The final day! I stayed at LLetyr Eos Ucha, a small B & B outside Bodfari.  Very nice stay, half way up the hill out of Bodfari, there were good views from my beroom window to the south.

The weather forecast was not good and it was raining when I woke up. By the time I set off the cloud was breaking up and the sun was trying to shine through. I thought that today would be an anticlimax after the moorland ridge I walked along yesterday. I was reassured by the couple staying at the B & B that it was an interesting days walk and indeed it was.  I was mainly walking through farmland but there were still some hills to cross with good views.

I set off steeply up a field to reach a lane at the halmet of Sodom. There were good views of Snowdonia to the west and, further north, I could see the sea.   I followed a road uphill past the wood of Sodom Culvert before turning off to a path through fields that crossed the shoulder of Cefyn Du.  Here I could see the limestone spire of the marble church at Boddelwyddan  glinting in the sunlight. 

There were workers on the path with strimmers trimming back the bracken. The cloud continued to lift and I could soon see Prestatyn in the distance as well at wind farms out in the Irish Sea.

The path continued to undulate and I could hear traffic on the A55, the main road between Merseyside and Anglesey well before I could see it. The cloud lifted a bit as I crossed the shoulder of Moel Maenfa and I could see the Snowdon range to the West. I crossed the road on a footbridge and followed a lane to the village of Rualt.

After walking through the village I took a path that climbed steeply alongside a wood and then across fields over the shoulder of Mynydd y Cwm.  As the path started to descend there was a father and son dismantling their tent.  They were walking Offa’s Dyke and then, after a short rest, were heading on the coast path around west Wales back to Chepstow, an extra 1000 miles.  They had minimal kit.  It looked like they were sleeping in a festival tent that was held together by safety pins.  They were the complete opposite to me, no planning, they would just walk until they were tired and then pitch the tent.  If they passed somewhere that sold food they would have a hot meal otherwise dinner was cereal bars.

I left them to pack up and continued to a road.  I crossed more fields and then ascended over the shoulder of Marian Ffrith. Here I could clearly see the sea and the offshore wind farms.

The path continued through farmland and over another low hill.  I descended into the  Fyddion valley at the site of the Felin Fawr flour mill, the old axle of the waterwheel still visible..

A mill was recorded here in the Domesday book. In the 19^th century there were seven mills in this valley using water power for the production of flour or cloth.

As I crossed a road to head towards Craig Fawr, the most northerly hill of the Clywdian range Jonathan caught up with me. We walked for a short distance before he went ahead at the start of the final, steep, climb up on to the Prestatyn cliffs. There were good views over the Irish sea and Snowdonia and the Great Orme could be seen to the west.

Prestatyn is a modern town and the sight of a Tesco superstore and an M & S were perhaps a mundane end to the walk.  I descended from the cliffs into a residential part of Prestatyn before heading down the main street to the monument marking the end of the walk and a celebratory raspberry ripple and white chocolate ice cream.

This was a good, enjoyable, walk.  There were some really good ridge walks over high ground with spectacular views.  The paths were not busy so I never felt I was on a route march.  I enjoyed the woodland sections as, usually, they were natural forests with a good diversity of plant life rather than the sterile conifer plantations.  There was quite a lot of farmland.  This made life difficult for me as my knee got more painful and difficult to bend as I went along so stiles became a bit of an ordeal.  Sales of ibuprofen soared!  The B and B and pubs I stayed in were very nice.  There was usually somewhere to buy food at the start of each day’s walk but the borders are sparsely populated and places to get lunch en route were the exception rather than the rule.

I did the walk because I had never visited the Welsh borders and I was not disappointed. Part of the reason was as a training exercise before tackling the Haute Route later in the summer, I had already been to Scotland in May and was planning another short trip in July.  However, just before I started Offa’s Dyke I twisted my knee and walking 177 miles on an injury was not a good idea.  Investigations showed OA and a PCL strain which has taken about 6 weeks to settle down and, as yet, I have not tested the knee on the hill since I returned from Prestatyn.

