa's Dyke is walked regularly however, and is well maintained currently. This is much less likely to continue when government spending dries up in the years to come - I suspect it will result in general neglect as there are too many other priorities on spending.
At a hamlet called Mainstone in one of the deep valleys, we encountered a very pretty little church in a well-maintained churchyard in which there were writings on display by a certain vicar named C.Drinkwater. There was a stone that had been placed on a bit of carpet near the pulpit, but I have yet to discover its significance except that this seems to be the source of the settlement's name.
After some 15 miles, we climbed to the summit of the last hill and from there could see a long way north into Shropshire and Clwyd, with the Long Mynd to our right. After that, it was a long steady descent from the hill to the fields and villages below. We passed through the grounds of Mellington Hall, still on the actual dyke but through some very pretty woods with wild flowers in abundance. Mellington seems to be set up as a leisure park, with a caravan park, restaurant and other facilities provided.
The last 5 miles were rather long, still following the visible dyke, but over flat intensively farmed fields with endless stiles in our way. We finally arrived at our destination after 6.30 and were very glad to be picked up by John Frost and whisked off for a couple of pints of beer, followed by showers and dinner. 21 miles and over 4,000 feet of climb today.

Day 18 Nr Hay to Knighton



Day 18 - Wed 22nd - For the first time in many days, it was grey and misty, but very calm. We were on day packs again as Yo was taking our main packs to Knighton before driving home, so we packed everything would end up in the right place. After breakfast, we bade farewell to our kind hosts, and Yo drove us to the start point on the A438. She was going home to Cornwall and we won't see her until we get to Fort William, when she is coming up for the last 2 weeks walking to act as backup again.

This was to be a grey and green day: a calm, cloudy sky and the vivid green of the fields and hills. We started steeply uphill on a lane, which we left to follow the Offa's DYke route pleasantly up lanes and over fields and heaths to 'LIttle Mountain' - a bit OTT for a 1,000 foot hill - but nice walking on the springy turf. The air wasn't clear enough to see the distant views, but this hilly country is very attractive and remained so all day. The path joined the road at Newchurch (in Powys) where do-it-yourself tea, coffee and biscuits were on offer along with a picnic bench in the churchyard. We took advantage of this, put some change in the honesty box and sat happily outside to enjoy their generosity.

The Offas Dyke route then left the road to climb into the hills, but we decided to stick on the road, which was very quiet and easy walking. Roads are harder on the feet, but quicker than footpaths and where they are also more direct we have to consider our overall objective and the length of the day's walk. We stopped at a wayside inn at noon for a pint of shandy and got talking to the friendly local couple within. My first impression was that here were two people drinking early in the day and being rather over-friendly, so I thought they must have a drink problem. It transpired that they were on their way home from a key meeting with their solicitors, and were celebrating the outcome which, apparently,was that they were no longer under the thrall of Barclays Bank. They ran a small machine hire business in Presteigne, and were sorry that we were not passing that way. It is so easy to jump to wrong conclusions just by appearances!

We were walking mostly on roads for the rest of the day and made good time. From a hamlet called Whitton, where the school was coming out, we had a long climb up to the final section of path, over the hill to Knighton. I had gone ahead - I walk faster than John, and prefer to go at my own pace then have a rest while I wait for him - but am not carrying a map. The reason for this is that John as a sophisticated GPS device with all the maps on it. I did have my little laptop in my bag (it is quite light) which also has the maps but I obviously don't use it while walking. So I had memorised the route, and when I came to an intersection I couldn't see an Offa's DYke signpost pointing away from the road. The next road junction was 100 yards further on, where there was a signpost, so I went on and waited there for John. He seemed a long time, and after about 30 minutes I got worried. A van driver said that he had seen no-one on the road, so I actually got my laptop out and checked - I should have waited at the first intersection. John, of course, had seen I wasn't there and assumed I had gone on so did the same as there had been no mobile phone reception for some time.

The final bit of the day was on Offas Dyke, over a last bit of hill then steeply down to the little town of Knighton, where are housed in very comfortable rooms and got a good dinner. John has been walking with a cold, and tomorrow will be a longer harder day with many hills, so we both hoped he would be feeling better!

