Day 39 - Penley to Wrenbury

A busy day today - the van got a wash ( not by us!), I visited Whitchurch, shopped, canal-watched, walked and finally barbecued!


Left The Walker to his own devices (walking, I presume) and thoroughly enjoyed my couple of hours discovering Whitchurch , famous for its clocks, Victorian illustrator of children's books (Randolph Caldecott) and a composer called Sir Edward German. Actually, what most interested me was the fabulous old church, St. Alkmund - the same saint as the church Jamie and Andy were married in six weeks ago. We'd never heard of this 9th century saint before but he has a few churches dedicated to him and strong links with Derby!

After having taken refreshment with The Tireless Walker, the van was scrubbed clean at the campsite, while I whiled away an hour by the canal watching the lasses armed with windlasses and the lads pretending to be captains standing proudly at the helm! Though, with 6 locks to go through, it was as bad as the M6 and the wait for some was going to be a few hours! The Walker says that it's a good job there's a pub close by! One poor woman I spoke to said she hated being on the canal and that everything had gone wrong! Hope things improve for her!

Top of Grindley 'staircase'!

From Bernie:
Today's walk 15.3 miles : Cumulative 498.9 miles

Second part of a cross-country connecting route &, again, the day's highlights revolved around the canal. But, even more significantly, I'm finished with my Welsh dalliance! Crossed the border, into Cheshire, for the last time on this walk but, disappointingly, in the village of Higher Wych there wasn't even a Wales-England sign to mark the event!

Today's walk also marked the last significant stretch of road-walking until I leave The Pennine Way for the second time & head through The Borders for Edinburgh - only a few weeks away!



Completed the 'Maelor Way' at Grindley Brook, picked up the 'South Cheshire Way' (which I'll follow again tomorrow) before returning to the Shropshire Union Canal to finish the day's activities. Knew I'd fancy a mid-afternoon pint so called in at the very smart village of Marbury where 'The Swan' has a good reputation. I'd rate it quite low on my list - it doesn't open on Mondays unless it's a Bank Holiday.... I could go on for hours about pubs, inns, travellers & who it is who's providing the service. A few miles further on, at 'The Dusty Miller', I had to wait a while for the publican who was busy doing other bits & pieces.... but he was open, & was picking up quite a bit of passing canal custom. End of moan.... but only until the next closed pub!

Marbury - beautiful village.... shame about the pub. Hmm - Mondays off, must be doing well

Highlight of the Day: has to be Grindley Brook. We stayed here last night & I walked through the village (?) today. It's not a village & I suspect the cafe, craft shop, pub, campsite & garage have only sprung up because of the lock staircase & tunnel which create something of a bottle-neck for canal traffic. There's a constant procession of narrow-boats up & down the locks, always a different story, often a different nationality & all great fun... though I think I'd still rather be walking!

View down the Grindley Brook 'staircase'

Beer of the Day: another pint from 'The Horse & Jockey' at Grindley Brook - 'Deliverance' from Aspinall's Cambrinus Craft Brewery. If my internet was working better I'd investigate that for you! Similar to the'Harvest Pale' I tried in Kington - very pale, sharply bitter & a very good beer.

Good Pub - though they need not fear 'muddy boots' at the moment!

Jamie: well done - first to notice the French influence on our National Trails! As always I was carrying my small screw-driver set (in case of problems with my glasses.... spectacles, that is!) & considered correcting their error but then remembered I was in Wales & thought it might have been done deliberately..... so left it for others to photograph!


Stuart: looks like I'll be in Bollington on Thursday - hope you've arranged my safe passage!

Day 38 - Chirk Castle to Penley

After the wonderful warm weather the rain woke us both this morning; it was also considerably cooler but soon became dry. We were a bit later getting organised (Sunday Morning lie-in) , but The Walker was on his way by 9.45 and I returned to the van to research and book campsites for next week and the weekend in Edale when some of the family are visiting. It is getting harder to find decent places for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights as more and more people are "getting away" for the weekend. I've also been warned that mid-week will become busy as the retired contingency take to the road! ('That's us!' - Bernie)

Rain did come at lunchtime, though the sky was still bright; did hardly any walking today so will look forward to going along the canal towpath and visiting Whitchurch tomorrow.