I returned to ODP along the lanes and the farm track that I descended yesterday and continued up the path to Clywd Gate, the site of an old tollgate. I followed the road for a short distance and then climbed across farmland to pass around Moel Eithinen and reach the main ridge of the Clwydian mountains. There were good views back along the ridge that I had followed yesterday.

I contoured round the hill fort on Foel Fenli with good views down to Ruthin.

Ruthin would dominate the valley for several miles. The weather forecast was not good and I could see showers all around but fortunately they all missed me. I descended steeply to a car park at Bwlch Penbarra and suddenly there were a lot of people! This was a shock to the system after walking in virtual solitude for the best part of two weeks.  Moel Farnau and its Jubilee Tower are a popular day walk and, despite the inclement weather and high winds, day walkers were out in force.  I followed them, up to the summit of Moel Farnau.

The Tower was built in 1810 to commemorate the jubilee of George III. It was never completed and, after it was damaged by a storm in 1862, it was reduced to the base as it is today.

It was extremely windy on the top of the mountain which is the highest peak in the Clywdian range. I sheltered in the lee of the tower to have lunch. The view was limited by the low cloud.  Liverpool could be seen to the east and I thought I could see the South Peninnes in the distance. It was cold stopping in the high wind so I soon set off, descending to the west, before turning north again to follow the ridge over several lower tops. Ahead of me was Moel Arthur with its bronze age hill fort on top.

I saw no point in climbing to the summit today so contoured round the upper slopes. I should have had a good view of Snowdonia but it was shrouded in mist.

There was now a steep descent to another road and carpark before a further steep ascent on the edge of woodland up to the summit of Penycloddiau. On top of this hill is one of the largest hillforts in Wales. It dates from the iron age and the ramparts and ditches are clearly visible. (The article about the fort on the Clywdian web site depicts an extended iron age family enjoying a picnic; I think this is a very idealised picture of what life must have been like then).

I had my first view of the sea.  The Great Orm of Llandudno could be seen in the distance. I am nearly there. 

There was now a long descent to Bodfari.  The path dropped steeply to the hamlet of Aifft. It then climbed over the shoulder of another hill before descending to a road.  I had not bothered to look at the map for a bit and I thought I was nearly here.  The only building at the road was Grove Hall, which used to be a residential home and I still had another mile to go.  Finally I reached the main road at Bodfari where there was the sad sight of another closed pub.  It was by now about 6:30 pm and my B and B was about half a mile further uphill along the path towards Prestatyn.  I telephoned them to say I would be late and headed into the village centre and the Dinorben Arms where I had a really good roast dinner and beer.

This was a long day as I had extra mileage to rejoin the ODP and a long detour at the end to get to my B and B in Ruthin.  The day started fairly brightly.  I bought some lunch and crossed the river Dee and climbed uphill back to the Path.

I circled uphill around to the north of the Castell Dinas Bran to get back to the Panorama walk. I followed the road for about two miles. Thre were good views across the Dee valley and the cliffs of Eglwyseg mountain ahead and to the right.  The road followed the coutour to keep below the scree slops.  Eventually I took a narrow stony path that continued below the scree and subsequent cliffs. 

After a further couple of miles it dropped down through a wood to rejoin the road at World’s End. I have been unable to find out how the valley got its name.

I climbed steeply out of the valley along the road and followed it for about a mile and a half across open moorland.  There was thick cloud overhead but the rain held off and, as I turned on to a path consisting of stone slabs to cross the moorland, the sun came out. As I arrived at Llandegla forest I could see the Clydian mountains to the North, the final barrier between me and the Irish sea.

Unlike most of the woodland I have walked through this trip, the Llandegla forest consists of conifers arranged close together.  The trees are farmed for the paper industry and there had been some harvesting of the wood so there were quite a lot of clearings with some views.  I passed two girls and their teacher.  The girls had huge packs and were doing a D of E expedition, I am not sure how much they were enjoying it!  A little further on I met another teacher on her way up the hill looking for the group. The forest is an extremely popular site for mountain biking. The trails are well organised, the walking and biking trails have been kept separate as much as possible and there are warning signs for walkers when you are about to cross a bike trail.

