Musings on Offa's Dyke

Total distance walked: 194 miles over 12 days

Offa's Dyke was fantastic walk, we had a great two week holiday and no major problems at all.

 

The weather was very mixed, I think we had just about everything that the Great British Summer could throw at us. When we set off it was days of 26degC or more, wall to wall sunshine and dry, dusty paths. The middle of the walk was mainly overcast but dry (better for walking but not so good for photography) and the last couple of days very wet and windy indeed - but this wasn't really a problem when staying in pubs, b&b and hotel accommodation, as you can wash and dry stuff overnight. We only met one family that were planning on doing any camping, and they were doing the trail over long weekends rather than all in one go, and we spent a good part of our last day feeling a bit sorry for them (Rob more so than me, I must confess, I was mainly of the opinion that it was their choice...but I did feel a bit guilty about that later as the awful weather reports came in.)

In the end, we walked 214 miles in total - and my Asic Trebuca's have very little by way of sole left on them. Unlike most of the other walkers we met, who had opted for the more popular sturdy, waterproof boots, we wore very light trail shoes that offered no waterproofness at all. This was fabulous during the hot weather, fine for 99% of the rest of the time, and slightly squelchy after fording the river and walking through a couple of very wet fields. I am very pleased with the way my trail shoes felt and performed (especially coming down steep slopes on wet grass, they stuck like velcro) and because they're not waterproof, they dried out reasonably quickly and with a change of socks were perfectly comfortable - well, as comfy as any shoes are after you've walked that many miles.

Having reviewed all the stuff we took with us, I think we were fairly happy with our packing. We needed more stuff like toothpaste, moisturiser, footcream and soap than we took from the start but these things are easy to get hold of along the way. I could probably have managed with one less pair of walking socks, should probably have taken liner socks instead in case I'd had to walk in my waterproof socks for any length of time and a warm hat would have been preferable rather than a spare Buff. Another couple of carrier bags would have been handy, but this was only because now in Wales you have to pay 5p for a bag, and we are a bit stingy - although I dolike this law as it has apparently cut down the number of carrier bags being used dramatically, which can only be a good thing.

The walk itself is fantastic. It has more ascent than I would have expected for a trail that doesn't really go over much very high ground, just lots of (sometimes very steep) ups and downs. Mainly the path goes through farmland countryside, sheep farming and arable fields. My usual preference for walking is high ground, moorland and fell tops, but I loved Offa's Dyke with its pretty flower-lined lanes and pastures, little towns, old woods,  castles and abbeys, and of course, the dyke itself.

My photographs have now been uploaded - you can see them here - because my new clever little camera has GPS, in each of the galleries clicking on "Map This" will show you where they were taken.

 We stayed here:

Chepstow: The Castle View Hotel
Monmouth: The Punch House (late rooms)
Pandy: Allt Yr Ynys (late rooms)
Hay On Wye: Kilverts
Kington: The Swan
Knighton: The George and Dragon
Mellington: B&B (found from Offas Dyke Association accomodation pages)
Welshpool: The Royal Oak
Llanymynech: The Bradford Arms
Llangollen: Bryn Howel Hotel
Llanferres: The Druid Inn
Bodfari: Glan Clwyd Isa B&B
Prestatyn: The Beaches

Our next challenge is to complete all the 214 Wainwrights before November 23rd 2012, which will mark ten years since we climbed up our first Lakeland fell on our first wedding anniversary - only 23 more to go...

Day 12: Aberchwiler to Prestatyn

Distance: 14.5 miles
Ascent: 800m
Weather: dry start, increasingly wetter and windier.

When we set off this morning, it was overcast and humid but dry and calm. A couple of cars passed us on the narrow lanes (where we had a fly-by by a buzzard) and then we crossed over the busy road and headed up a very steep path up a little hill. At the top of the hill we skirted around though woodland and lanes towards the coast. The clouds were gathering.

There was a short tree covered path and then we were out on a high sheep field, with good views towards the sea, debating whether to put our coats on or not. The clouds loomed darker. Our coats went on.

