Started the day with a great breakfast and clear skies. Enthusiasm at a high as socks dry and boots dry enough to be comfortable (thanks to a lot of newspaper stuffed into them).
We left just after 0915 and Libby and Gail joined us (good to have them back on the walk). The first 1.5Km was up hill onto Hergest Ridge. This is a large open space with wide grassy tracks (good under foot). The views from here are great. The area has a herd of wild ponies on it; these were not phased by dogs or humans (a lot of people walking dogs here). Towards the top of the ridge there is a stand of Monkey Puzzle Trees which are not native to the UK; they were planted by a local but I needed to do more research as to when and why.
We left just after 0915 and Libby and Gail joined us (good to have them back on the walk). The first 1.5Km was up hill onto Hergest Ridge. This is a large open space with wide grassy tracks (good under foot). The views from here are great. The area has a herd of wild ponies on it; these were not phased by dogs or humans (a lot of people walking dogs here). Towards the top of the ridge there is a stand of Monkey Puzzle Trees which are not native to the UK; they were planted by a local but I needed to do more research as to when and why.
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| Wild pony stallion watching over his |
We walked down the back of the ridge to The Royal Oak Hotel in Gladestry (just about every town seems to have a Royal Oak Hotel). Libby and Gail planned to leave us here and we tried to call a taxi. Mobile phone reception was not good and the taxi companies did not have any cars available until the afternoon. Libby and Gail walked back to Kington (they completed a round trip of just over 14Km) while Twitchy and I continued the walk to Hay-on-Wye. Just our luck it started to rain here and did so for about 45 minutes ( thankfully the rest of the day wasn't too wet).
Close to the half way mark for today we stopped at St Mary's church in the small village of Newchurch. The local parishioners provide refreshments for walkers (tea, coffee, water, biscuits and chocolate); it is free but they do ask for donations which we were happy to support.
Close to the half way mark for today we stopped at St Mary's church in the small village of Newchurch. The local parishioners provide refreshments for walkers (tea, coffee, water, biscuits and chocolate); it is free but they do ask for donations which we were happy to support.
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| St Mary's church |
After the church the path starts to head up hill around the side of Little Mountain. This was a bit off a tough climb but not too bad. After reaching the top of the climb we entered a farm track that was really boggy and slippery; not a pleasant bit of walking.
The rest of the walk was mainly through fields (some with livestock in them) with some road walking (including about 300m along a narrow grass verge beside the busy A438) and woodland corridors. It was slippery going after the rain.
The final part of the walk into Hay-on-Wye was alongside the River Wye. This was flowering really quickly after the rain over the past few days.
The rest of the walk was mainly through fields (some with livestock in them) with some road walking (including about 300m along a narrow grass verge beside the busy A438) and woodland corridors. It was slippery going after the rain.
The final part of the walk into Hay-on-Wye was alongside the River Wye. This was flowering really quickly after the rain over the past few days.
River Wye
We arrived at the B&B (Radnor House) earlier than we had anticipated to be met by Libby and Gail. The B&B host gave us a coffee and was very helpful. Tonight we had dinner at a nearby Tapas resturant and saw the movie 'Yesterday'.
Tomorrow is a rest day in Hay-on-Wye (Yeah).
Tomorrow is a rest day in Hay-on-Wye (Yeah).
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