Day 20 - Glasgow

Alcohol: 1 pint, Haggis: 0 serves
Distance walked: quite a bit really

For breakfast today I wimped out on the haggis again. Instead, I had a big bowl of fruit with greek yoghurt followed by a bowl of porridge in "traditional Scottish style" which apparently means lumpy. I tried the tea instead of the coffee but it had the same flaws - huge cup of weak brown fluid.

Afterwards I headed off to visit the Tenement House museum. It is a 4 room flat in a tenement that was lived in by an "independent woman" (she worked in an office and never married) from about 1920 until her death some 50 years later. She made very few changes to the flat and was something of a packrat so there was a wealth of objects on display. The flat itself has been restored to roughly how it must have looked when she first moved in complete with gas lighting. It was bigger than I expected as she was middle class. It would be a desirable place to live now - provided you modernised the kitchen and bathroom. And also painted the walls. They seemed very fond of dark coloured wallpaper at that time for some reason which made it very gloomy.

For lunch I stopped at a pizza place nearby. Glaswegian pizza is surprisingly good. I also got to have a decent cup of coffee. The only downside was the party of young children having a birthday party in the back of the restaurant. I didn't notice until after I had ordered as they kept the squealing down until then which I think was cheating.

Afterwards I walked off a fraction of the calories I had just consumed by walking out to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery which is about 2km to the west of the city centre. I visited the galleries with the history of settlement in Scotland, the history of Glasgow, two galleries on design (lots of Charles Rennie Mackintosh of course) and another on native Scottish wildlife - including the haggis! I stayed until they kicked us all out at closing time and sat on the lawns basking in the sunlight for a bit.

The weather here has been very changeable. Sometimes cold and windy, sometimes drizzling (I had to buy an umbrella from the local equivalent of a $2 shop - Poundland) and sometimes clear blue sunny skies. This all in one day. Sort of like Melbourne but with a much lower set point.

I then caught the subway back to my hotel. My enthusiasm for walking is fading fast.

For dinner I just went to the pub across the road. It is part of a chain, so reliable but not going to be i any good food or beer guides. I had a pint of Ithaca nut brown ale which was brown, nutty and malty and quite pleasing. It was brewed by the Caledonian brewery in Edinburgh so was almost a local ale. For dinner I had the steak and ale pie with mushy peas and chips - which was perfectly edible. Not a bad dinner except at the start when there was a man staring at me. He wasn't trying to catch my eye or smile or flirt in any way, he just seemed to be staring. It made me very uncomfortable until I realised he was actually staring at the TV on the wall behind me.

Day 19 - Glasgow

Alcohol: 11 drams of whisky, Haggis: 0 serves
Distance walked: 8(-ish) km

The breakfast buffet here at the Radisson has both black pudding and haggis available, along with something called Lorne Sausage which looked similar. I'm afraid I wimped out on the lot and had a regular full English breakfast instead. Perhaps I'll be brave some other day. Sadly, the coffee here is dreadful. Clearly designed with the American tourist in mind, it comes in a cup the size of a small bowl and is weak enough to see the bottom of the cup through the pale brown liquid.

After the disappointing breakfast I braved the Scottish equivalent of Vline and travelled out to the Auchentoshan distillery for my Ultimate Experience tour. This involved a change of trains and a 1 mile walk at the end. I'd allowed plenty of time for missed connections and wrong turns, but didn't need any of it. I ended up spending half an hour wandering around the graveyard of a nearby church in the rain until the distillery opened for tourists.

There was only one other person doing my tour. He was another Australian but from Sydney. He is a consultant for SAS and is currently working on a project for the NAB! I'm being followed. The tour was very interesting. As there were so few of us we got taken to places that bigger groups aren't allowed to go. As we had paid the big bucks we got to try lots of different whiskies, including some from other distilleries that are owned by the same parent company. Below is a photo of all the bottles which we had samples from. We were both very happy by the end of the tour.

I managed the walk back to the railway station with only one wrong turn and got the correct train back to Glasgow. I'm impressed with myself because I was more than a little drunk at the time. The tour guide had been rather reluctant to let me go out on my own.

I didn't get back to Glasgow until around 2pm and was starving hungry. One of the first places to eat I came across was a Wagamama so I tottered inside. I've been to this chain before so I knew what to expect. This was fortunate as my waiter had such a strong accent I couldn't understand a word he said. I just replied by making guesses using context. I must have got it right because I got the dish I wanted. Although in hindsight a big bowl of ramen was perhaps not a wise choice when ones coordination is impaired by drink.

After my late lunch I went to the Police Museum. It was staffed by a retired policeman who was very anxious to let visitors know that the first police force in the world (Europe at least) was in Glasgow. Sir Robert Peel's Bow Street runners in London came much later as he was only 12 at the time the Glasgow police force was formed. The museum was quite interesting with an odd mixture of history, tales of famous crimes where the perpetrators were convicted on seemingly very little evidence and a curious obsession with changes in the uniform over the years. I do like small quirky museums.

Afterwards I kept planning to visit the cathedral to admire the views over the city. However, it kept being uphill so I didn't. Instead, I pottered around before settling in a tea shop to rest my feet and consume tea and cake. I've become quite the tea drinker as it is generally a safer brew than coffee over here.

I then when back to my hotel to rest up some more after a hard afternoon of doing very little. By 8pm I still wasn't particularly hungry after my late lunch and even later pastry but felt I should venture forth before becoming too slothful. There were policemen on horses at the Central Station which were very fine. The three vans loads of police that had just arrived and were settling in for a long evening were not so fine. While it was still broad daylight and there were plenty of people of all ages and genders walking about, they were clearly expecting things to get boisterous. I think there was or had been a big soccer match on. As I wasn't particularly keen on encountering a boisterous Glasgow crowd on a Saturday night, I had a quick bite at a place that did pizza by the slice and then head back to my hotel.

One more day of my holiday to go and then I have to switch my brain back on.

Day 18 - Getting to Glasgow

Alcohol: 2 glasses wine, Haggis: 0 serves
Distance walked: some

I had breakfast at the coffee shop in the basement of my hotel and had my first proper barista-made coffee in nearly a month. Bliss. I passed on the full English breakfast as I'm not doing any walking today. Instead, I settled for french toast with crispy bacon, as I'm not ready to give up my processed pork products just yet.

As my trip to Glasgow is long (4 1/2 hours) and is for work I (well, work) paid for a first class train ticket. Such a difference to cattle class. Plenty of luggage racks this time and comfy seats. People also sat in their assigned seat. Interlopers were chased away by the conductor. We also got free drinks and food. As a pleb, I hadn't expected this and had brought my own supplies. I ate both.

I was seated in a set of four seats arranged around a table, 2 facing forwards, 2 facing backwards. Only the two forward facing seats were occupied. There was a large Scottish lady next to me. She did suggested she would move to the other side of the table so we would have more space, but didn't do this until about 2 hours into the journey. I was surprised as I was wearing the exact same outfit of sweaty, muddy hiking clothes that I'd worn the day before to travel to London. Also, that exact same outfit had been worn more than a few times on the Trail with only perfunctory rinses in the sink at night. I can't have ponged as much as I thought.

The countryside as we passed through the Lake District was gorgeous. It made me want to stop the train and rush out to wander over the hills. I expect the urge would have passed about 1 minute after starting up an incline so I was able to resist the urge to pull the emergency stop cord. Plus I expect there would be a hefty fine and I doubt I could charge that to the corporate credit card.

When I got to Glasgow I checked into my upmarket business-beings hotel in all my sweaty, muddy glory. Bless their hearts, they didn't blink an eye. The city here is grimy and gloomy but the people have all been very friendly.

After checking in and unpacking (I don't have to pack and unpack each day - joy!) I went out to wander about and get my bearings. My hotel is right near the central station and I was hoping that perhaps I was just staying in a particularly grimy and rundown part of the city. Nope, it pretty much is all grimy. There are just more people and more shops in other parts. If you look up above street level some of the buildings are quite fine - under the dirt.