There is a bridge over the A55(T) near to Rhuallt where we crossed, and then we helped some ladies who were lost, before turning off the lane to make our way up around Mynydd-y-cwm hill. We had a couple of brief stops under some trees as it started to drizzle lightly, first with some cows, then with some other walkers. The drizzle turned more rain-like so we put our waterproof trousers on. The path levelled out and made its way though a gorse filled sheep field, where I thought my glasses had steamed up, but it was the clouds descending and we were in mist.

Until now our feet had been pretty dry, that soon changed as we had to walk through two fields with barley and long grass. The rain got heavier.
We thought about having a lunch stop, but nowhere suitable presented itself, so we had some jelly beans to keep us going and walked on.

Going along Prestatyn Hill, the path got quite narrow and muddy, with yellow flowers on either side (possibly St John's Wort) and I got stuck in a bramble bush. We had a quick lunch stop at a ruin of an old cottage (Pant-y-something) but didn't stop for long as it was starting to rain again. Rob's cheese and (very expensive, apparently) pickle sandwhich tried to kill him. From here the path got narrower and muddier and slopier, and the wind got stronger and rainier. It was really quite miserable for a few minutes, then we dropped down into shelter and things improved. Soon we were down on to a lane with houses, then into Prestatyn town (how many hairdressers?) and then onto the sea front. The tide was right in and the sea very choppy, so there was no paddling. Instead we had a bracing walk along to the Beaches Hotel, where we celebrated the end of the walk with coffee and a biscuit (and washing our socks) while outside it is now torrential rain and blowing a gale.

Day 11: Llanferres to Aberchwiler

Distance: 13 miles (11 on the ODP)
Ascent: 900m
Weather: quite wet, cloudy
Wildlife: bit lacking today, we saw a bunny and a couple of squirrels, a slug, a beetle and a spider, plus meadow pippits.

The weather forecast for today had been for heavy rain all day, but really it wasn't as bad as we'd feared. The weather didn't spoil our day, although it would have been nice to have had more than just fleeting glimpses of the views as they are supposed to be really spectacular from Jubilee Tower on a clear day.

We retraced our steps back to the gate where we'd left the Offa's Dyke trail yesterday, the path through cow wood didn't seem too bad this morning, obviously the cows hadn't felt the weather was bad enough to take shelter under the trees.

It was raining lightly as we'd left the Inn and we'd put on our waterproofs straightaway, so it was quite warm in them as we climbed up the hill towards Moel Fenlli hillfort. The weather alternated between light rain, drizzle in the clouds and very short spells of almost no rain at all, and we kept our waterproofs on all day.

The path heads over a number of peaks, many of them with Iron Age hillforts on them. On Moel Famau (558m) we stopped by the Jubilee Tower (which had been lit as a beacon on the Queen's diamond Jubilee and was still wearing a strange looking cone attachment thing) briefly, and then headed over the other tops. The path was wide and clear, mostly grassy with some rocky sections coming downhill. We had first lunch on a bench near to a car park and second lunch later on underneath an oak tree by some sheep. I phoned the B&B to check their exact location and, with the thought of kettles being put on and tea being brewed, we made our way quickly through Aberchwiler village to Glan Clwyd Isa.

We are now in the Downing Arms in nearby Bodfari, we walked the mile or so as it wasn't raining, but brought our waterproofs with us for the return just in case.

Day 10: Bryn Howel to Llanferres

Distance: 21.5 miles
Ascent: 1150m
Weather: sunny in morning, showers middle of the day,sunnier later.
Buzzards under attack: 2
(Not very well) camouflaged bunnies: 1
Guide squirrels leading the way: 1

We'd seen buzzards and bunnies today before we'd even finished breakfast. We left the hotel and crossed the busy road, turning off past a house where we got barked at by two dobermans, thankfully on the other side of a sturdy fence.

We met the ODP again on a track near Trevor Hall, and then walked through some pretty woods (past bitey horses) and up on to the hill top. The track follows the edge of the hill, named Panorama Walk, where you can see over the valley and towards Castel Dinas Bran. The geography here is interesting, as the hillside cliffs have been pushed up dramatically so what looks like flat farm land sits at a very steep angle.

