They think it's all over ... it is now !

or, finishing off Offa's walk ~ Day 6

On this day of days, Natasha and I travelled north to the Irish Sea. Parking the car near the seafront we turned inland away from the sea to find the Prestatyn-Dyserth Way ... and headed south.

 

The Prestatyn-Dyserth Way is an old railway line ... now a cycleway, path and inevitably dog toilet ...



As we got further south, we left most of the housing behind.



We could have nipped into Meliden and had a pint ... but it was too early in the day ... and we had some walking to do.



The Prestatyn-Dyserth Way is only about three miles long and perhaps calling it a Way is way too much ... but it is pleasant walking and got us out into the countryside nice and easily ...



Though we hadn't seen many walkers on it, there were even fewer now. Still it was a Friday ...



We reached the spot where we'd left the Offa's Dyke Path the day before. Natasha was just about to pose next to the signpost when she said I should stand there ...

So here I am at the beginning of the end of my last day on the Offa's Dyke Path ...



Any similarity between me and a sack of potatoes is purely coincidental.

So, we started to head north, back towards Prestatyn.



I was surprised and relieved that the last day was proving much more interesting than I thought it was going to be.

The walk runs through the Prestatyn Hillside Nature Reserve and although we didn't see anything particularly interesting as regards natural history, the views were impressive ...



We sat on the one seat we found in the Nature Reserve and enjoyed the view.

Looking to our left, we could see the Prestatyn-Dyserth Way with Meliden beyond ...



Straight in front of us we were looking down at Meliden with the golf course to the right, immediately beyond the Prestatyn-Dyserth Way ...



Finally, to the right, the outskirts of Prestatyn ...



We couldn't sit there forever though we could have stayed longer.

A little later beside the path someone had left a bowl and some water for passing dogs ...



The path wound on ...





As we neared Prestatyn the path got quite narrow in places ...



Then we were down into the town itself, passing a large Roman helmet ...



On the helmet was an image of King Offa ...



All the way down to the beach, a mile away, roadside posts had one of these on them ...



We were just a few hundred yards from the end of a walk of over 180 miles ...



Finally, we were at the end and I stood on the beach, returning to have yet another photograph taken.



5 or 6 years ago I set off from Chepstow and walked the whole route from south to north. In the process I must have walked at least double the 182 miles and I think I can say I enjoyed every minute. It's a great Long Distance Path.

So what do I do now ?

I am already making plans ...

You can see the route I followed on the OS Explore website, here :~ http://explore.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/os_routes/show/19007

Date of walk ~ 23rd April 2010

Length of walk ~ 9 miles

Total walked so far in 2010 ~ 115.75 miles

Total walked since 1st September 2009 ~ 245.75 miles

21 of 2010

The last day but one ... and one had mixed feelings ...

... or, finishing off Offa's walk ~ Day 5

Just one day to go after this and I felt slightly sad that I was near to finishing what I had started 5 [or was it 6] years ago ... but also pleased that I had walked from the south coast of Wales to the north coast albeit in a less conventional way than most.

We started where we had left off on Day 4, a mile or so outside Tremeirchion ...

The path wound around the south-western slopes of Moel Maenefa ...





We crossed the A55 ...

I had given Natasha the impression that Day 5 was going to be easy with no hills.

Well there was a good climb from the lane to the north of Rhuallt. It went up and up ... and then up again.

We had nearly reached the point where we were going to leave the long distance path when we caught a glimpse of the sea ... and the wind turbines.

We left the Offa's Dyke Path and swung south towards the village of Cwm, walking down through Church Wood ...

We found a seat in the churchyard at Cwm as the sun beat down on us. It was the warmest day we had experienced this week.

We walked along a quiet lane, back towards Rhuallt, with good views of the plain to our right. Then began the climb from Rhuallt back to the car ...

By now Natasha had developed a bit of a problem with her leg ... but she pressed on ... slowly ...

Eventually, for the last two or three hundred yards, the bridleway levelled out.

Overhead the rooks were calling noisily whilst building their large, messy nests ...

Another day's walking drew to a close.

You can see the route I followed on the OS Explore website, here :~ http://explore.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/os_routes/show/19007

Date of walk ~ 22nd April 2010

Length of walk ~ 8 miles

Total walked so far in 2010 ~ 106.75 miles

Total walked since 1st September 2009 ~ 236.75 miles

20 of 2010

Mastiff Attack ...

or Finishing off Offa's walk ... Day 4 ...

We parked near our holiday cottage, no more than three miles away, with a view to walking along the Clwydian Way into Bodfari so we could pick up the Offa's Dyke Path from where we had left it the day before.

In the distance we could see the snow capped peaks of Snowdonia ...

[You may have to click on the photo and look at a large version to see Snowdonia.]

A little way along a lane we reached an obstructed path ... with a public footpath signpost pointing straight at the overgrown hedge ...

Look closely at the notice on the signpost. If you get caught tampering with it you could end up with a six months jail sentence. That might put some of them off removing signposts when they think no one is looking ...

We followed a Road Used as a Public Path [a RUPP] with tall gorse bushes growing either side ...

Another mile further on and we were on the Clwydian Way ... in the shade of overhanging branches.

With the sun streaming down on us as we drew nearer to Bodfari we got a good view of Moel y Parc over a mile away.