Dayn 17 Llanthony to Hay





Day 17 - Tuesday 21st. Dry and clear yet again. I was up early checking and planning routes: it turns out that we can get to the Welshpool area, where John Frost is joining us, in two 20-mile days if we omit Hergest Ridge and Kington. This is a pity as I would have enjoyed it, but it makes for a very big day with packs, or would mean ending a day in a remote area. So we will focus on Goal 1 and make the distance.

After breakfast Yolanda drove us back through Hay and up the little mountain roads to Llanthony, where we set off at 10am; an hour later than normal, but this would be a shorter day. We stayed in the valley and walked up norhwards up the valley on paths and empty farm lanes. This is the Vale of Ewyas in which the River Honddu (Honthy) runs between the high ridges of the Black Mountains from Gospel Pass at 542 metres height for 10 miles to Pandy at 200 metres. It is a spectacular and beautiful valley populated by small farms and hamlets. It is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, although those hills are a bit to the west and the footpath network is popular and well marked. Our route climbed gradually up the valley on the East side of the river and was easy walking. The main sound was bleating sheep, but there was also the sound of the river and bird song. After a few miles, we reached the hamlet of Capel-y-ffin, where there are two tiny chapels and a few houses, but it seems to be a meeting point as there are people there each time we pass it. We were now on the narrow road that runs through the valley, but it was very quiet and we saw few cars. As we walked and rose above 1,000 feet, the trees started to thin out and the view of the top of the valley opened out before us. We reached Gospel Pass, where the road enters the valley from Hay after a couple of hours and were treated on the north side to a panorama covering a huge area, from the Brecon Beacons in the south to Herefordshire in the north. The descent towards Hay on Wye over springy turf was thus quite glorious, and again, walking is easier than normal because of the dry ground - we are definitely being spoilt!

There was an ice cream van in a car park near the top where I bought a 99. I asked the man whether he got much business in this spot and he said that he comes up there for a rest! The air was cold, but I enjoyed the ice cream anyway. As I walked, as is often the case, I was thinking about earning a living on my return, and getting my finances back on track - this excursion is not a prudent thing to undertake, but if I don't do it now, at 60, when will I? The funny thing is that a walk like this within a defined time is definitely hard work, especially when you add in writing and publishing the blog. In order to record and publish the walk, I am carrying:
* A good camera, spare lens, charger, connector wires.
* A small laptop computer with charger.
* An iPhone with connector and charger plus a solar charger.
and, of course, a guitar. This is all in addition to clothes and camping gear. I don't mind the weight of my pack much and find that I can easily carry it up and down the hills, but there is a cost in muscular tiredness as the day progresses. I havent had to carry the full weight very much on this walk as Yolanda has made it possible for us to leave them in the car on the days she is around so we only have to carry day packs.

The way down to Hay is mostly over open heath, but when the farmland started, we encountered no problems and just enjoyed the walk. Sometimes,when the descent is steep and the ground easy, it is easier on the legs to 'jog' down the hill rather than walk. You have to have strong legs in order to be able to control your speed and stop, and 'jog' isn't a good word as you need to glide from step to step rather than bounce or it is very bad for the knees. Anyway, it gets you down very quickly.

Reaching Hay, we walked into the centre where every other shop seems to be a book shop - literature really has taken over here, and the annual literary festival has become huge. We found a pub and had a pint, but neither the pub, nor the welcome were up to much so we left after one drink. We were going to arrive at our destination only 3.5 miles away early so John called Yolanda to rearrange our rendezvous. The short afternoon's walk was along the river which,at this point, is wide and shallow, then over some dull fields and up to the A438, which we had to follow for upwards of a mile with light, but fast traffic whizzing by. Distances on such roads seem long when you are walking. We were soon picked up by Yo in the car and returned to our base for tea and a bath and to prepare ourselves for a couple of longish days.

Tuesday 21 April 2009

Day 16 Monmouth to Llanthony





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Day 16 Monday. I was up before 7 on yet another smiling morning after quite a good night's sleep and was glad to use the shared washing facilities before anyone else was up. I started to pack my stuff away when Yo appeared with Vicky the dog to tell me that breakfast was at 8am. We decided that the wet tent would have to be bundled into the boot of her car and it could then be dried out that evening: she was going on to see friends with whom we would be staying for a couple of nights. Yolanda has taken on the role of supporting our expedition and has been absolutely amazing ferrying us around and organising us. Nothing is too much trouble and she always tries to think ahead. Normally I just get on with what I have and make do, but she makes sure everything is worked out in advance and keeps everything running smoothly. She will be helping in the background until Wednesday this week, then is joining us again for the last 2 weeks in Scotland.

