Total miles: 13.6
Elevation gain: 2,353ft
Time walking: 12pm – 7pm
Miles to date: 504.2
Last day of Offa’s Dyke! I can’t quite believe it’s over, it is a path I have wanted to walk for so long and now I’ve gone and done it! I have to say I’m glad that this isn’t the finishing point for me, as it is for most people, as I don’t think I’d be ready to stop!
Today wasn’t an easy day, despite the shorter distance, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was goodbye to Aurelie and the girls all too soon 🙁 thankfully before we said goodbye we had a wonderful breakfast together in Dyserth (after I’d carefully repacked my bag with all the new supplies they had brought with them, and re-waterproofed my jacket, trousers and boots!). Secondly, my bag was heavy again, thanks to the replenishment of supplies. Thirdly, it wasn’t the most interesting of days, after yesterday’s epic. Fourthly, the rain…
It seems a bit unfair to call the walk uninteresting as it certainly wasn’t really, in the grand scheme of things. But after two weeks of stunning walking, there’s something about the final day that just makes you want to get it done! There were a couple of hill forts, but none as spectacular as the previous day, there were some good views, although the sea never seemed to get any closer, and there were some great blackberries and raspberries! But it felt like a bit of a trudge. It didn’t help that the rain was threatening again and I put up with drizzle for a while before finally donning the waterproofs as it got heavier and heavier. For the first time on the walk the wind and rain combo actually made me feel cold and I wondered whether I should have worn the long-sleeved top that Aurelie had brought up for me! Thinking of the rain over the last couple of weeks I worked out that in the two weeks of Offa’s Dyke I had only had four days where it hadn’t rained. A little different to my first three weeks when I only had three days where it did rain! I guess my weather luck had to run out at some point. Still, I guess it’s a good sign that even with the rain I still loved Offa’s Dyke! The other good news is that my boots appear to be waterproof again, having treated them this morning. Whoop!
To make the walk a little easier I kept playing silly games with myself. Up the first hill (and a stretch along a road) it was the blackberry game. Basically, head to the next promising looking blackberry bush and reward myself with a few blackberries. It was slow but steady progress! The second was splitting each hill into little sections of 10 or so steps. “It’s all miles”, I kept repeating to myself. Every step is one less step to do!
About 7 miles in I paused on a wall for a break and to munch on the bakewell slice Aurelie bought for me from the cafe that morning (yuuum!) as the rain came down, and that cheered me up a little. I was also cheered by the fact I didn’t have to climb the impressive looking Y Foel but could admire it from below. Same for Graig Fawr which on another day would probably have been quite appealing!
I didn’t escape the climb up to the Prestatyn Hillside but happily it wasn’t too arduous a climb considering the views and the steep drop down into the town the other side! Perhaps it was just that I got distracted by the huge patch of raspberries on the way up…! As I walked along the (rather overgrown and therefore wet) path along the top of the hill I could hear a bell tolling in the village below (the call to Sunday evening prayer I’m guessing) and a line of John Donne’s poem came to me – “Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee”. I can’t remember the whole of the poem but I knew it at one time, it is the “No man is an island, entire of itself” poem. It seemed quite fitting, for it to come back to me now, as I walk alone, but not on my own (see my second post way back before I started this walk!).
This proved to be a walk that keeps giving right up to the end and just when I thought the hills were over, even on top of the hillside there was another final climb before the descent at last into Prestatyn. Even then it was another mile to the actual finish, right down along Prestatyn high street! Being Sunday evening most things were shut except some bars and restaurants. I’m tempted to stop for dinner there and then so I don’t have to come back out in the rain, but part of me really wants to just finish, get in, dump my pack and have a hot shower! So I keep heading down to the beach (up and over the railway station which confused me a bit!) and the restaurants etc peeter out. The beach is deserted, hardly surprising I suppose, but there is the official finish point, complete with sculpture representing the rising or setting sun (depending on whether you are starting or finishing). I found it amusing that on the signpost it says “Chepstow 182 miles” when every single bit of literature everywhere states that Offa’s Dyke path is 177 miles long, and even the halfway sign is 88.5 miles each way. Not sure where the extra 5 miles came from! Still, I know I’ve done more than 177 miles anyway by the time I add in all the diversions to accommodation etc, so who’s counting… 😉
Apparently it is tradition to finish the walk by taking your boots off and walking into the sea. With the rain and the tide being out I was tempted to skip that bit, but tradition is tradition so I headed down towards the waves, getting incredibly sandy in the process, and stripped off my boots and socks to have a quick (and cold!) paddle. Offa’s Dyke officially completed! Which also marks 500 miles of my journey complete – I can now officially start singing the Proclaimers’ song….!
Now both wet AND sandy I headed off to find my accommodation which thankfully was right on the sea front about 500m from the finish point. My lovely Airbnb host Anne quickly took all my wet gear and hung it up to dry then made me a cup of tea and fed me some biscuits, exactly what was needed! My plan was to shower and head out to find some food but as the rain showed no signs of relenting Anne and her friend Mike refused to let me go back out and instead very kindly made me some (delicious!) dinner from bits and pieces they had in the house. So sweet! They also made me a hot chocolate and we sat in front of their cosy wood burner sharing stories. Eventually I had to excuse myself so I could head upstairs and try to find accommodation for tomorrow night, as unfortunately it turned out the campsite I thought was in Holywell is actually nowhere near it! The search has been unsuccessful so far, so not quite sure yet where exactly I’ll be staying, but I’m sure I’ll find something…
Anyway, tomorrow is the start of leg 3, probably my least planned leg…who knows what it will bring!