We took a detour up to visit the castle ruins, the castle was built in the 13th century and only occupied for 20 years before it burned down and was abandoned - obviously they decided the walk up was too steep for them too so didn't bother rebuilding it.

The path leaves the track and contours along through the scree slopes, along the valley. A signpost pointed the way to World's End, and it was shortly after there that it started raining. We crossed the ford, which was fast flowing, cold and slippy underfoot, and squelched up the hill. Coming out of the trees onto a moorland road, the rain really started coming down, and we donned our waterproofs again. The path leaves the lane and crosses open moorland, some of it on duckboards which made for easier going.

The path heads down through Llandegla Forest, where there a lot of bitey midges and rather scared looking mountain bikers.

In Llandegla village we stopped at the Willows Cafe for a lovely lunch stop with lots of tea (there is also a post office / shop / coffee shop in the village but we couldn't work out if it was open and there was a sign out by the church for refreshments there too.)

From Llandegla we crossed some farm land, and went up some pretty tree and flower lined paths and up onto open fields on the tops. It was a bit windy, but mostly sunny.

There were some fine views over the Clwydian range, that we will be walking tomorrow, but mostly likely won't be able to see much if the weather forecast is anything to go by.

We left the ODP near some very nervous cows and then followed a Bridleway down into Llanferres village, through a wood with a cow-y path that I'm not allowed to mention any more, and to the Druid Inn.

We've had showers and top dinner and are now relaxing (with rather aching feet and knees, I must admit) with a pint of Marynka beer.

Day 9: Llanymynech to Vale of Llangollen

Distance: 22 miles
Ascent: 1000m
Weather: Cloudy start, rain started about 4pm

After a very flat day yesterday, today started with quite a lot of up quite early. We went through the Llanymynech Rocks nature reserve, which has lots of wildflowers (including pyramidal orchids) and a fine viewpoint. We also took a short detour to see the old brake drums from the quarry which was not at all a result of missing the right path.

The path crosses a golf course and through some woods down to Pen Y Coed, down a hill, through a wet field and then wiggles around a bit for a while, with lots of ups and downs, seemingly heading back the way we'd just come a few times.

From the village of Nantmawr we headed up the hill and through Jones' Rough where we didn't see any pretty ferns and didn't have an icecream on Moelydd Uchaf hill, but we did see some pig-cow-hybrid-goddamn-ugly sheep.

After Trefonen we walked along the Dyke for a while and then through Candy Wood which comes out at the old Oswestry hilltop race course, now a ruin, and we sat near the old grandstand to eat our lunch.

Second lunch was an hour or so later, with a view of Chirk Castle in the distance, which we then visited (via the summer permissive path though the castle parkland.) We had a nice pot of tea with cake and flapjack and then headed out into the rain. We donned our full waterproofs for the first time this holiday and prepared to get wet.

We dropped down over a short bit of dyke and then onto the Llangollen Canal towpath. The canal was very busy with boats, crossing over the Pont-Cysyllte aquaduct. We crossed too, but on the narrow path to one side, thankfully it has a rail on the footpath side. It was very impressive but I didn't get a photo with my phone, as that was tucked away dry.

The Bryn Howel hotel is just off the canal, we left the ODP about a mile back, staying on the towpath to avoid a bit of road walking. The hotel has fine showers but is a bit lacking in its choice of real ales.

The pictures look a bit grim below but that's more to do with the rather crappy camera on my phone than the day, it really wasn't that bad.

Day 8: Welshpool to Llanymynech

Distance: just under 13 miles
Ascent: approximately 50m
Weather: Cloudy start, sunny and warm in the afternoon.

Yesterday we visited Powis Castle - it rained constantly all day but the gardens were still lovely, and they have top tea and scones. We walked there from town through the park, and did about 6 miles.

After a lardy breakfast this morning, we set off back along the Montgomery Canal retracing our steps to where we'd left the ODP. We decided against buying any livestock at the market, but crossed the field towards the River Severn. The Offa's Dyke path as it is marked on the map does have a raised dyke though the floodplain, but it's hard to tell how much is historical and how much is just modern flood defence.