So on another sparkling morning, John and I set off up the road following the Offa's Dyke path signs, climbing up to a large wood on a hill - our first of several climbs that day. We were soon walking in fields and little woods alongside the River Trothy who's course we would more or less follow for over 10 miles. It was lovely pastoral countryside with lots of fine views over hills and valleys and towards the Black Mountains where we were headed. Our original target was Pandy, but as we had no packs and the weather was good, we thought we might go further. The way was never level, so there was some work to do but the great thing was that the Offa's Dyke path is very well marked and new gates had replaced stiles courtesy of Monmouth County Council. In fact all of the paths looked very well marked and and set up and we encountered no problems across the farms. Most of the farms had sheep, cattle or horses and wiith springtime, there were lot of young livestock: innumerable lambs of course but also a number of foals, some very young and looking like their legs are too long to be manageable. We crossed some cider orchards, but few crops in this hilly country.

The cold morning air warmed with the bright sunshine and as the day wore on, we needed to fill our water bottles more than once. We crossed and recrossed the Trothy, passing the site of the Grace Dieu monastry of which nothing remains apart from the field and farm names. Much more significant was the White Castle, in a commanding position high above the valleys which must have been quite a large fort in its day. A substantial portion of the walls and round towers remain, looked after by Cadwr, the Welsh heritage agency. As we strolled down the long field below these battlements, I mused on what it must have been like to march to a place like this from distant parts, then be told to attack the walls with, running uphill with a spear and protected by a helmet.

We walked pretty solidly aiming for a pub at the pretty village of Llangatock Lingoed, which involved a final yomp up a very steep hill to the white painted church. We were very disappointed to find it closed, but sat on the benches and managed to fill our water bottles. It would have been a very nice place to stay had we arrived in the evening - we are finding a lot of accommodation along this route, which isn't the case on less well known paths and lanes.

After a few more hills and dales, we arrived at the main road through Pandy and decided that we felt fresh enough to continue to Llanthony in the middle of the Black Mountains. This would involve a 1,300 foot climb up to the top of the ridge, but we thought it quite managable without packs and in such good weather. The climb was mostly quite steady, rather than very steep, and as we broke out of farmland onto the open heath, a hang glider wheeled down and landed near us with a disgruntled pilot who said that the weather was too calm and he hadn't been able to get any proper lift that day. We quickly got to the trig point on the first summit, and it was an easy walk to the second. I have walked these hills in more normal weather, and the ground is normally boggy with lots of puddles and they are often cloudy and rainy. However, for us the conditions couldn't have been better,and the huge panoramas were enhanced by the golden early evening sun. At one point, a group of ponies wandered towards the path and crossed in front of us. they looked very relaxed and happy.

There followed a long descent to the valley which we had hoped to gain by 6pm, but the path was rocky and narrow, and it was 6.30 before we emerged from the woods above the ruined priiory and saw Yo and Vicky coming to meet us. Llanthony is a lovely ruin, part of which is an hotel, in a glorious situation. It has a bar but, to our extreme disappointment this was closed as was a pub a little further down on the road. We had walked that last few mountainous miles dreaming of sitting with our beer and enjoying the evening before heading onwards in the car.

We were both very tired after 23 miles and a lot of climbing, and were glad to arrive an hour later at Ray and Elsie's for a bath and dinner. We were not, however, very sociable and both collapsed into bed rather early.

Day 15 - Tintern to Monmouth





Day 15 Sunday. Oh how glorious to be able to lie in bed till 9am and spend a morning not walking. I spent a couple of hours updating the blog, but then couldn't get online through our guest house network which was frustrating. However I managed to do so a bit later when we had a farewell drink at the pub, who had an open wifi line I was able to access.