I had dinner at an Italian restaurant, chosen because it had balls of haggis dipped in batter and deep-fried on the menu. Sadly these were only on the lunch menu so I am still waiting for my first haggis experience for this trip. To start I had cream of mushroom soup which tasted as if it had been made with porcini mushrooms as well as lashings of butter and cream - it was very good. For main I had gnocchi with broccoli, cherry tomatoes and capsicum. But before it starts soundly too healthy it also had lashings of cream and cheese. By the texture, the gnocchi was clearly from a package, but an upmarket package as it was still quite light. For dessert I had tiramisu (for a change). This one got the proportions wrong too, but the other way around - too much cream, not enough biscuit. I then waddled back to my hotel feeling slightly queasy for some reason. Too much rich dairy products perhaps?

Day 17 - Back to London

Beer drunk: 0 pints, Wine: 2 glasses
Distance walked: couple of miles

Got up late and had a leisurely breakfast which was pleasant. No worries about getting an early enough start so I couldn't easily covered the distance required.

Our B&B host very kindly offered to hang onto our suitcases and meet up with us at the railway station later in the day so we could do a little sightseeing before setting off. However, the OtherCouple and TheQuartet had much earlier trains than mine so we all said our good-byes after breakfast, which was a shame. I enjoyed the company of them all. These walks always provide a good opportunity to meet other people. I've also had plenty of good advice and encouragement from everyone I've met. I've been firmly told I must try the real, i.e Wainwright's, Coast to Coast. I think I'll do some walking in the Yorkshire Dales or the Lake District first.

I pottered around Prestatyn for a bit - although frankly there isn't much to see. I went down to the seashore and sat and watched the waves roll in. It was high tide now and the sea was right up the the sea wall. Prestatyn would not qualify as a beach resort by Australian standards. After a bit, it started to rain (see previous comment about beach resort qualification) so I ducked into the cafe near the start/finish point. It turns out they keep a book that walkers who have done the trail can sign, so I added myself to the list and spent some time pleasantly reading the comments other had written. I like to think that this book will end up in some archive somewhere, but I suspect when it gets full it will just get tossed.

Eventually I headed off to be reunited with my suitcase. The B&B hostess said the meeting point was the seats by the M&S entrance. I duly waited there - and waited. About 10 minutes passed the appointed time I began to panic. Do I head back to the B&B and risk passing my host on the way or do I keep waiting? It turns out there are two entrances to M&S and my host was at the other. Fortunately he came by to check the alternative one and so panic was averted.

The train journey back to London was a fiasco. The trains had tiny luggage racks at the end of the cars that were all full when I got on. Due to the narrow shape of the train car, the overhead racks were just for decoration. Even if I had enough upper body strength to lift my case over my head, only a thin handbag could fit in the overhead racks. When I got to my reserved seat there was a mother with her young daughter seated in my spot. I debated making a fuss but just sat myself and my case in a pair of empty seats further along.

At the next stop a woman got on who had a reservation for the seat I was parked in. I refused to move since I had nowhere to go and she gave up and sat elsewhere. A few stops later a man got on with reservation for the seat my case was occupying. I pointed out I have nowhere else to put it.  He replied "But...." and then visibility deflated before moving on. The English are just too polite for their own good. Fortunately the train never got more than half full so everyone got a seat, even if it wasn't their assigned one.

Finally we got to London, where my nose was out of practice with modern living. I sneezed every 5-10 minutes for the first 2 hours.  Sheep shit may be fragrant but it clearly isn't as bad as traffic pollution. My hotel, St Athans Hotel, is housed in a row of converted terraces. It is run by a group of young Eastern Europeans - Romanians if I had to guess. About half of them in the office were actually working while the other half (all male) were propped up, decoratively, against various walls and/or pieces of furniture.

My room wasn't actually in the house with the sign but a few doors down. The hotel seems to own about 4 of them but they don't seem to be internally connected. My room was right at the front, on the ground floor, so it was a bit noisy (no double glazing) but otherwise it was fine. The room was clean and tidy and there was plenty of hot water. Also, I could walk around all three sides of my full sized double bed. For a London hotel at this price point that is positively spacious.

In this area, as well as Euston station, there is also the University College London, so there are dozens of cheap (for London) eateries around. I settled for one of the many Italian places around purely because it had a row of tables at the front set up for solo diners, which I found welcoming. I started with bruschetta with a trio of toppings - red (tomato), white (mozzarella) and green (pesto). This was a little disappointing as the bread was a bit soggy, the tomato a bit under-seasoned and the cheese rubbery. For main I had spaghetti with a sauce made from wild boar simmered in red wine and brandy which was delicious. It had too much sauce by Italian standards and as this was an English Italian restaurant, rather than an Italian Italian one, bread was not automatically supplied but still, it was very good. For dessert I had tiramisu which was a bit dry. This was a shame as it was made in the traditional style and if the proportions of mascarpone cream, coffee & biscuit had been better balanced it would have been very good.

Day 16 - Bodfari to Prestatyn

Beer drunk: 1 pint, 2 glasses wine
Distance walked: 21km, Time taken: 6 1/2 hours
Ascents: 785m, Descents: 906m

Today started with a brutally steep, but thankfully short, ascent.  Why do all the days start with a climb? According to my B&B host some people cheat and ask to be dropped off at the top of the climb rather than back at Bodfari. Not me, I've walked the whole way, and then some.

Met up with TheQuartet when we all got to Rhualt.  The weather up until then had been fine, if overcast, but it started to rain so we all took shelter, put on waterproofs and snacked. It looked like the rain had set in, so we all set off again after a short stop. I walked with them for a while but my pace was faster than theirs, so I pulled again with cheerful promises to meet up again later. 

We also came across a man walking on his own (Tony - see Rachael I sometimes do remember names) carrying a huge pack. He'd actually started from Chepstow the day before me but I hadn't encountered him before. He was doing longer stages, with a few rest days added in and was camping - hence the huge pack. In spite of this, he walked faster than me and soon pulled ahead of me.

The rain stopped not long after it had started thankfully and I eventually came to a spot that was not too damp and not too sheep-scented and stopped for a leisurely lunch. I was trying to make today last as long as possible as it is back to real life all too soon. Although the walking today was rather dull. It did go through the last bit of the Clwydian Range but the scenery was nowhere near as spectacular as it had been. Mostly it was fields, with and without cows, although I am now an experienced cow whisperer and they don't give me grief anymore. The only startling parts of today's scenery were the views of the wind farms out to sea off the coast and the motorway leading to Prestatyn. Both impressive in their own way but an all too obvious reminder of the walk coming to an end.

After lunch I got mildly off track. Not lost mind you. I knew where I was. I'd just missed the next bit of the path. TheQuartet had passed me but I pushed myself to catch up with them and walked the rest of the way that day with them. Intellectually I might have wanted to keep walking but my legs had other ideas and their pace suited me just fine.

We were all staying at the same B&B which we passed on the way into Prestatyn. We debated stopping and dropping off our packs but decided to press on. And on. It was about another mile from the B&B to the end point and it felt longer. As we approached the bottom of the main street we met up with Tony the camper who had reached the end point and was heading back up for a celebratory drink. We arranged to meet him later and pressed on. And on. The actual sea shore was a bit further north again. We got to the stone marking the end and took many photos. We then went on - yet again - to put our boots in the sea. The tide was out so this added yet another few hundred metres to the total. 

On our way back, we met the OtherCouple (Angela and Richard) who had just arrived at the finishing point. Yet more photos ensued and promises from the OtherCouple to join us before we headed off to the bar and the waiting Tony. At the bar I had a tasting paddle of three ales. In fact, so many of us did they ran out of the proper glasses and I had to drink out of water glasses. The first one I tried was the Cheshire Gap from the Cheshire Brewhouse which was harmless. The second was Shipwreck IPA from the Liverpool Organic Brewery which was horrid. Much too fizzy and citrusy. The final one I tried was Freak Chic by Heavy Industry Brewing which was local and delicious. Shame about the name.

We finally waved good-bye to Tony who was headed home to Cardiff that night and tottered off to our B&B where all 7 of us were staying. I say tottered deliberately as we had all stiffened up by then. I calculate that with all my detours - both planned and unplanned - I had walked 311km (194 miles) in the past 15 days and my legs had had enough.

