I set out this morning feeling thoroughly revived after a wholesome dinner, a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast. It has clearly made a difference: I walked confidently up the short but very steep hill at the outset of my day, slow to be sure but at no point was I thinking I had to stop. A short walk across roads and fields to Trefonen and a stop in the village store to stock up on supplies and I pressed on.
It was a morning where despite patches of blue sky there was a clinging moisture in the air that slowly turned to firstly light and then heavy drizzle. I made two big climbs in that weather, the first up a sparse and barren hilltop with sweeping views of the mist and clouds (a local had told me that on a good day you could see for miles) and the second a steep climb on muddy track through dark and rain-wet forest. My now properly fed and watered self tackled them with a far more positive attitude than I have had in the previous three days.
From the forest it was a steep drop into the small town of Llanymynech where I found a cafe a few yards off route and stopped for a light lunch - it truly is a watershed day finding both a shop and a cafe in the course of the day's walk. Afterwards I walk the tow path of the unused Montgomery canal, a mix of still, leaf-covered waters and an overgrown tangle of reeds and bulrushes, shrubs and trees. To me it spoke of new life and nature's resilience rather than of decay and dereliction but as I passed old bridges and locks and walked a small aqueduct I caught a glimpse of history and of the canal's former glory.
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| Montgomery Canal |
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| Montgomery Canal |
I made good time along the flat of the towpath to the small town of Four Crosses where Neil, my host last night, had recommended a campsite. But it was not long after one o’clock when I arrived and, while part of me wanted to stop, a more sensible part decided to press on and get some more miles under my belt; it would reduce my distance in the next few days, especially as there are some serious hills to come. It was a decision made even easier as I could see from the map that the ground for the next eight miles or so was very flat.
It was a dry afternoon of fields and pasture, mud and muck and gates and styles, at first along the dyke itself, a slightly raised hump in the land dotted with ancient trees, and then along a narrow, meandering and brown river Severn. I had thought of making it to Buttington which would have put me on track with the book timetable but I have instead stopped a couple of miles short. Buttington it seems is a tiny place with no amenities that sits two miles outside Welshpool and which is where I would have to head if I wanted accommodation and food. As I have decided that I will camp for the next two nights I have stopped short to hunker down in the cutting of a dismantled railway line that crosses the route hoping that in doing so I will be protected from tonight's strong winds.
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| Offa's Dyke |
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| River Severn |
In the next two days I will enter the Shropshire hills and I understand this will involve some serious climbing; there seems to be no let up on this route.
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