Most interesting thing today was the mother duck and her 10 youngsters who suddenly appeared from nowhere at our barbecue - they were not frightened at all and pushed and shoved to be at the front for the bread. Mum stood at the back and let them get on with it. When all was eaten they magically disappeared!

From Bernie:
Today's walk 14.0 miles : Cumulative 483.6 miles


Awake early this morning, listening to the rain pattering on the van - didn't get up to make the coffee until 7.00 am; bit of a lay-in really! I wasn't in a hurry to be under way as I knew I'd have to pay the price for staying with Offa's Dyke too long & all of that canal exploration - the price was a lot of eastwards road-walking to line me up for the stretch towards the Peak District.

Today's route.... more-or-less!

Left Les with the van & wandered back around Chirk Castle to a point I'd first walked about 20 hours earlier! And though I knew today was to be something of a labour of love, the start was spectacular.... all down to that Telford man again!

Highlight of the Day: Chirk aqueduct & viaduct - the 2 Telford bridges span the River Ceiriog side by side &, though not as high or as long as the Pontcysyllte aqueduct, this was quiet with only the longboat pilots busy lining up their crossing before disappearing into the blackness of the Chirk Tunnel.

Detoured, yet again, to Dudlestone Heath, in the hope of finding a Sunday lunchtime pint - the pub is now the 'Bombay Spice'... open, today, only for special buffets & not until 5.00 pm: all I wanted was a beer.


I've flirted with danger several times on this walk but nothing has brought me as close to disaster as this afternoon's encounter with a road cycle race: elbows were flying, the language was ripe & I think I'd have been dead if I'd tried to point out that I had Right of Way.....


Passed a road-runners race shortly afterwards & they just ignored me.... I stopped saying 'Hi!' after a while...

Memorial to miners of the Ifton Colliery just outside the village of St. Martin's

The pits were on Ifton Heath - now a Nature Reserve

Beer of the Day: 'Chained Oak' from Staffordshire's Peakstone Rock Brewery - Les insists it's amber-coloured: I just think it's smooth, very drinkable & very good. After a few disappointing days I couldn't believe my luck: we're parked at Grindley Brook & the pub over the road has 6 different ales.... we're staying tomorrow night as well!


Song of the Day: Gordon Lightfoot's 'Early Morning Rain': I've always liked Dylan's version from his much-maligned 'Self Portrait' but my favourite version is by Paul Weller, maybe from 'Fly on the Wall' or his 'BBC Sessions' set.... I can't remember!

Technical Team: I quite enjoyed the extra 0.2 of a mile I walked to 'The Horse & Jockey' & back this afternoon!

Another of those signs that amuse me - if you're not interested in cricket this will mean nothing to you!

Day 37 - Trefonen to Chirk Castle

Interesting walk today - really glad The Walker decided to add this diversion. Once again it's something he has always wanted to do so I'll let him tell you all about it.

I had a fantastic day even before walking across the aqueduct! I was checking out parking places along the A5 on foot, (I have to be careful that there is space and it's accessible - where I had just stopped was ok but not for 4 hours), when I thought I had walked far enough. Looking for a way to get back down to the canal, I went down a driveway that seemed to lead to a path - my excuse was that I had no map! A couple, who had been sitting in the middle of a field enjoying the view, hailed me.

To cut a long story short(!), after an explanation from me, Glen and Len invited me into their wonderful home for coffee and biscuits on the terrace. What a fantastic view of the Llangollen Valley! To wake up to that every day must be marvellous, though Len did say that they have no sun from November to February. They were a mine of local information and history of the area as they have lived here for 45 years! It's meeting such warm, friendly people that's making Lejog such a wonderful adventure. So, Glen and Len from Cycyllte, hope Glen's hip continues to improve; many thanks for a really special coffee break and for the donation to the British Heart Foundation.

Glen & Len

From Bernie:

Today's walk 13.8 miles : Cumulative 469.6 miles

A frivolous day... but an excellent one!

Sitting in front of the computer at home, planning the walk & worrying about my knees, I imagined I'd be struggling to keep up with my schedule & thought that, perhaps, we might drive over to Froncysyllte one evening to look at Telford's famous aqueduct.... though I've done that often enough on trips to North Wales.

With the weather, the miles & my knees going OK I thought I might just as well walk there & wander along the high-level towpath - it all amounted to a half-day diversion but if any of you ever have half a day to spare....... !