After a wash and brush up we all went out to the local Italian restaurant, La Ricetta, for dinner as we all agreed that we'd had enough pub grub for now. I started with chicken livers sauted with sherry which were very good - rich and smooth. For main I had spaghetti carbonara. The dish I got was clearly a Welsh interpretation of this Italian classic and wasn't really to my taste. It had a poached egg on top rather than beaten egg to make a silky sauce, leeks rather than spring onions and shredded ham rather than lardons of pancetta. Not bad, just different. For dessert I had limoncello cheesecake which was fabulous. The cheesecake was rich but light and fluffy and the lemon & limoncello made it pleasingly tangy.

After all this we waddled back up to the hill to our B&B and so to bed.

Day 15 - Clwyd Gate to Bodfari

Beer drunk: 1/2 pint
Distance walked: 20km, Time taken: 6 hours
Ascents: 915m, Descents: 1166m

Today was all about walking along the spine of the Clwydian Range and visiting one iron age hill fort after another. The scenery on this section was just spectacular. Again that word, but again it is appropriate.

The hill forts are, as the name implies, on the top of high points on the range. Each has at least one circle of dirt ramparts, some had two or more. Many had a central mound that gave views over the ramparts in all directions. The official trail now only takes you to the foot of the ramparts and the contours around them and heads on north. I ignored the official trail and climbed into the centre of each one - as you can see from the elevation plot at the 3km, 7km, 12km and 15km point. The views from these lookout points are incredible. It was like being on the top of the world. I've taken a series of photos from the first fort, Moel Fenlli, and hope to glue them together into a 360 degree panorama when I get home.

The second hill fort was probably just as impressive but a gaggle (clot?) of school children were being marched up to the summit on a school outing so I didn't stop. The third had double ramparts but no central lookup, while the fourth was just a bit piddly all round in comparison to the previous three. Still the area is labelled an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (ANOB) and it deserves it.

I meet the OtherCouple early on but they soon out-paced me and I didn't see they again today. I ran into the Quartet a few times and ended up walking the last mile or so with them into Bodfari. We all stopped at the local pub, the Downing Arms, and one of them (James ? Pete?) bought us beers all round. They were only drinking halves so I didn't feel comfortable ordering a pint so settled for a half of J. W. Lees Bitter which is from a Manchester brewery. It was harmless.

I was collected from the pub by my B&B hostess while the Quartet were staying locally. My B&B is amazing. It started life as an Elizabethan farmhouse and while it has been extensively renovated and extended over the years, some original bits remain. In particular, there is a central hall with a fireplace so big it has two seats inset in either side so you can sit close to the fire. You need to sit close because this place is built from stone and is bloody cold.

A second room is panelled with wood and lined with bookcases and with a large fireplace with a comforting blaze. I'm not sure of the age of this room but it is still inspiring me with severe library envy.

There is another walker staying here which is a nice change after my last few B&Bs where I've been the only guest. He is walking the trail in the reverse direction to me - north to south. It turns out he is a retired banker. Original in a variety of banks before ending up in Group Risk for RBS and then with the UK regulator (FSA). He is also heavily into beer and tries to drink a different local ale each night on his walks.  He has written a couple of columns for the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) magazine on his "beer crawls". We had a very pleasing gossip over dinner.

Day 14 - Llangollen to Clwyd Gate

Beer drunk: 1 pint
Distance walked: 23km, Time taken: 6 1/2 hours
Ascents: 821m, Descents: 726m

The beer tonight was the Wolf Rock IPA by Sharp's Brewery in Cornwall. It seems to count as a local brewery by the locals here as the Cornish are celts too.

Llangollen is pronounced something like "lan-goth-ellen" and Clwyd is "clue-wed". The Welsh are nice people but their spelling is crazy.

I got a lift to the foot of the climb to Castell Dinas Bran this morning so I could rejoin the path without having to climb all the way up from Llangollen. I don't think this counts as cheating as I'm here to walk the trail not extra bits (necessarily). My taxi driver had already dropped off the brother+sister+spice quartet (Pete, Judy, Mark and Trish - just for you Rachael). At the time I arrived the OtherCouple (Richard + Angela - again for you Rachael) were also being dropped off. We all fussed over our gear to allow the other groups to head off separately so we weren't imposing our company on each other. All very proper and quite funny.

The first bit of the path contoured along some spectacular hill sides, with dramatic cliffs looming up on the right and equally dramatic drops down to the valley below. I've attempted to take photos of it but they just don't show how impressive it really was. I know I keep using superlatives like superb, spectacular and amazing but the scenery around here really does deserve all those words. I'm very pleased I decided to do this walk.

The weather was good today with clear blue skies but there was a very brisk wind. I had to wear the fleecy vest and the beanie and keep moving to stay warm. After the cliff paths, the trail went across moorlands before dropping down through a forest. I decided to stop for lunch in a sheltered spot just at the forest edge as the forest itself was rather gloomy. This proved to be a mistake because I cooled down while I was eating and walking through the forest was bloody cold without any direct sunlight.

Not long after the forest I came to the village of Llandegla. Its claim to fame is the church of St Tecla. I don't know what she is the saint of but the local priest/reverend/church wardens put on free coffee, tea, biscuits and chocolates for passing walkers. Best of all, they've put a free loo in the vestry. Heavenly. I met up with the OtherCouple and the Quartet there, all taking advantage of the facilities.

At the church I also met up with a group of about half a dozen walkers (whose names I was never told so I can't forget them) who are walking the trail in segments. They do it about 1/3 at a time, basing themselves in one place. Each day they all pile into cars and drive to the end point for the day, leaving half their cars there. They then pile into the remainder and drive to the start. At the end of the day they repeat the process. While it does save them from having to pack and unpack every day, it does seem at the expense of a great deal more mucking about.

All of us - the HalfDozen, the Quartet and the OtherCouple and me - ended up at Clwyd Gate at much the same time. There is nothing there now but a defunct pub but it has a big car park so it is a popular finishing point. The HalfDozen piled into their cars while the rest of us waited for our B&B hosts to pick us up. We were all staying in different villages in the neighbourhood so just waved good-bye to each other.

My B&B was in a small town called Ruthin. The owners were very stylish and modern which made me feel rather awkward in my muddy, smelly hiking gear, but they were very friendly and welcoming. My room was enormous - easily twice the size of my London hotel room. The bed was king-sized which is just ridiculously large for one person. The room was big enough that it looked in proportion though.

I made the mistake of asking my host for advice on where to eat. He recommended a place called On The Hill and made a reservation for me. It turned out to be a very upmarket place. I lowered the tone by demanding a pint of beer with my meal rather than wine. This turned out to be a good thing as a young couple were soon seated next to me. They were clearly on a date and this was a special occasion restaurant for them, rather than their usual sort of place. The wine list clearly intimidated them and they were very relieved to see me drinking beer and quickly ordered some for themselves.

For my meal I started with the pate which was clearly made in-house with lots of cream and other tasty goodness. It was delicious. For main I had the Welsh pork dish - which was a trio of pork belly, char-grilled tenderloin and crispy fried pulled shoulder. It was all very tasty but I would have preferred less of the pork belly and more of the shoulder as that was the highlight of the dish. I skipped dessert, as while the restaurant might be upmarket, its servings weren't upmarket in size. Instead, they were distinctly generous and I couldn't fit another mouthful in. I'm slipping in my old age.

After this I tottered home to bed, only to lie awake listening to a neighbour doing his drum practice.

Day 13 - Craignant to Llangollen

Beer drunk: 1 pint
Distance walked: 19km, Time taken: 5 1/2 hours
Ascents: 646m, Descents: 779m

The funny flat bit in the elevation plot from about the 6km to 8km mark is because the batteries in my GPS died and I didn't notice. The flat bit after that is real - it was along a canal towpath.

To my best recollection "craignant" is pronounced something like kree - ANN - gnant.

The walking now is through Denbighshire and they are much more proud of their Welsh heritage. I've seen plenty of red welsh dragon symbols (flags, t-shirts, car stickers etc) here. About half the population here speaks Welsh and when passing random strangers on the path it is a toss up which language they use to say good morning. Their views on the English are also different to those I encountered in Monmouthshire as can be seen by the inscription on the plaque commemorating a battle shown below.