LIndsey was heading back to Bucks at lunchtime and it was a bit of a juggle making the best of my few hours with Lindsey, planning and organising bits of gear and getting ready to o. It was another lovely day however and we sat together over a parting glass on the veranda of the Moon and Sixpence. A couple drove up in a camper van with a wild west figure painted on the side. He had a broad brimmed leather and had a resemblence to the painting. They sat next to us and we struck up conversation. He told us that the figure was Franklin Cody and this was his great grandson, Paul Cody. ?.F.Cody came over from the States and put on a Wild West show. This was not Buffalo Bill, but an alternative exciting spectacle of its times. Cody was an adventurer and he pioneered human flight using kites and was a character in Those Magnificent Men And Their Flyiing Machines. Paul also told me that he played guitar and sang similar folk/rock songs to myself: it's a pity we couldn't spend more time.

Yo decided to stay in the area and ferry our bags about and see some friends. We therefore set off with day packs only for Monmouth, which made it very easy for us. And it was another delightful afternoons walking through woods carpeted with bluebells, which had now come out, anenomes and other flowers. The latter half was all along the river in the warm sun so we were treated to long stretches of the winding Wye with the sun glinting, and the flies dancing in the air and birds singing. After 11 miles we crossed the bridge into Monmouth. I decided to camp that night in a site very close to John and Yos hotel. My little one-man tent hadnt been out of its bag for several years, and although simple to erect, it took a few attempts to get it right. It was very snug, but I managed to fit it all in and went for a shower. It brought back some distant memories of campsites from my youth and was certainly not as convenient as a B&B!

I dined alone at an Indian restaurant then spent the evening in a pub doing more planning for the coming days. By the time I got back to my tent at 10, it was very cold under a clear sky and my washing that had been drying was wet with dew. Oh dear. It was a bit odd, crawling into a tiny tent and bedding down by the light of a torch, and the ground did seem a little hard through my mat, but my sleeping bag, which is new and very light, also kept me warm through to the morning.

Day 14 Chepstow to Tintern





Day 14. Everything changed on Saturday morning: the sky was blue once more, and we knew that we only had to walk to Tintern Abbey, where we would meet Lindsey and Yolanda. Our plan said that we should get to Monmouth, but we both needed a rest, and the girls would not have appreciated us walking all day and coming back too tired to do anything! Now that we are discovering our actual capabilities, the route plan is having to change as our bodies are simply not capable of walking over 20 miles on hills, with packs, day after day. We have been reviewing our objectives and these are:
1. Succeed in getting to John O'Groats
2. Do it by the first week in June
3. Use a route that avoids main roads and is as interesting and attractive as possible.
We have already had to modify our original plans to make the route easier - we were planning to do a loop taking in The Cheddar Gorge, but went for a less interesting, but easier route. We will also not be able to follow all of the Offa's Dyke route, some of which has a lot of climb, but will sometimes take a more direct road route. If we had no time limits, it could be otherwise.

Chepstow is in a great position and in lovely hilly countryside, but the town has been rather spoiled by badly planned development and has lost much of its charm. However, there are still some nice buildings and the castle and old walls. There was a cold northerly breeze, but a bright blue sky, and it was very clear and we decided to take the Wye Valley Walk route out of Chestow, this being more direct and following the river more closely than the Offas Dyke route. The route, as it turned out, had been diverted because of renovation work, and we were sent through the race course, which was rather nice with great swathes of green turf and parkland and good views back to the Severn Bridge. The path keeps to the top of the Wye valley, winding parallel to the river through forests which are rich in flora of all kinds. There were carpets of wood anenomes and bluebells, ferns, and a great variety of trees, many covered in blossom, so it was delightful walking. There was a further diversion that took us through some attractive farmland, apart from one uphill slog across a ploughed field, before we returned to the Wye Valley forests again. There was a long descent down a path that seemed to have been a raging torrent at some time recently as it was stripped down to the rock with boulders strewn across the way. The path narrowed once more, and Tintern Abbey came into view through the trees and we were soon standing by the road looking down on it, with the river behind. We walked on through the village which is strewn for a mile or more along the A466 that runs right alongside the river, finding our guest house at the north end. We left our bags, and as LIndsey told us she would be arriving early, we went to The Moon and Sixpence pub that overlooks the river nearby and ordered a beer. No more walking today.