We were walking along a short stretch of canal when Rob felt like he might be getting a migraine, so quickly had a dose of paracetamol express and jelly beans and we hoped for the best. Thankfully it didn't seem to develop into more than a bad headache.

Back alongside the river, there were many cows, some of them guarding the stiles, some of them just sitting having a chew. They'd made quite a lot of muddiness in places. We also saw a few bunnies and some squirrels, and a goldfinch and some little yellow birds, which aren't so messy.

After passing though a little village of Four Crosses, we were back on the canal. We took a lunch stop at a bench just as we arrived on the towpath and then wandered along looking at the swans and cygnets, geese and goslings and ducks and ducklings (none of them were ugly) and soon into Llanymynech. We dropped off out bags at the Bradford Arms Hotel where we are staying tonight and went for a cup of tea at the Wharf visitor centre and a look around the Limekilns.



PS. The technical editor of the Sheeptrods Blog (Rob) commented that I hadn't really captured the drama and alarming nature of his averted migraine today. It really was horrible and very worrying. And also, we had homemade date and walnut cake with our lunch.

Day 7: Mellington to Welshpool

Distance: 16 miles (14.5 on the ODP)
Ascent: 450m
Weather: Cloudy
Critters: small rodent in field, wildcat (or more probably big fluffy farm cat chasing small rodent in field), bunnies (which failed to peform for the camera), goats.
Portents: a cow with the pox tried to lick me, we crossed a bridge covered in spiders and then saw a scary face in a tree.

The B&B was a little off the official path, and although there was a short cut that we could have taken, we were good and retraced our steps to the point we left the path last night. The path then goes though a little wood behind the caravan park at Mellington Hall, where we could smell a heady mix of bacon fat and butane filling the morning air.

The route passed mostly through arable farmland today, where they grow lots of different crops, but it seemed to me that the number of different wildflower species was much less, there were some poppies though.

We didn't stop in Forden to visit the pub because it seemed a much bigger place than we'd expected and there was no sign until we were out the other side, so we walked on, and up the hill - where the route of Offa's Dyke also follows an old Roman road. Here you can see the soil and rock structure in the Dyke wall.
We stopped for our lunch near Offa's pool, which didn't have much water in it at all, but did have a conveniently place log, and then climbed the hill to Beacon Ring. This an iron age hill fort, where a tree attacked me, or possibly just wanted to come with us, and then we walked down to Buttington over fields and pastures.

Here we left the Offa's Dyke path for now, and followed the Mongomery Canal, which has yellow flag irises, ducks, ducklings and fish, into Welshpool where we shall be taking a day off tomorrow. They've even put the bunting out for us.

Day 6: Knighton to Mellington

Distance: 15 miles
Ascent: 1150m
Weather: rain for about an hour first thing, then warm and cloudy.

This section is nicknamed the Switchback. Between Knighton and Mellington there are five hills which apparently look from above like the spread out fingers on a hand. It would probably have been possible to take a perfectly nice level route around them, but King Offa (with scant regard for the feet of walkers 1200 years later) chose to build his Dyke in pretty much a straight line over all five 'fingers'.

We seemed to be on or very close to the Dyke for much of the walk, some of which was *insert swear word of choice* steep.

As usual, there were a lot of sheep. Today we saw Welsh moutain sheep, texels (or dog-faced sheep, as we know them) and local Kerry sheep. The Kerry sheep breed is named after a nearby town, and today we crossed over the Kerry Ridgeway which is supposed to be one of the oldest roads in Wales, an old drover's route.

We also crossed the half-way point on the Trail today, marked by a signpost which said 88.5 miles from Chepstow and 88.5 miles to Prestatyn. So far I think we're holding up ok, I have one small blister on my toe, Rob as a sore ankle, we've both got a midge bite each and my shoulder remains attached.

We went out for a pleasant meal at Mellington Hall, and are now back at the B&B which is very comfortable and has a very friendly little dog - although it did growl at me earlier when I tried to eject it from my lap so I could stand up.