In Monmouth they were very proud of their King Henry, Henry V, and his triumphs over the pesky Welsh. Here in Denbighshire they are very proud of their pesky Welsh triumph over King Henry II and their success at fighting off the domination of the English.

I started today's walk near Chirk Castle (shown below). I would have like to have time to go through the castle itself but it didn't open until 10am and I wasn't sure I could afford the time. I settled for ambling around the grounds. It was all very Downtown Abbey-like. Unfortunately, going through the castle grounds was a detour from the trail and I took the wrong exit. It didn't add to my time as the path for the morning was two sides of a diamond with castle at the bottom. I ended up walking the right-hand segments rather than the correct left-hand ones. However, as I left the castle grounds I asked a couple of passing walkers to confirm my route. The husband insisted on showing me, not just how to get back to the waymarked trail, but how to get the entire way to my destination. Kind but more than a little patronising.

The middle section of the path was along the Llangollen canal, over the Pontcysylite Aqueduct, into the town of Trevor (that last place is pronounced "trevor"). The aqueduct is just wide enough for a narrow canal boat to sail (motor ?) down and there is a narrow footpath alongside. There is a railing preventing pedestrians from falling into the valley below but nothing to prevent them falling into the canal. The aqueduct is 38m high - which is bloody high. I tried to take pictures to show this but it was impossible. Google it. It is an amazing structure and fabulous to walk across - provided you have a head for heights.

The last part of the walk culminated at the foot of Castell Dinas Bran, which is a 13th century castle perched up on top of a hill. The ruins can be seen in the photo below, with the winding path up to it just visible. I climbed all the way up to the top before realising "Crap - now I have to climb all the way back down!".

Today was a warm (for Wales), sunny day and a Sunday so the top was crowded with day trippers. It provided an interesting exercise in comparing and contrasting different culture's attitude to risk. Below is a photo I have pinched from someone else of the ruins (clearly as it is an aerial shot).

There was nothing to prevent visitors to the site from walking right up to (and possibly falling off) the precipitous edges of the site. There was also nothing to stop people clambering all over the crumbling ruins (and again potentially falling off). I can't imagine this happening in Australia. OH&S would surely require barriers and railings and such like to prevent people from doing something stupid and hurting themselves. However, in the UK it is illegal to have a powerpoint in the bathroom so idiots can't kill themselves by blow-drying their hair while taking a bath.

I managed to clamber down the hill from the castle to my B&B without falling and hurting myself. After a wash and brush up I went out to a local gastro-pub, the Corn Mill, for dinner. It is housed in an old corn mill and is spread over a variety of different floor levels. The staff are very fit. The place was very busy and I wasn't sure of getting table. In fact, they didn't really have one left but there was a table in their reception area. This was in the middle of the building with stairs down to the main bar, stairs up to the main restaurant and stairs off in three directions to mezzanine floors with more tables. They said I could eat there if I liked, which I did. It was fascinating to sit in the hub of all that frantic effort and kind of them to squeeze me in. 

For a starter I had cured salmon with wasabi cream. This also came with curls of carrot which made it look like there was twice as much salmon as there really was which was a bit of a cheat. It was all very good though. For main I had the steak and ale pie with mustard mash and buttered greens. I was tempted by the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding but we were nowhere near Yorkshire so I didn't. I regretted my choice when I saw that dish go past as their Yorkshire puddings were puffed up like balloons and looked very good. For dessert I had creme brulee which seems to be the trendy dessert in these parts. I washed this all down with a pint of Weetwood Brewery's Old Dog which was a very agreeable dark ale. Again, not a local brewery - this one is in Cheshire.

While I was eating my dinner I noticed a woman come in and give me a friendly, almost conspiratorial, grin. I was rather confused as I was sure she wasn't a walker I'd met on the path so I couldn't understand why she was being so friendly. Then she got to the head of the queue and asked for a table for one, which explained everything. A fellow solo dinner who knows about being tucked into odd corners.

Also while I was there I met up with the brother+sister+spice foursome I've encountered before. They were eating upstairs. I also met the OtherCouple who I also keep running into. They had been dining on one of the mezzanine floors. It turns out the Corn Mill, even when fully booked, always keeps a couple of tables free on the night for walkers since we aren't in a position to go elsewhere if there is nothing available in town. Some of these towns and villages also get a lot of their steady trade from people doing the Offa's Dyke trail so it pays to keep us happy I suppose.

Day 12 - Llanymynech to Craignant

Beer drunk: 2 pints
Distance walked: 22km, Time taken: 6 1/2 hours
Ascents: 893m, Descents: 616m

Back to hillier walking today, more forests and woodlands and views, and also less fields and so fewer cows!  I only had to walk through one field of cows today. I kept close to the fence, ready to leap over it, barbed wire be-dammed. I also ambled through it, rather than walking briskly. I think this is the trick. Don't get too close and don't move too quickly. If you do either, they get curious and thunder over to check you out. Apparently they have poor eyesight and need to get within arm's length, which is too close for my comfort levels.

I encountered lots of sheep and the occasional dog today. The UK is a very dog-friendly place. Below is a photo of a stile with a special section on the left which can be lifted up to let your dog through. An actual gate would be easier all round but it is the thought that counts I suppose.

One dog I met today was a young black lab cross. Almost a puppy still. It couldn't decide if it wanted to play or if it should be defending its territory from this evil invader. It compromised by barking at me a few times, then madly wagging its entire rear end in excitement before rushing madly around the garden and down to the gate. It repeated this process a full 5 times in the time it took me to reach the end of the drive. Its owner kept trying to call it over but was laughing too hard at its antics to manage.

Another dog I met was not nearly so playful. It was a working dog and definitely didn't want strangers in its fields let alone anywhere near its flocks of sheep. The farmer had to keep tight hold on its collar until I was safely past. Still, it was only doing its job and had no malice. The only pointlessly aggressive dog I've encountered so far was back on Day 2 I think. However, it was some sort of terrier, so not that big, and was busy trying to bite off the tyres of the postman's van and didn't pay any heed to me.

I also encountered the brother and sister plus their spice, as well as another couple I've been running into on and off all trip. We were all staying at the same B&B last night. There was also another solo walker at the B&B, but he was walking in the other direction. Last night's B&B was a little odd. It was a pub with rooms upstairs. The husband was the bartender and was friendly enough. The wife was the cook and not much of an evening person. She managed to be even grimmer in the mornings. I think she is in the wrong profession. She was a good cook though. I had smoked salmon wrapped around cream cheese again - very good. Main was a proper steak and kidney pudding. Dessert was ginger sponge pudding with custard.

Today I stopped at the Offa's Dyke Brewery at lunchtime and sampled some of their wares. The dark ale and amber ales were excellent. It is shame you can't buy this stuff in Australia. Or perhaps it is better for my liver if you can't.

Tonight's B&B was a fair way off the trail. I had to be collected from a carpark just off route. However, there was not mobile phone reception there so I had to phone from the top of a nearby hill. I'd bought a local sim card and the person who had sold it to me recommended the vodafone network as having the best coverage. However, I had no signal with it from that hill. My regular phone - roaming on the O2 network did. The brother+sister+spice were with me and their phones were on the different network again and they had coverage. Grr. Must remember to check coverage maps myself and not rely on advice next time.

The owner of tonight's B&B was in his 80s. He and his wife had retired to Wales as she was a local. After she had died he'd taken up running a B&B for the company. He was very slow and unsteady on his feet. I kept wanting to leap up and insist he sit in a comfy chair while I made him a cup of tea rather than the reverse. It was all very awkward.

He didn't feed me dinner fortunately but drove me down to the pub in the village. It had been recently bought by a team of locals and turned into an upmarket foodie place. However, they stuck me off in their fancier dining room so I ate in solitary splendour again, which is getting old. The food was excellent. I started with a puff pastry tart filled with buttered leeks and surrounded by fresh asparagus. Main was duck breast, roasted with more asparagus, mustard seed, apple and onions. Dessert was a lemon posset with strawberries - sadly let down by the fact the strawberries were frozen ones that had been defrosted. Why not fresh at this time of year?