We spent the rest of the day being lazy and getting some badly needed rest, and enjoying being united with LIndsey and Yo again.

Our absences are not at all easy for the girls, and as the walking is hard for us, the venture seems rather quixotic. Now that we have committed to it, we must see it through in the best way possible. However, with all of this to consider, planning does become a balancing act and far from easy.

Sunday 19 April 2009

Day 13 - Over Two Bridges to Chepstow

It rained all night and Day 13, Friday, dawned murky and drizzly and cold. Sue returned us to Wraxhall Church, and were soon on our way, steeply up to The Downs School which was traversed by our footpath. The first part of the route was quite pleasant, in spite of the rain, through bluebell woods and over quiet fields. Walking through Prior's wood down to Portbury was actually enjoyable, but we were soon back on suburban streets, winding our way to Gordano Services just off the M5. This place was another world to us after the past days, and seemed totally industrial and ghastly, with cars and trucks roaring past, and the dirt, litter inhuman scale of things. Once we get in our cars, we have a very different appreciation of speed and danger from that when we are on foot.

We had a break in the services and a coffee, then found a footpath that led to the north, just by the M5, through a small wood that was littered with rubbish, then through more streets to find the path that would lead over the Avonmouth Bridge. The carries the M5 high over the Avon, which looked grey and muddy as it was low tide, and the bridge was a long, windy noisy trudge. There followed 3 miles through the huge housing estates to the west of Bristol where many people seemed to look at us as strange creatures from another planet. We got a few cheery 'hellos' though, and the area seemed quite well looked after overall.

Finally emerging onto fields we crossed the M5, then walked on lanes towards the M4 and beyond. This is an odd bit of land, surrounded by the Severn Estuary, and 3 motorways. It is mostly flat farmland with bits of industry and little settlements and villages here and there, but always the hum of traffic. There was one huge truck graveyard with recovery trucks waiting for the call out.

We headed for a pub at Pilning, hoping for a bowl of soup, but sadly it had closed down and we sat in the smokers area outside, with ash trays full of soggy buts. Even liquorice allsorts had started to pall. From there it was long lanes, over the M4, at Northwick where a horse had escaped from a traveller's camp and a man was trying to recover it from the roadside. Then a mile or so across a lot of fields and stiles to Aust and the Severn Bridge. Again, we were frustrated in the fields by the lack of sign posting which caused us to waste time and go wrong at one point. Also the stiles in Somerset and Avon don't have a proper cross-piece on which you step to go over the stile, but rely upon a wider bottom rung only: this makes them more difficult to cross.

At Aust, we climbed up to the cycle path that runs alongside the motorway - this is 2 miles long and seemed a lot longer in the murk of a soggy afternoon. The Severn was brown and swirling, and a long way below us. On the other side, we still had a further 2 miles up through the suburbia and estates of Bulwark into Chepstow. We quickly found a hotel in the centre and it was a great relief to be able to stop, take a bath and look forward to the weekend!

Day 12 - Towards Bristol

Day 12 - We had decided that 20 miles in one day was enough as after that, walking seems to become a bit of a trial, and we are not doing this journey as an endurance test. Walking a thousand miles is a challenge and requires strength and persistence but we are not in such a hurry that we need to push too hard and risk injuring ourselves in the process. However, days 12 and 13 are going to break that rule as, firstly, we want to get to the Wye Valley for the weekend to meet out wives, and secondly there are few places we could stay between here and there if we are to avoid BRistol.

So we set off accepting that there would be 2 long days through more urban and often less interesting terrain, followed by a bit of a holiday to follow. For the first couple of hours we were continuing through the lanes and fields of The Levels, getting frustrated once or twice when a footpath was hard to find. As we approached Axbridge, we met a gentleman walking with a large dog; he had a very lean face and a hat with a feather and as he greeted us, we stopped to talk. He was Nick Newton who lived in Axbridge and new the paths well and outlined all the best ways to get to the town. He saw my guitar and told me that he was a drummer, and wished us luck on our journey.

Axbridge is a little town with a lot of character as it has retained many of its old buildings and streets, centred on a delightful main square with butcher, newsagent and pharmacy on hand. We had a break sitting on a bench, drinking water and munching our trail mix (nuts, dried fruit etc) and liquorice allsorts, which are John's favourite.