As we entered Sodom there were no signs of debauchery ... just a rather colourful garden.

Further down the hill and nearer Bodfari there were still no clouds in the sky and no vapour trails either ... we had a clear view of Moel y Parc again and the hills to the south-east of it.

Walking down the lane into Bodfari we heard the sound of a lawnmower behind an old, rather run-down bungalow to our left.

We noticed the bull terrier lying on the ground which raised itself up on rather arthritic legs. That's not going to bother us much ...

Then we saw the bigger dog behind it, rising to its feet and making a heck of a racket. Still, I thought, there's a fence between us ...

We continued down the lane with the larger dog barking and trying to get through the netting fence.

I noticed the gap at the bottom of the netting. It tried to get through. It couldn't. We kept walking just as the dog actually got under the fence and came straight at us ...

" ...'kin' spiders " is what I cried out as this big dog headed straight for me. Natasha was right behind me ... I heard a desperate "Charlie !" ... as the dog was about a yard or two from me. I thought the only thing I could do was offer it the back of my hand and talk to it in a friendly, soft voice ... along the lines of " ... come on ... what's all this noise ... are you going to be our friend ... ?

Amazingly, it worked. The dog leaned against my leg whilst I kept talking to her, stroking her neck and hoping to God she didn't have tender ears as I ran the back of my hand along the top of her head, still talking to her.

I said to Natasha "come on, let's keep walking ..." but as soon as I moved, this set the dog off barking again. Back to the friendly talking and stroking.

The lawnmower stopped. Someone had realised the dogs weren't around. The lawnmower man shouted out the name of the dog. I shouted back "It's over here ..." He didn't hear me initially.

Eventually a man in his 20s came along and the dog ran to him. I suggested in a friendlier fashion than I felt, that he ought to get his fence fixed ~ he didn't think the dog could get under it. Having said that he went on to say that the older dog, the bull terrier, had got down onto the main road and been run over by a car [gone straight under it] and somehow struggled back up the hill ... and recovered, much to the vet's amazement.

We moved on with me asking Natasha gently what she had expected me to do as she hid behind me ...

We picked up the Offa's Dyke Path again and sat down on the slopes of the old hillfort slowly relaxing ... and enjoying the view of Moel y Parc directly in front of us ...

... and the stile we had just crossed ...

Sodom drew nearer and Natasha set off up the lane with a soulful bounding leap ...

Beyond Sodom the shady path runs across the slope of a small hill, Cefn Du.

A wonderful day, marred only by the bull mastiff bitch. It could have been worse.

You can see the route I followed on the OS Explore website, here :~ http://explore.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/os_routes/show/18632

Date of walk ~ 21st April 2010

Length of walk ~ 6 miles

Total walked so far in 2010 ~ 98.75 miles

Total walked since 1st September 2009 ~ 228.75 miles

19 of 2010

Finishing off Offa's walk ... Day 3

After a couple of days in my shorts I put my long trousers back on and the sun shone. Still, it wasn't very warm. The cool breeze made sure of that.

We parked where we'd left off at the end of day 2, a mile north-east of Llangwyfan. From there we were straight onto the Offa's Dyke Path and walking north westward towards Penycloddiau. The plantation we passed through was unnamed on the map ...

Once we'd got out of the wood I suggested to Natasha that a stump of wood just off the path would enhance the photograph I wanted to take. She was being disobedient that day though and wouldn't take that extra step for the sake of the image below ...





She scrambled back onto the path and the walk continued ...




As we neared the summit of Penycloddiau we looked back, over the hills we'd walked in the previous two days.



As we started to descend there were signs of footpath repair. Quite an unusual design ...



Just past this, a memorial to Arthur Roberts, a walker who had been deeply involved with the Ramblers' Association in those early days ...



 As we continued to lose height we could see the sea in the far distance [though you probably won't be able to see it in the photograph].



We left the higher ground and most of the breeze behind us as we started to descend towards Aifft.





Beyond Aifft we skirted the lower slopes of Moel y Parc and though the sun was shining Natasha kept her gloves on ....



As we came down into Bodfari, Natasha watched a buzzard wheeling overhead ...



We had lunch on the steps of the church in Bodfari with the 17th century pub boarded up nearby. There was something depressing about the place ... perhaps it was the pub, slowly falling into disrepair.

We did a bit of road walking with a view to following the Clwydian Way back to the car park. As we walked along a single track lane, where we saw no cars whatsoever, we looked back towards Aifft and Moel y Parc ...





We turned off the lane we were on with a view to passing Finger Cottage [!] to reach the Clywdian Way. A path to the left, leading across the hillside, was adorned with this ...



Once we'd got on the Clwydian Way we followed this as it wound round the side of Penycloddiau. Just above the farm known as Fron-gelyn we passed an old, rusting water tank ...



What I really like about walking in this area is that it is very quiet. We saw no more than 2 or 3 walkers on this particular mile or so of bridleway ...



Then we were in the plantation and heading back to the car ...





All told we did between ten and eleven miles that day. [In fact according to the OS Explore website it was probably nearer 9 miles].

You can see the route I followed on the OS Explore website, here :~  http://explore.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/os_routes/show/18519

Date of walk ~ 20th April 2010

Length of walk ~ 9 miles

Total walked so far in 2010 ~ 92.75 miles

Total walked since 1st September 2009 ~ 222.75 miles

18 of 2010