Then back to the B&B to go to sleep where I discovered that my host had very kindly gone into my room while I was out to turn on the electric blanket in my bed and leave me extra pillows. I really don't like people doing that - especially as I had the contents of my suitcase strewn all over the floor.

Day 11 - Buttington to Llanymynech

Beer drunk: 2 pints

Distance walked: 18km, Time taken: 5 hours

Ascents: 145m, Descents: 99m

Today was an easy day, terrain wise. It is considered to be a boring day as it is all along river banks and canal tow paths, as well as being quite short. Both myself, and my feet, appreciated it. I know I harp on about the state of my feet, but it does tend to be at the top of your mind. Fortunately today the soles of my feet had settled down and I could walk without discomfort - from that point at least. I had bought some super special blister "plasters" on the recommendation of other walkers as my right heel was getting a tender spot. When I took off my socks yesterday, the plaster came off too, along with the skin over the blister it had failed to prevent. Ouch!!! I just stuck a regular band-aid on it today and we were all much happier.

I quite enjoyed the different type of countryside I saw today, although it would get boring if walk was like this every day. One great feature of this particular walk is how varied the terrain is. It ranges from windswept moors (although a Scot would scoff at the description probably), to rolling farmland hills, to forests carpeted with bluebells and how riverbanks. Next on the agenda are more Iron Age hill forts.

I've seen lots of cows and sheep so far.  Including these weird looking sheep which are a fairly uncommon Welsh breed (Kerry Hill).  

I've also seen lots of rabbits (the small, brown wild ones) and squirrels but today I also got to see ducks with ducklings in tow, swans and what I think are grebes (I've since been told they were moorhens).  Part of today's walk was along a canal towpath, which isn't operating any more. Most of the lock keepers cottages have been turned into private houses. One such house had a pair of swans nesting in their back garden!

What was not so nice about today were the cows - again. Many of the fields along the river bank were full of them. Most of them were placid but one herd was not. I tried to do a big loop around them but they got curious and started to charge to where I was headed. They might not have much acceleration but they sure do build up a lot of momentum. I stopped and waited until they were down by the river bank and headed back up to the path and aimed for the next gate. I got within 30 metres of it when the herd took into their heads to charge towards me again. There was an electricity pole in the field so I ducked behind it and they went around me and stopped in front of the gate! I decided to wait. Either they would get bored as there was no grass in the churned up mud by the gate or someone else would come by. After about 5 minutes a couple came from the other direction. They just clapped their hands and made shooing noises at the cows who meekly moved out of the way, leaving me feeling like a right pratt cowering behind a pole, scared of these docile creatures. Hah! The truth is cows are much smarter than you'd think and are right, evil bastards. 

I've decided I'm going to give up eating lamb. They are cute and always run away from me when I approach them in a field. In the future I'm only going to eat beef.

Edited to add details on today's beer: I got to Llanymynech too early to check into my B&B so I stopped at the Dolphin Inn for a pint of Three Tuns XXX from a local Shropshire brewery. It was harmless. With my dinner at my B&B (which was actually a pub) they offered a tasty paddle of all three of their cask ales so I had that. One called Lowry (but I forgot to note down the brewery), another called Revive by Six Bells (in Shropshire) and the third was Black Sheep from the Black Sheep brewery in Yorkshire. I felt obliged to try them all but like the Yorkshire ale the best. The others were a bit light and hoppy for me.

Day 10 - Cwm to Buttington

Beer drunk: 1 pint
Distance walked: 22km, Time taken: 7 hours
Ascents: 499m, Descents: 636m

The terrain was must easier today and the weather much better - clear, sunny skies again. However, today was a slog. I was still not fully recovered from the previous day and didn't go much faster than yesterday. Also, the soles of my feet are aching. I think the only cure for that is to rest and not walk too much.  This will be little tricky to do as I have 7 more days of walking until I get to the end.

The landlady at our B&B near Cwm provided us with packet lunches as there was nowhere to stop on the trail today. I'd asked for a sandwich and a piece of fruit. I got 1 1/2 sandwiches, 2 pieces of fruit, a chocolate bar and a packet of crisps.  The B&B is in Wales and we got hit with full Welsh hospitality.

I got dropped off at the trail first, with the other 4 about 10 minutes behind me but I didn't see them again. I did run into one of the three couples I've been seeing on and off. We would chat and then I'd let them go on ahead as I prefer walking by myself. However, by the end of the day they waited for me as they wanted me to take some photos of them. The next field we had to walk through had a bull, his herd of heifers and their calves in it so I stuck with the couple as they don't have trouble with cows. The cows were across the path but we took a big detour around them.  Bulls are huge.

Most of today's walk was through farmland. After all the rain it was muddy and slippery but I avoided falling today. I lunched late as farmland means sheep, which meant finding a place to stop to eat that wasn't scented with sheep shit and the attendant flies took some doing. The last third or so of the walk was through a forest so I stopped and ate there. By that time I was hungry enough I ate the lot.

The three of us got to Buttington together.  There isn't anywhere to stay around there. Instead, we had to phone our respective B&B hosts to get picked up. They waited at the church. I waited at the Green Dragon Inn and had a pint of the local ale that is brewed especially for them.

My B&B for tonight describes itself as a Victorian farmhouse. It must have belonged to a very prosperous farmer because the house is a very posh, two storey Victorian country house. I can see a Jane Austen novel taking place here - never mind it is the wrong period. My room is huge with fabulous views out over the hills I just walked over. It is much pleasanter seeing them from here. That blob in the far distance just to the right at the top of the picture is an iron age hill fort which I walked around.

They have 11 people staying in the house tonight (I told you it isn't small) so I was expecting a crowd for dinner but I dined in solitary splendour. One couple are walkers too but were having a rest day and had gone out sightseeing. I don't know what the other 8 were doing - they are all together - but they were out for dinner.

I was served a lovely large hunk of smoked salmon and cream cheese roulade with buttered brown bread to start with. Main was a chicken breast with a mushroom cream sauce. I had bowls of beans, mashed potatoes (made with more cream from the taste), cabbage and cauliflower cheese to  help myself from. The amount of food would have served 2 people comfortably. More to the point, no lasagna in sight! Dessert was the only let down. It was apple and strawberry crumble with custard. I strongly suspect the custard came from a packet and the crumble topping wasn't properly crumbly. Still the whole meal was very pleasing.

One thing I've noticed about UK bathrooms is they never have a powerpoint in them. It must be a health and safety thing. It is also a nuisance when you want to blow-dry your hair. However, in my room here I have a dressing table with a handy powerpoint nearby. I sat at my dressing table and fixed my hair before going down to dinner. I felt right posh.

Day 9 - Knighton to Cwm

Beer drunk: 0 pints, # times fallen over: 3
Distance walked: 24km, Time taken: 8 hours
Ascents: 1,251m, Descents: 1,224m

It's pronounced "Coom" if you're wondering.

Most of today's walk was through Shropshire rather than Wales. I have decided I do not like Shropshire. It is hilly and most of the hills are convex. That is, they get steeper as you get to the top. This is not my imagination. You can see this in the elevation plot above.

Today was brutal. My guidebooks said this was the hardest section and they weren't kidding. There was barely any level ground at all. It was pretty much all up and down (and up and down). It was also overcast and drizzly again so muddy and slippery. I fell down three times and got fairly coated in mud. It was also supposed to be the day with the very best views but all I saw was cloud and/or the muddy path in front of me.

The official stage for today goes on another 3km but my version of this trip had me stopping just after the last climb and calling my hostess for the evening to come and get me. There were 4 other walkers staying at my B&B. A brother and sister and their respective spouses. They are doing on the second half of the Offa's Dyke trail so their first day was today. I can't imagine starting with today. I'd be tempted to pack my bags and go home.

It turns out the four of them had been staying at the Knighton Hotel too. I saw them leaving as I went down to breakfast which had me rather worried I was setting off late. I didn't get to the end of the day's walk until 5:45pm. However, even though the four of them had set off an hour earlier they only arrived 15 minutes before me. They confirmed my view that the Knighton wasn't used to walkers. Even though our respective tour companies have pre-paid for our accomodation we all got presented with a bill. They also were rather surprised by notion that we were leaving our suitcases behind and someone who come and collect them for us. They weren't trying to rip us of, just clearly new to the whole providing room to walkers. For that matter, they might just be new to running a hotel.

