"Up The Dyke" Day 8 - July 20th 2002, Brompton Crossroads to Buttington Bridge "It's Raining All Over the Moors"
Day	Date	Start	Finish	Approx. Miles	Hours	Accommodation
8	Sat. 20th July	Brompton Crossroad	Buttington Bridge	~13 (with detour)	5¾	Fiona and Nick Jones, Nant Golfa Bed and Breakfast, Golfa, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 9AF, Tel. 01938 555508, Fax 01938 559163. E-mail fj.nantgolfa@virgin.net, http://www.nantgolfa.co.uk

Click on any picture to go to a larger version or to go to the full set of Offa's Dyke photographs for this day.

Crummy title for today's walk. Maybe I'll think of a better one later!

Had a good breakfast at Gaynor Bright's lovely B&B and set off across the fields with Dawn, Jon and Alex at about 09:45. It had rained heavily overnight and was very wet underfoot. The weather was again dull and overcast and rain threatened. But we weren't daunted! We reached the Dyke where I had left it the night before (no, it hadn't moved!) and began along it towards the road from Montgomery where we had planned to leave Alex with Noelene. The weather began to improve and Mr. Sunshine even began to try to put his hat on (hip, hip, hip hooray!). We walked on the west side of the Dyke with a deep ditch between it and us. The Path goes along the side of fields of cereal crops and is hardly a track at all. Certainly the standard of The Path along this stretch is well below that which is expected of a National Trail, it's rough, narrow and very overgrown most of the way to Kingswood.

The rain from last night and the walking through grass soon gave Jon, Dawn and Alex wet feet as they were wearing trainers. For the first time on this trek I wasn't in shorts, having swapped them for my Ron Hill tracksters (which show off all my bulges to best effect!!) and new gaiters, the zip of one which I nearly broke putting them on for the first time.

We could soon see the small town of Montgomery away to our left and the ruined castle above it on a hill. Just before the Montgomery road Harry and Steph caught us up and then stopped for their morning break. Noelene took Alex off to meet us later and Dawn, Jon and I continued through fields with the walking a bit better than before and crossed the small River Camlad over a good footbridge put up in the 1980s. The rain came and went and came. Jon put up his umbrella as professional walkers seem to do these days and I put on my waterproof jacket. Of course this stopped the rain almost straight away and I had to stop for another divesting!

We climbed up a very steep but not too long a climb from the Camlad Valley and Jon and Dawn managed the summit without too much of a problem, although she'd twisted an ankle down a rabbit hole a little earlier! We got pleasantly warm on the climb up (actually, we were b****y sweating!). There were good views from the top and we stopped for a brief photo-opportunity! The Path continued to take us over fields with our planned destination the Cock Hotel at Kingswood where we were to meet Noelene and Alex for lunch (and maybe even a filthy beer). We arrived there at 12:30 along with Harry and Steph but the pub was closed (despite advertising "food from 12:00") - DISASTER! We waited around for about ¼ hour and then started to walk away thinking that I'd have to make do with the bacon butty and sausage I kept back from breakfast. Just as we walked away the guy came to open the pub, but too late, Jon and I were making tracks back to the Dyke.

The Path took us up quite a steep hill along a tarmaced road and then a woodland track through Leighton Woods, still uphill. The forest path became broad and the going easier with, rather bizarrely, monkey puzzle trees above us and a very steep drop to the left which, if the trees weren't there would have allowed fine views (or so the guide book says!). There was blue sky above and the sun came out for the first time in the day and it was very pleasant indeed. We went downhill in Leighton Woods and then onto the flat along a track made very muddy from the previous night's rain. Alongside was a very large pheasant enclosure and I reflected on the fate that they would meet at the hands, or rather guns, of wealthy so-called sportsmen in just a few weeks time.

We walked around the rim of what at first I thought was Offa's Pool, a water storage reservoir for the former Leighton Estate. It was certainly a reservoir but not Offa's Pool. A 1940s Spitfire aircraft flew over us but I was too slow to photograph it. We continued and reached a large pool which I assume was the real Offa's Pond, full of water and looking very pleasant. We went uphill again, through trees and onto a small road leaving the estate reaching a more substantial one with excellent views south west to Montgomery and Welshpool further north. The Path climbed further up a road and across fields towards Beacon Ring, the site of an iron age fort now beautified with two TV booster stations! It began to rain!

Then it began to rain some more and then it began to rain a b****y lot. Jon put up his brolly and I put on my waterproofs which were to stay on until the end of the walk. We walked around Beacon Ring and in the breaks between the main squalls of rain we had excellent views, mostly of successive showers of rain heading towards us. Jon's feet were now soaked and squelching and I could feel the dampness penetrating my boots (so much for trying to impregnate them with Nikwax every night!). We began our descent to Buttington and crossed a small road. The finger post pointed to the left so that's the way we walked - WRONG! We continued to follow footpaths down, Jon slipped on his bum and there were no signs of acorns or yellow arrows on posts or stiles. We were lost. But Buttington was down, so we went down! We eventually reached a small road at Hope and, after a mile or so along roads, saw our destination ahead of us, the Green Dragon pub. It was closed!

However, Noelene, Dawn and Alex met us there like the heroes we were! We had booked a B&B at Buttington but the ladies hadn't liked the look of it and had found us the very splendid (and not expensive) Nant Golfa B&B run by Fiona and Nick Jones on the wrong side of Welshpool for The Path. Nant Golfa would be no use to walkers without some sort of sherpa service (a partner is the best, but most expensive, kind!) but I'd rate it as one of the best B&Bs we've ever stayed at. The central heating was even on (in mid July!) so that we could dry our clothes.

The five of us drove out to the White Lion at Berriew and had an excellent meal. I drank the appropriately named Downpour Bitter from the Henley-on-Thames Brakspears Brewery.

Day 8 Impressions

Day eight had its good and bad points! The best part was walking with Dawn, Jon and Alex, the views later on in the walk and the B&B and dinner that we shared when it was over. The condition of the path, especially early on in the day, was atrocious and we were mightily p****d off that The Cock Inn at Kingswood was closed when we got there full of anticipation. We also doidn't appreciate getting rained on and lost. But you expect that sort of thing if you walk with me. Tomorrow will be better, I'm sure.

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