I've been following the Offa's Dyke National Trail for almost 140 miles - a splendid walk & I'll be back to finish the last 40 miles or so to the coast - but, tomorrow, I'll be leaving the hills behind & following the lesser known 'Maelor Way' eastwards. Section 3 is completed & all the paperwork signed: Section 4 should really only take a week & will lead to our next National Park, The Peak District!

Chirk Castle - tonight we're camped somewhere in the grounds!

Highlight of the Day: not sure whether it was the anticipation, the crossing or sitting in the garden of 'The Telford Inn' afterwards watching all the activity in Trevor Canal Basin. Another industrial pilgrimage, I suppose, but what an incredible feat of engineering!

How could you play football with all this going on 126' above your head?!

Beer of the Day: neither of the 2 pubs visited today had any real ales or even anything really local - I've consoled myself whilst writing tonight's blog by drinking my last bottle of 'Black Fox'!

Another one of those sculptures I love so much! - Trevor Canal Basin

Sam & Joe: thanks for your message & glad you're enjoying the pictures - everything's going well so far so I hope we'll reach John O' Groats in the middle of your Summer holidays. It's really good to know you're reading about all of our adventures!

Di: there were other carvings, too, but a wall & telegraph pole stopped me from reaching a photographic position!

Pam: actually I'm quite worried about Snowdon. Today's walk took me across Oswestry Common where there was once a racecourse & where a toposcope now indicates various mountains etc. Snowdon is hidden behind the trees! It must be the erosion you & all those other walkers have caused!

Technical Team: please add another 5.8 miles...... which will probably move the half-way point on from Pen-y-Ghent!

OK - so what's wrong with this sign?

Day 36 - Four Crosses toTrefonen

Not a great campsite last night - a large field with long grass, a wet-room which did indeed wet everything and a bridge that scared the van! The Walker is much happier in luxury campsites and tonight's is pretty good. Excellent showers, secluded area and a mobile fish and chip van to give us our supper! And they were excellent. We realised that it is only the second time on our jaunt that we've had this meal: the first was 5 weeks yesterday - the day before we began Lejog!

A very hot day; I only had a short industrial walk planned. It is bound to be the highlight of The Walker's day - he loves those type of ruins - and they were pretty fascinating. I left him continuing his walk and I decided to investigate Oswestry. However, after driving around the town for over half an hour trying to park ( the main car parks had height barriers and the long stay one never materialised after I had followed signs for it through the town), I gave up. Oswestry will have to wait to be discovered.

Llanymynech Quarry - if you look closely you'll see the climbers!

And to cap it all the parking area where I was supposed to meet The Walker was a pile of rubble with notices all around saying 'No Waiting ' or 'Dim Aros'. I was sitting right in front of the sign and the farmer drove past me on his tractor 3 or 4 times; perhaps he thought I couldn't read and I really was dim.

From Bernie:

Today's walk 11.4 miles (including a 3 mile Heritage Trail diversion!) : Cumulative 455.8 miles

Penultimate day on the Offa's Dyke Path & I'm not really in a rush to leave it! Meandered along the Montgomery Canal towards Llanymynech but lost a crucial face-off with a pair or swans & their brood sunbathing in the middle of the towpath & had to retreat to an earlier road bridge! Canal on one side, nettles & a bramble hedge on the other, the cob hissing & flapping furiously... it could have been the end of LeJog! Let's put it down as a tactical withdrawal!

Hmm! Seems like they weren't keen on walkers & cyclists even then....

Highlight of the Day: the Llanymynech Heritage Trail - always had this on the list as an essential diversion which is why I've been trying to earn a few miles in hand! A limestone quarrying area but silver, copper & a variety of other minerals have been mined here. The trail includes unusual kilns, gin wheels, inclined planes, old buildings, excellent sculptured figures &, the prize exhibit, the Hoffman kilns - I'll not bore you with the details but these kilns were outdated before they were even operational &, in a rather sad way, contributed to the area's decline.

Alongside the Brunel 'pilgrimage' as one of the highlights of the walk!

Last of my steep climbs on Offa's Dyke was to the summit of Moelydd - my guidebook tells me I could see 30 miles in every direction except north... too many mountains! I was quite impressed to learn that I was only just over 40 miles from the summit of Snowdon!