Dinner tonight was french onion soup - very tasty, followed by lasagna with salad and bake potatoes. This must be a standard dish in the B&B owner's handbook. Very odd. Again, not what I would could lasagna but pleasant enough. For dessert the others had apple and raspberry crumble but I gave it a miss.

The people here were very hospitable but I didn't sleep well as the bed was very uncomfortable. This was a shame as I was completely knackered.

Tomorrow is supposed to be easier.

Day 8 - Kington to Knighton

Beer drunk: 1 pint
Distance walked: 23km, Time taken: 6 1/2 hours
Ascents: 789m, Descents: 811m

Well, the weather forecast wasn't exactly right but it wasn't a bright, sunny day today by any means. Instead, there was light drizzle that morphed into heavy drizzle on and off all day. It was also very overcast. In the early morning I was lucky if I could see more than 20-30m in any direction. This made navigating across large fields challenging. I just aimed at a blob on the (near) horizon and hoped it wasn't a sheep or, at least, it wouldn't move until I got close enough to get a bearing on another "fixed" point.

In spite of the weather and the visibility (or lack of it) I quite enjoyed today. It wasn't that cold so walking in all my waterproof gear kept me warm. The navigation was challenging enough to be interesting but not so challenging I got lost. In fact, I haven't been lost since the third day. I have two guidebooks. One with poor maps but detailed instructions. The other has excellent maps but sparse instructions. I was trying to combine the information from the two but have given up. I now just use a compass and a map and haven't lost my way since.

Back on the subject of my waterproofs.  In spite of the amount of money I spent on them they are better described as water resistants. I suppose that is only to be expected. If they were truly water proof I'd have sweated to death.

Today's walk involved climbing up to the top of three commons and then walking along them. Wild and windy on the tops and, supposedly, with fabulous views but I'll have to take their word for it. However, on the top of the third I did spot a herd of wild ponies drinking at a lake. One of the foals was nervous of me and tried to keep close to its mother, but she kept rolling around on the ground (far right) so he had to jump out of the way. He was not happy.

Tonight I stayed at the Knighton Hotel which was much more upmarket than the B&Bs I've been at previously. I felt rather out of place stomping in to reception in my muddy hiking clothes, but they were very friendly and welcoming.

I treated myself to dinner in their restaurant. I was the only guest which was a shame because the food was excellent. I started with a beetroot and goat's cheese salad. The beetroot had been done in several ways - pureed, pickled and made into oven chips. The combination had a lovely earthy taste. For main I had pork two ways - pan-fried loin and a cube of pork belly, served with potato rosti and brandied apple. The pork belly in particular was very fine - with crispy crackling and melt in the mouth meat. I treated myself to a banoffee creme brulee - that is a creme brulee with banana and caramel at the bottom. I washed this all down with a pint of Sharp's Perfect Storm.  This is a special edition porter which was only supposed to be available until the end of April - or until stocks last. They obviously lasted longer than expected. I don't know why because it was so good I was strongly tempted to have a second pint. I refrained because I was on the second floor of the hotel and, at that time, hadn't discovered the lift.  The building is Georgian (17th century) so the lift is very much a retrofit tucked away in an odd corner.

There are many oddly shaped buildings in this town. I shopped for lunch supplies at the local supermarket before settling in at the hotel. I had been directed there by a local but was somewhat dubious about it at first. On arrival all you can see is a slightly shabby petrol station. When you go inside, on the right hand side are the cash registers but on the left is the post office. If you go through the doorway at the back you are standing in a butcher's shop. Through a doorway to the right of that are yet more cash registers - this time for the supermarket. Down a short corridor on the left the building opens up in to a full sized supermarket. Heading for the far left hand corner of that and going down a ramp you are in a small department store! One of the staff described it as a Tardis. It was very apt.

I like this town. I could live here. Good food, good beer and this wonderfully crazy supermarket.

Day 7 - Hay-on-Wye to Kington

Beer drunk: 1 1/2 pints
Distance walked: 24km, Time taken: 6 1/2 hours
Ascents: 777m, Descents: 680m

Stopped at the local supermarket to buy something for lunch before heading off today. I was tired of the cheese & chutney sandwiches I was getting from my B&Bs. They all offered the choice of ham or tuna as well but I thought cheese is safe if it is to be carried around for hours. Unfortunately, being early on Monday there was little to be had in the supermarkets as the shelves hadn't been restocked yet with fresh food. I settled for a muesli bar, a chocolate bar and a rather tired apple.

The weather was slightly overcast with a very fine drizzle today. Not wet enough to bother putting on wet weather gear as you got hot enough walking that your body heat kept your clothes dry. I did met an American walking with an umbrella though!

There were no places to stop for lunch on the route today. About 1/3 of the way along there was a church which left out free coffee, tea and biscuits for walkers in the vestry. By this stage I was more interested in options for letting fluids out rather than putting more fluids in. Stopped briefly and got to chatting to the American with the umbrella. I ended up cutting our conversation short, which I think rather hurt his feelings, but I was worried he would suggest walking together and I was in urgent need of a bush to duck behind.

After saying to good-bye to the American I headed off to climb up to the top of another ridge with a common, similar to yesterday but smaller. The views up the top of these are superb but there are vanishing few trees and mainly low gorse bushes so not many options for a discreet pit stop.

Around early afternoon I arrived at the village of Gladestry which has a pub. Sadly Monday is their day off and it was shut. The village seemed very sad with at least half of the houses and shops up for sale. It is too close to Hay to be a convenient overnight stopping point but too far to be a convenient lunch point. I hope the pub survives.

I finally made it into Kington just before 4pm. I had planned to wander around the town a bit before heading to my B&B but as I passed it my landlady just arrived, saw me and waved me over. She was a very interesting person. About my age, she had worked in one of the local national parks until the politics had got too much. She took early retirement and now rented out 2 bedrooms in her house, the converted barn next door and a cottage down the road. She said she's never been so busy.

While I like her she did have a slight obsession with lavender. There were 4 pots of the stuff in my room, plus many sachets of dried lavender in the cupboards and in pillows on the bed. The ceiling was painted lavender and all the towels were in that shade. She had also managed to find toiletries and even tissues that were lavender scented. Now, I like purple but even I thought it all a bit much.

For dinner the seven of us ended up eating together again at the Burton Hotel as it was the only place in the village that was opened on a Monday. I had been eyeing off the Swan Inn as the menu sounded delicious. I even picked which dish I would have but it turns out the owners have had a dispute with their catering staff and the staff have all walked off the job!

At the Burton Hotel I had the steak and ale pie (take that cows!) which was very good, with standard veg. I had a pint of the Butty Bach with this. Prior to meeting up for dinner I stopped at the Royal Oak and had a half of the local Wye valley brewery HPA - too hoppy for me.

Forecast for tomorrow is rain all day with possible occasional heavy showers and flash flooding!

Day 6 - Llanthony to Hay-on-Wye

Beer drunk: 1 pint
Distance walked: 21km, Time taken: 6 hours
Ascents: 553m, Descents: 708m

Woke this morning to the sound of rain bucketing down. Not a good sign but the time breakfast was over the rain had stopped and the sky started to clear. I didn't need to put on waterproofs before setting out but I did put on my gaiters. I didn't want to get my pant legs wet and muddy from brushing against damp grass. Wet pant legs leads to wet socks which leads to yet more blisters. I felt like a right prat in the gaiters as the grass was far too short to be a problem. Many other walkers I met today were even wearing shorts. Fortunately an hour or so into the walk I encountered three separate walkers wearing them too so I didn't feel so foolish.

The climb back up to the top of the ridge wasn't as tough as I'd feared. It took an hour but wasn't too hard. Just as I got to the top there was a sudden flurry of rain. Out came all the wet weather gear but it only lasted about 20 minutes. It was a good lesson in how miserable, not to mention dangerous, it could be walking all that way along that ridge in bad weather. It was so flat and there were so few landmarks it would be easy to head off in the wrong direction if visibility was poor.