The sun came out as we climbed out of the village and, crossing the A371 Cheddar road, joined the Strawberry Line Cycle Path northwards. This is an old railway line that has been restored to an excellent cycle path for much of its length. This section runs from Cheddar, through Axbridge and then through a gap in the Mendips to Congresbury and Yatton Station. It makes for easy and pleasant, though not always interesting, walking without any car traffic. Some of it was very pleasant indeed, through woods and fields and skirting urban areas. At one point, the route was blocked with signs telling people to keep out and pointing to an alternative. We thought that it might just be some repairs going on and we could walk through, which was a mistake. We ended up climbing a series of gates and yomping through a couple of boring fields before we got back onto the route as it crossed a smelly water works. There followed a long section of old rail track across more levels and rheins, through farm land.

Every farm we pass through has lots of rusting vehicles, machines and other scrap metal lying about, sometimes in large quantities. This is not only very unsightly, dangerous but also seems like a terrible waste. It is a problem for the farmers but there must be some value in the metal, whcih should be cheaper to recycle than to smelt new ore.

We left the cycle path at Congresbury and immediately passed a shop called 'Country Inspirations' which sold coats and hats and BRASHER BOOTS! Just what I needed, and he was doing a special of £20 off, so I bought a pair of lighter boots with softer heels than my hill masters at a great price and my old ones went to the bin at last. Hooray.

Our destination for the day was Wraxhall Church, which was going to be 23 miles, and as we trudged on we watched a mass of black cloud over Bristol edge closer. Luckily we remained dry, but the last stretch up the hill through the streets of Nailsea, then on up the busy B road to the church were interminable.

But we did get there, and quite soon, John's sister-in-law, Sue arrived like the cavalry and whisked us off home for a bath and delicious roast dinner with the family.

Day 11 - The Somerset Levels




Day 11 - At 8am we were given an excellent breakfast by our host, Baron, who also said that they would be making a donation, then we set off on a cloudy day for a long walk into the Somerset Levels, and our first objective was Bridgewater. Most of the villges we have passed through have been alive, almost always with a pub, one or more shops and an active church. Nether Stowey is a large attractive village with a lot going on and a nice position just at the foot of the Quantocks. We walked out through a rather industrial 'farm' making dairy products and there certainly wasn't any of the livestock, muck or any of the usual paraphernalia of a working farm. The one person we saw en route didn't acknowledge us and we were a bit surprised to find that the footpath wasn't clearly marked and that it could easily have been blocked with a huge galvanised gate. The marking of footpaths through farms is very variable: it would seem to a farmer's advantage to have the way marked to prevent people from wandering around off the path looking for it, but all too often you have to guess. The muck on both sides of gates and styles can be very nasty and deep and I do wonder if it isn't more than just carelessness. Gates are not supposed to block paths but be capable of being opened, but this is often not the case. We have spent too much time on this walk wasting time seeking out obliterated footpaths and having to retrace our steps because of blockages or missing signs. The worst was Trevisker Fam on day 4.

We were now walking in very different countryside from previously: flat and intensively farmed with more buildings than previously. Also, we had lost the lovely wild flowers almost entirely and these were replaced by nettles, dandelions, cleavers interspersed with a few stitchworts and violets. The path went over fields to Fiddinton, with it's whitewashed tower; one of a few whitewashed buildings remain in this part of Somerset. At Cannington, we walked through a huge holiday and caravan park, exiting it along a path that looked like a stream and soon turned into one! Luckily there was a way off to the side, taking us through the agricultural college. We joined the River Parrett trail for a while which took us to the church at Wembden - an imposing red sandstone building - then entered the suburbia of Bridgewater. GPS devices are a great help when you need to get through unknown places easily, and in towns with new developments, the streets can be very confusing. Ours took us on paths through large developments to the canal basin of the Bridgewater and Taunton Canal, then into the Georgian old centre of the town the high street. Here we stopped for a coffee and did some bits of shopping which took up an hour - far longer than our normal stops!