Wouldn't mind living here! Montgomery Canal just before Llanymynech

Shortly after this came the second great contest of my day; cows, heifers, even bulls can usually be comfortably dismissed but coming into Trefonen I had to walk through a field of about 10 quite well-developed heifers - 8 of them ignored me but a couple were not happy that I was there! One approached, head down, & refused to retreat when I swore at him & waved my trusty stick - in fact, he advanced! Nothing to lose, I decided to attack! I stepped forward until I was almost touching him, whereupon he turned & head-butted his mate! I made for the gate... a sound, tactical assault!

Beer of the Day: tried another beer from a Bishop's Castle Brewery, the Six Bells this time. 'Ow Do' was the ale - rather ordinary, I thought, but at least it wasn't cloudy; Shropshire not doing too well - perhaps it's the water!

Song of the Day (an occasional series): 'Mining for Gold' by The Cowboy Junkies - only occurred to me as I was thinking back on the day's walking & reflecting on this once prosperous area.

Even the locals are doing it! Garden sculpture in Trefonen

Warning to Technical Team: I've added another 3 miles to the total today & I have another 'industrial' diversion planned for tomorrow which will add at least another 5 miles..... but at least I'll be back on schedule!

Julia: I've seen no baby frogs - all still tadpoles so, I suspect Wales is a few weeks behind Essex. Hope Maddie likes the ducklings & cygnets! The thing I love about the sculptures is that they take you by surprise - it's so different from walking through towns or cities & expecting to see them!

Ann: hope you have a great time in Dorset & thanks for the Hunter Gatherers picture - good to see you all looking well. Not sure of the date of the June gathering so I don't know whether we can have a celebratory meal on LeJog at the same time.... but did we ever need an excuse?!

Day 35 - Montgomery to Four Crosses

Up bright and early with the birds and in Harry Tuffin's supermarket by 8.15! Another amazing shop and we managed the petrol offer easily ( but the van is pretty heavy now).The Walker was on his way from the centre of Montgomery by 9 and I was quietly munching a fruit teacake when a chap startled me peering through the van window. He apologised and said he was being nosy; he wants a new motorhome and liked the look of ours. I spent 20 mins giving him the sales pitch and he took away the firm's number. Commission, Duncan?

View from Montgomery Castle

Parked up in Welshpool and walked along the canal to meet The Walker. We were both interested in visiting the museum and heritage centre. We were about to go in when a miserable looking lady said that they closed for lunch in 5 mins. The family behind us turned back as well. Surely being open at lunch time is essential nowadays; she must lose a lot of custom. The bartender in the pub found it hard to raise a smile - if it hadn't been for the lovely ladies in the Tourist Info Office, I would have thought that everyone in Welshpool was miserable.

The Powis Arms had very jolly people - and they were at a funeral wake - they all wanted to tell me the best way to get to the canal to meet The Walker! And the two local teenagers I accosted outside the Spar in Four Crosses were very pleasant, though they obviously thought I was mad when I asked if there was any parking near the canal; one wasn't sure if there was a canal nearby 'til his mate put him right!

An odd day, meeting lots of different types of people but it made me think that being polite and pleasant, with a smile goes a long way! And it's free!

From Bernie:

Today's walk 17.4 miles : Cumulative 444.5 miles

Sounds as if my wife is becoming a little cranky......!

Had a couple of options this morning &, after spending half an hour or so wandering through the ruins of Montgomery Castle, headed west towards the Montgomery Canal. The only reason, really, was that I fancied a change from the cows, horses & sheep that I knew would be my companions if I returned to Offa's Dyke!

Signs like this throughout Powys: having walked all over Britain, I can't see them winning... but I see their point

What a change! Ducks with their young; fiercely defensive swans with, sometimes, quite large families; large, adult herons flapping serenely along the bank ahead of me; hundreds of fish - 3" to 8" in length, grey with occasional flecks of blue or red (I'm no expert!); thousands of bright blue dragonflies; goodness knows how many tadpoles; yellow flowers - the ones in the water I assumed to be water lilies, the ones on the bank were, I think, irises. What a difference a couple of hundred feet make!

12 cygnets in this family - I don't think I've ever seen so many

Highlight of the Day; lovely wooden sculptures along the length of the Montgomery Canal - I joined it at Garthmyl, its original terminus, & followed it all the way to Four Crosses. Fascinating information boards & a credit to the enthusiasts responsible for its restoration.