I mentioned this to some other walkers I met later on. They told me about a time they'd gone walking in the Peak District in March and got caught in a white-out. This is when there is snow on the ground and the cloud cover is so low you can't tell the boundary between land and sky. You have no sense of direction in these conditions. They had been following a path along flagstones with posts every so often. The snow was so deep on the path that many of the posts were covered and couldn't be seen. Also, snow covered the flagstones and if you missed a turn in the path you couldn't find your way back. At one point, after walking for an hour they came across their own footprints. They'd walked in a circle. Eventually they could hear a road and just head directly for it, hoping there were no steep cliffs or gullies in the way. In the end it took the 4 hours to walk 2 miles. Memo to self - never go walking in the Peak District in March.

Today I ran into all three couples I'd met in Llangattock Lingoed.  Two had been staying at my B&B, while the other pair had sat at the table next to me at dinner. They all recognised me and said hello, which was both kind and lucky, as I didn't recognise any of them. One couple is using the same company I am - Celtic Trails, while the other two are using Contours Walking Holidays. Oddly enough the other Celtic Trails couple stayed at the pub in LL while the Contours people were at the Old Rectory with me. Tonight one of the Contours couples are at the same B&B as I am, while the other two couples are at a different one. I guess the companies like to share out their custom.

As I was getting to the end of the right, about an hour or so from Hay, I met a man going in the other direction. He was very worried as he was part of a group (which has passed me about 10 minutes earlier) but had been left behind. He was concerned he would lose them which he had no chance of doing. It was 4 hours of walking until you got to the cross path to Llanthony. He just needed to get a move on. Don't think much of a group walk that doesn't keep track of all its members.

Got into Hay just before 4pm which was a shame. Hay is famous for its second hand bookshops. Given that it was late on a Sunday most places were shut or shutting, so I was limited to staring longingly in windows. I wish I'd had the sense to organise a rest day in Hay. Tomorrow is a long day so there is no chance of shopping before heading off.

All seven of us ended up at the Blue Boar pub for dinner. I had a pint of Sharp's Doom Bar because all of the local ales were too hoppy for my taste. For dinner I had a chicken and mushroom pie with new potatoes and standard steamed veg. The others who had the pie said it was delicious but I thought the chicken was overcooked and the gravy was too glutinous and salty. I had a baked cheesecake for dessert which was delicious.

After dinner we all tottered off to our B&Bs and so to bed. We are not a riotous bunch. Too tired.

Day 5 - Llangattock Lingeod to Llanthony

Beer drunk: 2 1/2 pints
Distance walked: 14km, Time taken: 4 1/2 hours,
Ascents: 614m, Descents: 526m

Slept a solid 10 hours.  Finally over the jet lag.

Since today is a Saturday, naturally the good weather we’ve been having has stopped.  This morning it was overcast and drizzling.  Still, it isn’t very cold - mid-teens I guess, so it was still OK walking weather.

The route today is through national park land, the Brecon Beacons, so navigation is much easier - and no cows!  The scenery on previous days was pretty but today it was spectacular.  I climbed up to the moorland on top of a ridge, with the majority of today’s (and tomorrow’s) walk along the ridge top. The views in all directions are amazing.  This is a very popular part of the track.  I encountered a good 2 dozen people going in the same direction as me and that’s not counting the others at my B&B. They left after me so I didn’t see them again.  I also was passed by about a dozen headed the other way.  In addition to Offa’s Dyke path, there are other shorter walks that go the same way.

One group of people who passed me were a dozen or so who are part of some club.  Two women in the group were talking about a mutual friend.  He is currently in Australia taking part in some sporting event. Of course, as they agreed amongst themselves, he is younger than they are - only 62 or 63 and much fitter.  I didn’t get to hear what sport he plays as by this time they had cruised past me!

When I arrived at Llanthony I pottered about the priory ruins and stopped at the pub there.  It is housed in what used to be the abbot's lodgings.  It was tiny and the place was heaving with day trippers.  I wedged myself into a corner and had a point of Dark Ages ale.

Today was a short day.  My options for this stretch of the path were 2 medium length days + 1 short day or 2 very long days.  I’ve opted for the former.  A drawback of this is the place I’m staying at is a little bit (actually a lot) lower in rating than what I’ve become used to.  It is at an old inn (Half Moon Inn).  My room is pleasant enough but with a low ceiling and wonky wooden floorboards. However, it is not ensuite. There are 11 rooms, with two toilets and three showers down the end of the hall to be shared amongst us all.

While my room is clean and tidy enough, the same cannot be said for the showers.  The tiles are old, cracked and dirty.  There was a mushroom growing in the dirty grout in one of them.  The floors are very noisy too.  A group of what sounds like a dozen elephants have just arrived to stay.  One elephant likes to sing in the shower.

While my room is not ensuite, I do have a hand basin in one corner.  When someone in an adjoining room uses theirs, mine gurgles.  I’m not expecting a good night’s sleep tonight.

I had dinner in the pub where I was staying.  I had venison (tough but tasty) with new potatoes (blah) and mixed steam vegetables (clearly they buy the same individual serves of microwave veg that I do). For dessert I had treacle pudding - needed more treacle.  Still, the people were friendly and the place was packed.  I drank the Butty Bach again.

In the end I did sleep soundly.  The other rooms were occupied by walkers too so we all were boring and went to bed early.

Day 4 - The Hendre to Llangattock Lingoed

Beer drunk: 2 pints
Distance walked: 19km, Time taken: 6 1/2 hours,
Ascents: 488m, Descents: 431m

Today was a mild, sunny day - again.  So far I’ve been lucky with the weather.  The countryside around here is very pretty - rolling hills, farmland and small patches of woodland.  However, it is no fun to navigate through fields.  It’s ok if you can see the gate/stile you need to aim for but often the field is too large or too hilly and you can’t.  The best you can do is head in a mostly straight line and hope you will hit the right spot when you get the the next fence.  It not, then you have to go left or right until you find it.  No guesses how many times I guessed right the first time.

Most of the fields I went through today had sheep or horses in them but three had cows.  I do not like cows.  Must eat more steak.  The first field with cows I came to, one or two of them started to follow me as I walked across the field.  I turned, waved my arms and shouted at them, which is what I’ve been told is the right thing to do.  They would stop and stare and I would walk on for a bit.  When I turned around there was more of them and they were closer.   I did the stop, shout and wave thing and then walked on again.  Again, when I turned there was more of them and they were closer.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  It’s like that game you play as children when you are all trying to sneak up on the person at the end and you have to freeze when they turn around (statues?).  It is not fun playing this with cows.

The second field with cows had even more of them and I refused to walk through.  Instead, I went around through other fields.  I was clearly not supposed to do this as the gates were tied shut with string in clever knots that I couldn’t reproduce.  I kept expecting to encounter an irate farmer wanting to know what I was doing.

When I came to the third field there was not way around and I was tired and cross.  I just stomped through it shouting at them to get out of my way and they did!  Grumpy power!

As I approached my stop for the night I started coming across signs for the pub in the village, the Hunter's Moon Inn.  There was one at each gate or stile for the last few miles. They asked if you wanted a cold beer and told you how much further you had to go.  The very last sign, at the top of a particularly steep slope leading into the village, just had a picture of a pint of beer.  Very effective advertising as the first thing I did on reaching the village was stop at the pub for a pint.  I had the Butty Bach.

After my point I tottered off to my B&B for the night where I was given a gorgeous room with a view over that last nasty bit of path, with toiling hikers slowly making their way up.  In the end there was 7 of us staying at the B&B - all walking Offa’s Dyke path.

For dinner I tottered back to the pub.  There I had a pint of Doom Bar.  It’s Cornish beer rather than a local one but the other local one they had on tap was an IPA which I don’t like.  For food I started with a goat’s cheese tartlet which was just OK. The pastry case was bought pre-made and was too thick.  For main I had lamb chops (from local lambs) with mash, carrots and fried zucchini.  For dessert I had rhubarb and apple crumble with cream.  I then waddled back to my B&B.