As I emerged from the wood it began to rain, heavily at first. I descended across fields to the village of Llandegla. There is a holy well, St Tegla’s well, in the village whose waters are said to cure epilepsy. I had my head down in the rain and I missed the turn to it.  There was a village shop with tables outside, I decided not to stop as I had lunch with me.  Big mistake! Apparently there were tables inside and they served excellent home-made mushroom soup.

The path now entered farmland.  There were odd bumps in the fields that I understand are due to limestone outcrops. Two women passed me (who told me about the soup) who were running(!) the ODP. 

The rain stopped but it remained overcast. The path crossed a stream and climbed uphill to join the Clydian Mountains. I followed a road for half a mile and the joined a service track that led to a radio mast  on the side of Moel y Waun. 

The track became a delightful path that went over the shoulders of Moel y Plas, Moel Llanfair and Moel Gyw. I could see Ruthin in the valley to my left. After Moel Gyw the path descended to a farmhouse at Pen-yr-allt where I left the ODP for a rather tedious 3 miles descent along farm tracks and lanes into Ruthin where I stayed at Sarum House. This was a lovely Georgian townhouse in the centre of Ruthin, well worth the detour.  The owners, John and Helen, were perfect hosts. Helen is a keen cyclist and told me that before she settled down she cycled to Istanbul with a friend of hers. Quite an adventure!

Ruthin is an attractive medieval town. I was staying in the centre, near St Peter’s Square.

This was a short day today. There were some sunny intervals this morning but rain came in during the afternoon.  I rejoined the ODP by following a road to the Chirk Castle estate.  The 18^th century gates are rather ornate.

The castle was commissioned by Edward I to defend the land he gained by defeating Llewellyn the Last.  He granted it to Roger Mortimer who was made Justiciar of Wales by Edward II.  Edward II  became very unpopular with his Court when, it was claimed, Hugh Despenser (his favourite) had too much influence over him and his policies. Despenser also got involverd in several disputes over land with other Marcher lords. Mortimer, leading the Marcher lords, took up arms against the King but was eventually defeated and thrown into the Tower of London. Aided by a guard, Mortimer and his nephew, Mortimer of Wigmore, escaped and fled to France. The nephew Mortimer eventually had an affair with Edward’s wife, Isabella. A story worthy of Game of Thrones, although the murder of Edward II by a red hot poker inserted into a delicate part of his anatomy is probably a myth (possibly propagated by homophobic contemporaries in response to Edwards relationship with Despenser) . This turbulent part of British history is well covered in “The Plantagenets” by Dan Jones. Where is the miniseries? Come on BBC, Netflix. Lena Headley to reprise her Cersei role as Isabella. Charles Dance for one of the nobles, Peter Dinklage to wield the poker.

Mortimer was restored to his lands by Edward III. The castle was eventually bought by the Myddleton family in 1595 (for £5 000!) and their descendants still live in part of the castle today, although the castle and land has been donated to the National trust.

I walked through the deer park and rejoined the ODP at a lane to the north-east of the estate. There was a long slightly downhill walk along lanes and through fields until I reached the A5. Crossing the A5 was a bit of a challenge as the footpath emerges on to the kerb and the road is busy.  I crossed it without incident and entered a field.  Here I walked alongside the Dyke for the last time. The line of the Dyke heads north-east towards Wrexham but the ODP goes north-west to cross the Clwydian mountains.

I joined the towpath of the Llangollen canal.  This was built in the early 1800s and ran from the Shropshire Union canal to Llantysilio just outside Llangollen. It was used to carry coal but it was also a major water supple of the Shropshire Union Canal, the Horseshoe Falls on the River Dee were built to supply the canal system with water. I followed the towpath for a couple of miles passing a large lime kiln at Froncysyllte.

