Total miles: 13.1
Elevation gain: 2,172 ft
Time walking: 2pm – 7:30pm
Miles to date: 471.8
Gosh, I loved today! I wasn’t sure how it was going to go at first, as I woke up feeling properly tired. I was very grateful to my Airbnb hosts – they told me there was no rush to leave and so I had a relaxed breakfast in the sun in the garden with their gorgeous dog Poppy and cat Treacle. The slow start helped, so although I didn’t leave the house until just after midday I finally felt my energy coming back. The sunny morning and promising forecast probably helped too!
Leaflets in my room advertised canal boat trips over the aqueduct for a modest £7.50 so after detouring to the post office to collect another stamp I headed back to the Trevor Basin in perfect time to grab a coffee to take on the next boat. It would delay me by another hour but it was a sunny day, I had a shorter walk, I was fascinated by the aqueduct and I figured there’s no point in walking the length of Great Britain if I don’t actually spend time seeing it along the way!
It was a great trip and fascinating to learn more about the aqueduct and how it was built. Apparently the stone pillars are held together with a mix of lime and ox blood and the water channel was lined with flannel soaked in sugar. Don’t quote me on any of the exact details, but the girl telling us the history definitely joked that it was reassuring to know that we were travelling over something held together by treacle…! King Jennifer proved popular today and he got lots of hellos from people we passed on the towpath. I also had another couple sponsor me which was sweet!
Canal trip over it was time to hit the path again so I waved goodbye to the sunny holiday scene by the canal and headed off towards the Llangollen escarpment, which I’d be following for 7 miles until Worlds End (and no, I’m not missing an apostrophe there, the place name doesn’t have one. Which slightly niggles me, grammar police that I am!).
After a good crop of big juicy blackberries it was uphill through the Trevor Hall woods for a bit until it flattened out, leading to nice, easy and quick walking (save for where a fallen tree had blocked the path and some scrambling was called for!). As I cleared the woods I met up with a group of walkers from the local “University of the Third Age” and we paused together for a breather. They were doing a short stretch of Offa’s for the day so I joined them for a bit until they stopped for a longer break. The path joined a tiny road at this point which it followed for several miles, right around the escarpment, halfway up. For once I really didn’t mind following a road as this was small, open and made for easy walking, which given the STUNNING views which opened up all along the Llangollen valley to Castell Dinas Bran, I was quite happy about! I hadn’t realised quite how beautiful today’s walk was going to be. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised by now as every bit of this trail has been stunning, but today really was fantastic. Castell Dinas Bran is a ruined castle perched on top of a tall, steep, conical hill and must have incredible views up and down the valley. Silhouetted against the sky it looked impressive even in its ruined state. Across the valley were huge, rolling hills, above me were craggy cliffs and scree-covered slopes and ahead of me was high moorland, where I was headed.
Eventually the path left the road and followed a narrow track on a steady incline, ever winding in and out with the line of the escarpment. The track was clear but the slopes were steep and I could almost have been walking in the alps. There is a semi-euphoric feel to heading up a narrow path that curls up and around the contours of the slope, disappearing in front of you where you can see masses of sky above and around, and nothing but more hills around you and the distant sound of the stream flowing along the valley floor. I felt so happy to be alive, and out doing this!
Eventually the path dropped down slightly, via a massive patch of wild raspberries, to meet the little road again at Worlds End. There isn’t actually anything at Worlds End other than a hairpin bend at the head of the valley, and a stream gushing downhill crossed by a ford and some stepping stones. It did feel satisfying though, to know I was right at the head of a deep valley which went on to join the main Llangollen valley, and the view as the road rose up on the other side was the best yet of the day. Not a building, road or other person in sight, just hills, trees, rocky crags, and a whole lot of sky!
A short steep climb took the road up onto open moorland, ah as if the day could get any better! The road continued to climb steadily and every now and then I’d pause to catch my breath and listen to the vast peace. It was so quiet up there! I could see back out to Snowdonia with the peak of either Cadr Idris or Snowdon (not sure which!) peeking out from the top. In front of me, as I crested the hill, I could see out to the massive estuary of the River Dee with Liverpool beyond. Over into England I could make out the faint outline of the Peak District, my destination in just over a week when I head there to start the Pennine Way.
The moor yielded up an exciting and bumper harvest of bilberries which are just heavenly! They taste like a cross between a blackcurrant and a blueberry and there were masses of them up there today. I ate so many I’m surprised I didn’t make myself sick, although I did tire my back somewhat from repeated bending down to pick them. I also managed to stain my hands a spectacular shade of purple, oops!
The last section of the day headed down through Llandegla Forest, a dense conifer plantation where the woods either side of the path are so dense and dark it looked like dusk had come early! It was a little bit eerie and I felt like I should be tiptoeing through as quietly as I could!
Tonight I am camping at the Llyn Rhys farm campsite which is pleasant and has views out to the hills. Sadly the road is quite busy here, which is a shock to the system after the quiet of the hills. There are also some very noisy flocks of sheep!
With my fuel gone (more coming tomorrow, yay!) I can’t make a cup of tea which is a shame, but thankfully the pub is just 100m away and it did some lovely food, and tomorrow I apparently pass the local community shop and cafe, so I’ll stop there for breakfast.
A long day tomorrow with lots of hills (and hillforts!) so going to try to make an early start. The rain is also supposed to return, so looks like my waterproofs will be back on the outside of my bag again (today they made it into the pack for the first time in nearly 2 weeks!).
Nearly the end of Offa’s Dyke, I can’t believe it! The end, in 2 days’ time, will also mark the 500 mile point where I can officially start singing the Proclaimers’ song…!
Happy weekend everyone xx