Today was not a good day.  The cows were not pleasant and my feet were hurting badly.  My blisters were getting larger and larger and there was no way to stop them rubbing against the inside of my boots - which meant they were getting larger and larger.  I ignored what “they say” and popped them with a needle, squeezed out all the fluid, washed and bandaged them.  My feet are much happier now. My toes are just tender, not hurting.

I mentioned I had done this to my blisters to some other walkers at breakfast the next morning.  One of them, Lyn?, said she'd been told by a sergeant major in the Paras that what I did was the right thing to do.  It might horrify the medical types, but if you want to keep being able to walk you need to pop them.

Day 3 - Bigswier to The Hendre

Beer drunk: 1 pint, Blisters: 2
Distance walked: 19km, Time taken: 6 hours (not including lunch or sightseeing)
Ascents: 628m, Descents: 597m

I slept in until 5am this time, which is an improvement.  No snoring or aching limbs to wake me, just too much sunshine too early.  After a solitary breakfast, I set off to tackle my second day.  My big toes were feeling a little tender so I liberally covered them with bandaids.  I ended the day with blisters on the tips of both.  Going down hill is no fun at all as it means my toes rub against the front of my boots.  There are many more hills in my future too.

There was a long section walking along the top of the dyke today.  It is very impressive with a broad, flat top and a virtually straight drop 6-8m down on the Welsh side.  I can’t imagine how much work it must have been to construct.  A good part of the walk was through forests that are carpeted in bluebells at this time of year.  Very beautiful to look at - all the more pleasing as bluebells are actually purple.

I took things easy today as it is shorter, not tottering into Monmouth for my lunch stop until 4 hours after I set out even though it was only 6-ish miles away.  When I got there I realised, while I had carefully looked up which pubs in Monmouth served real ale, I had neglected to read the list before I set out. I ended up just wandering about and checking out what was available.  Even though Monmouth clearly has a larger population than Chepstow it seemed to have fewer pubs. The first pub I came to seemed a bit sketchy so I moved on.  The second had boasted about its fine coffee & cake but made no mention of its beer.  It also made of point of saying dogs weren’t welcome, so I gave it a miss too.  The third was part of a chain, so I skipped it as well.  I settled on the fourth, Robin Hood Inn, as it seemed to be my only option.  However, it did cater to locals (median age 60+) and served cask ale - but only big name brands, nothing local.  Still it wasn’t bad.  I had a pint of the Old Speckled Hen.

After lunch I pottered around Monmouth some.  I found 3 more pubs, but that still makes it light on compared to Chepstow.  There were a lot of displays about Henry V who started life as Henry of Monmouth.  In particular, a big deal was made of how he defeated the pesky Welsh, which seemed a bit odd given that Monmouth is in Wales.  I also heard my first Welsh accent here too. Unfortunately, it was from a drunk who was swearing but still, it was the real deal.

After pottering about, I headed off again about 3pm to finish up the last section of my walk through King’s Forest.  On the other side of the forest where the track met a road, I called my landlady for the night and she came a fetched me as the B&B tonight is 4 miles off the path.  She couldn’t have been friendlier and more welcoming.  A very pleasant way to end the day.

There are another pair of walkers staying here.  They are walking Offa’s Dyke path too but from north to south.  There next stop is the same place I was last night, but they walked further today than I will tomorrow so my next stop is different to theirs.  The husband is Welsh and has tried to teach me how to pronounce some of the names of the various villages I’ll be visiting.  I can manage the “f” and the “w” now but the “ll” still defeats me.

Dinner was provided by our hosts.  Main was what she called lasagna.  I wouldn’t have called it that, but as a baked pasta dish it was quite tasty.  Side dishes were salad and, oddly, baked potatoes. Dessert was a lovely, gooey chocolate brownie with cream and ice cream.  This was all washed down with tap water and followed by copious cups of tea.  There is nowhere for lunch tomorrow on the trail but tomorrow night’s dinner is at a pub.  I have to have at least 2 pints to keep my beer quota up.

As I was leaving the next morning, my landlady showed me a clever way to lace your boots that stops your toes from rubbing against the front of your boots.  Why didn't I meet her earlier?

Day 2 - Chepstow to Bigsweir

Beer drunk: 2 pints
Distance walked: 22km, Time taken: 7 hours (excluding lunch & sightseeing)
Ascents: 538m, Descents: 481m

Today my walking holiday started in earnest.  Unfortunately, it didn’t start with a good night’s sleep. My legs had stopped aching but I still woke in the middle of the night.  I couldn’t get back to sleep as a guest in a neighbouring room was snoring loudly enough to wake the dead - or at least loud enough to keep me awake while wishing he was dead.

After an early breakfast (there was no point staying in bed later than necessary) I caught a taxi to the very start of the walk at Sedbury Cliffs.  Chepstow is actually a few miles along the route.  My taxi driver had often taken walkers out to the start so we had a good chat about the route.  He’s never done it and has no interest in trying.  From his shape, it is clear that walking is not his idea of a fun thing to do.

The first section was superb.  It was along the top of the dyke itself through beautiful countryside.  I startled a pheasant, who returned the favour.  They make a lot of noise. The second section was very dull as it was through the outskirts of Chepstow.  Just tramping along footpaths past suburban houses. I suspect going out to the very start is strictly for the pedantic, but on the whole I’m pleased I bothered.  The weather has also been superb.  Mid to high teens and clear, blue skies without a cloud in sight.

Once past Chepstow the countryside was pretty again. I didn’t see any walkers then, but plenty of people out walking their dogs.  One red setter adopted me because I was willing to throw a stick for her, when her human had gotten bored with the game and had stopped playing.  I gave her back and continued on my way after a few minutes, much to her disappointment.

Today’s walk was supposed to be only 9 miles (14.5 km) but I wanted to visit Tintern Abbey which, according to my guide book was only 1 mile off the route, which proved to be slightly optimistic. What with starting at Sedbury Cliffs (adding an extra 2 miles) and the Tintern detour I ended up covering 22km today which is closer to 14.5 miles.  A good bit further than was probably wise for a first day out.  I hadn’t done any long walks for practice before this holiday.  I’d just exercised in the gym.  Gym fitness is useful but it isn’t the same as walking.  My feet will probably forgive me - in a few years.

Still I’m pleased I did the Tintern detour as it is fabulous.  The main church is as spectacular as all the photos, but the whole abbey complex is huge.  I spent nearly an hour wandering about it (not included in the distance or time totals), which wasn’t really long enough.

I avoided all the tourist trap places for lunch near the abbey, instead stopping at the Rose and Crown in Tintern village.  Very much a pub for the locals, although they had a sign up saying “muddy dogs and walkers welcome (mud optional)”.  Again, the friendly landlady let me sample the ales on offer before I selected a pint of the Rev James, which again was malty and nutty.  Lunch was a wild boar burger with chips.  Based on the (not very strong) taste, I suspect the boar was really more accurately described as a bit flighty.

After lunch I had the option of two routes - the high route following the dyke across a common and a low one following the banks of the river Wye.  The high route was described as being scenic but a little tricky to navigate.  It would also require me to regain all the elevation I’d lost.  It will come as no surprise that I opted to the low route.  Which was plenty scenic, only marred by the dulcet tones of some idiot hooning around (and around and around) a paddock in his landrover.  Why?

Tonight’s B&B is at someone’s private house.  They just rent out one of the bedrooms.  I’m the only person staying here which is a shame.  I prefer walking alone, but like to catch up with other walkers in the evenings.  However, I’m doing this walk in shorter segments than the standard route (which is typically 30km days) so I might be out of luck.

For dinner my hosts drove me to the local pub, The George, about 2km away (no more walking for me today) in St Briavels.  Not as friendly a place as the Rose & Crown but far busier - which probably explains it.  They weren’t unfriendly, just not as inclined to chat.  I had a pint of the Bishop’s Tipple which was a bit too hoppy for my taste - I wasn’t given the option of sampling before buying here.  For food I had the homemade pie of the day - pork shoulder with onions and black pepper.  The pork was overcooked and dry.  I’ve seen an awful lot of sheep but there is a surprising lack of lamb on the local menus.

Fingers crossed for a good night’s sleep tonight. I need it.