Beer of the Day: 'Solstice', brewed by Three Tuns Brewery at Bishop's Castle - they describe it as 'light & zesty', I'd add 'cloudy'. The barman told me that 'it clears' - it didn't & tasted distinctly ordinary.
Recommendation: don't bother with this one or 'The Royal Oak Hotel' in Welshpool!

Moan of the Day: owner of tonight's campsite warned he had 'quite a narrow bridge' for us to cross. Width was no problem but we scraped the bottom of the van trying to get over the hump! Finally reached the site through a ford from the opposite, more difficult to access, direction. 'Never had a problem,' he said. 'Just once with a bloke who was pulling a big caravan & had overloaded his Volvo' - he's only recently bought the site & I think he is going to have real problems.... !

To cap it all the oil light has lit up on the van! Great!

Do I sound cranky?!

Cranky couple photographed by a lovely young Italian woman at Pool Quay

Really looking forward to tomorrow & the old industrial sites around Llanymynech - I think we might fritter away the miles we have in hand! Let's hope the weather holds!

Day 34 - Newcastle to Montgomery

Harry Tuffin, I have discovered, is a restaurant, supermarket, garden centre and goodness knows what else on the A489 between Craven Arms and Newtown! Tomorrow we are going to investigate further as we really didn't need shopping tonight - must think ahead, though, as they were offering 10p per litre off if you spend £60 ( beats Tesco and Sainsburys). This would make the diesel pretty cheap. The Walker is wondering how much wine we can fit in the van!!

On my drive back from dropping The Walker today I discovered another beautiful part of Wales. It is at the West end of the Clun Valley and Forest: the drive on the B4368 from Newcastle was amazing with views for miles. I noticed a lot of public footpaths, so another area to investigate in the future.

Montgomery castle is excellent - a super place for families - and quite a few were up there having picnics. Perhaps I should write a guide book to the best areas within 10 miles of our route......... the tourist information board has got nothing on me!

Ruins of Montgomery Castle

From Bernie:

Today's walk 10.7 miles : Cumulative 427.1 miles

Bit lackadaisical again today, I'm afraid! Offa's Dyke Path doesn't go through Montgomery but I fancied paying the old town a visit &, having arrived, didn't relish the only obvious return to my route... along a main road. Had also decided to detour to Welshpool so thought Montgomery was a good place to stop so I could re-jig the maps tonight! Still 3 miles ahead of schedule but should really crack on tomorrow, just in case we run in to bad weather.

Cloudy for most of the day & much warmer but the winds have dropped - it does make the walking a lot easier particularly in this terrain where the wind funnels up gullies & valleys where you would expect it to be most sheltered. A third of the whole walk done - if the weather's as kind for the rest of our journey as it has been so far I'll be perfectly happy!

Highlight of the Day: the climb from Churchtown to the top of Edenhope Hill - the track rises 350' in less than a quarter of a mile &, at times, it's like scaling a ladder! Huge relief at the top but was that because I knew there was only one more serious climb before the Montgomery Plain?!

Longmynd from Edenhope Hill

Met a lady just outside Montgomery who was walking with her Labrador (it skipped over the top of the stile while I was thinking about climbing on to the step!) - she has walked the whole of Offa's Dyke, the Pennine Way & the Cotswold Way since she retired & is walking LeJog next year with her friend who is retiring to tackle the path. Spent so long talking to her I was almost late for my meeting with Les!

Beer of the Day: 'Black Fox' cider from Dunkerton's Brewery at Pembridge, close to the spot where we camped at Kington. 7%, cloudy, it comes in a bottle & it is very good - I've enjoyed several this week! Had hoped to sample something new at 'The Dragon Hotel' in Montgomery but ended up with a poor pint of cider served by a disinterested barman who seemed only to want to play on his computer.... Tourist Info: Thumbs Down!!!!

Song of the Day (occasional series): Bonnie Raitt's version of John Prine's 'Angel from Montgomery' - it would have been an angel, indeed, who could have sold me a postcard that looked anything like the town!

Montgomery Town Hall

Old buildings in Montgomery

Museum on the left was 'The Old Bell Inn' : Building on right was 'The Plume of Feathers'!

Footnote: when I Googled the weather for Montgomery this morning the BBC produced a forecast for Montgomery, Alabama.... the temperature of 38 degrees was a bit of a giveaway but I wasn't impressed by the predicted showers!

Well, you'd look sad if all your relatives kept being squashed!