The route out was along a main road past a huge closed down industrial site, and the rain that had threatened all morning started. On leaving the road we were soon stumbling over huge clods on an enormous ploughed field. John took a mobile phone call about accommodation as we tried to puzzle out the exit point from the field. We went past the point where it was worth turning back to look for the exit and as the field was surrounded by a deep ditch, we had no alternative to continue right around it for a very long way until we found a gate near the farm, then retrace our steps on the lane on the other side of the ditch. Not a high point! The Levels, or Sedgemoor, were once flooded and the first significant drains, or 'rheins' as they are known, were dug in the seventeenth century to enable to monks to get to their land in the middle of it. Since then, a system of drainage channels, some very large, have been dug and they, and the water levels, are now maintained by the Environment Agency. Thus there is a lot of water about and you can never assume that you can get from A to B as your way can be easily blocked by a rhein.

As we continued along byways and lanes, the weather improved with a misty sun breaking through in the late afternoon. There was not a lot of variety, so the day did begin to drag a bit as we trudged on, but one highlight was a swan sitting on its nest in the midst of one of the small rheins. We were surprised to find that accommodation was quite rare and felt lucky to be offered a room just outside the village of Mark. Our original target had been Blackford or beyond, but when we arrived at Burnt House Farm, we were very glad indeed - 22 miles was plenty!

I set off on this journey with my very excellent, but rather old Brasher Hill Masters, but these had now reached the end of their lives and each evening it took an hour or two for my feet to stop grumbling, and after all the roads today, I walked like a 70-year old into the village for supper.

Day 10 - Exmoor to The Quantocks





Day 10 - Luxborough to Nether Stowey - Awakening to the beautiful surroundings and the lovely farmhouse of Wood Advent was quite special: everything felt like it belonged where it was somehow. Diana served us a full breakfast that would sustain us through the day and we were in the car, heading back to Luxborough to start walking by 9am. As we set off, John realised that he had followed my example of leaving things behind and had left his GPS navigation device which we would rely upon in days to come so had to call the farm who said they'd leave it at the Valiant Soldier pub in Roadwater for us - luckily we were heading back that way. The road seemed an awful lot easier and more pleasurable than last evening and it was a pleasant walk down the valley, named Druid's Coombe, through pine forests following a stream. The air was loud with bird song and at one point I stopped and watched a little warbler a few feet away on a small tree as he sang. As we passed through the pine forest, the sound became that of machines and chain saws as trees were being harvested and the wild flowers were fewer.

After a few miles, Roadwater came into view, a pretty little village huddled at the bottom of this deep valley and straddling the stream. We turned right and left the road, climbing steeply up though woods and fields to the top of the ridge then down again to Huish Barton which was made up of an unused but impressive set of stone industrial buildings. Unfortunanately there was no-one about so we couldn't ask about them. Our next village was Monksilver where we encountered a very polite man incongruously dressed in smart tweeds and a bowler hat riding a large horse. This is the costume of the local hunt which was to be active that day. As we walked up over the next hill the Quantock range was spread before us running southeast across our path. On the way, we had to cross a railway line which carried steam trains on leisure trips from Minehead and although we heard the whistle in the distance whilst we were walking, the tracks were deserted. We stopped for lunch at the pub in yet another bucolic village called Bicknoller, at the base of the Quantocks. On many days we just stop for 2 or 3 short breaks by the road side and have water and trail mix that we carry, but sometimes we find a pub that is open at the right time and enjoy a pint and a sandwich.

Half and hour later we were off again, uphill through the village then onto the ride that climbs Bicknoller Coombe. This was a good steady climb on a good path in lovely countryside so was actually rather enjoyable - we must be getting fitter. As I arrived at the summit, the Hunt appeared - about 20 horses and 2 landrovers - riding slowly by at the end of their chase. We saw the later in the car park with their quarry - a stag. We were treated to more lovely views of the countryside and back to the sea as we walked along the ridge in the calm air.

The day was completed with a long descent through Forestry Commission land then over the fields and stiles to Nether Stowey. We hadn't booked accommodation and had been told there would be plenty, but were surprised to find that the pub and a couple of B&Bs were full. However, at the third, The Old House, to our great relief, they had a room available. This was another gracious old home with large rooms and lots of atmosphere, and Ann and her husband Baron were very kind and also promised a donation.

We had supper at the pub where a number of the locals were playing chess, which has become a pass-time there.