I passed a couple of locks. The path turned north and I arrived at the highlight of the day, the Pontcysyllte aqueduct.  This was built by Tomas Telford and Williams Jessop. It spans the river Dee, at a height of about 125 feet. The path is narrow with a narrow trough of water to one side and the metal fence to the other.  As people are walking in both directions along the aqueduct you need to take care to avoid an early bath.

Across the aqueduct, I arrived at the Trevor basin which was packed with boats. 

I stopped for coffee, crossed the canal and continued to a pretty little footbridge. I left the canal and climbed steeply uphill into the Trevor wood.  I emerged from the wood to a road called the Panorama Walk.  Llangollen became a tourist centre for Victorian England after the coming of the railway and this was a popular walk. 

There were good views over Llangollen and the hills to the west.  The road was unfenced so I was able to walk along the short grass verge, although there were no cars. The road passes below an impressive limestone scree slope. I approached the Castell Dinas Bran. This was built in the 1260s by the Princes of Powys but within 20 years it was destroyed by Edward I army. It is thought that an iron age fort preceded the castle on the hill.

My leg was sore and I could see rainclouds gathering but I decided to climb up to the ruins.  It was a spectacular spot but, as I arrived the rain started and I was grateful for a wall to shelter behind while I donned my wet weather gear.

I left the castle and the ODP to descend to a farm track and then into Llangollen for my night’s stop.

A lovely start to the day but thunderstorms had been forecast for the afternoon so I set off early. I crossed the road bridge over the canal which looked peaceful in the early morning.

I was standing on the Welsh border. On the north side of the bridge I turned on to a side road.  The road climbed steeply, past a sign telling me that Charles Darwin, on a geology field trip, visited Llanymynech and was taught to make measurements with a clinometer to measure the angle of slope.

I continued up the hill to the Border Viewpoint which overlooks the Vyrmwy valley and Breiddon Hills. Behind me was the Llanymynech quarry and its brake drum house.  The drum house housed a winch to lower rocks to the Welsh side of the border but this was superseded when a tunnel was cut through to the English side making it much easier to move the rock.  An information board tells the story of a Thomas Savin who decided to make extra money by using enough explosive to extract a month’s worth of rock in a day. His profit was lost as he had to spend it on repairing the roofs of local householders damaged by the explosion.

I left Wales and spent most of today in Shropshire. The path contoured around Llanymynech Hill, passing through woodland to emerge at a golf course. It ducked back into woodland alongside the fairway before turning steeply downhill. I crossed a disused railway line that had been laid to transprt stone from a nearby quarry, unusually the rails were still in place. I joined a road at the village of Porth-y-waen and followed this for about a mile before crossing a field to enter the village of Nantmawr. Now it was time to climb steeply up a lane to a footpath that entered the woodland nature reserve of Jones Rough. I have no idea how it got its name. In the wood there was a cottage that almost exactly looked like my idea of Granny Weatherwax’s cottage in the Discworld books. 

The path emerged from the wood as the slope eased and I soon arrived at the top of Moelydd.  This was a superb viewpoint.  I could see the Snowdonia mountains in the West and Alderley Edge to the East, I felt as if I was nearly home.

I met up with another ODP walker who I have seen several times over the last few days, I have forgotten to record his name.

There was now a long but easy descent across farmland to Trefonen. The pub has a microbrewery but, sadly, is only open in the evenings.  On the other hand, it meant I didn’t get lost in the afternoon.  Instead I bought a pasty and a soft drink from the village shop and, suitably refreshed, re-entered farmland to the north of the village.  I rejoined the Dyke which I would follow for several miles. 

I entered Candy wood and, after a short but steep climb I followed the Dyke through light woodland. According to the Cicerone Guide it is said a black panther was sighted here in 2013. No big cats were present today. In the wood there was a stone seat apparently built by quarrymen or miners.

At the top of the hill I emerged into a clearing at the old Oswestry Racecourse. There was a statue of  two horses heads and a saddle at the entrance to the clearing.

The old racecourse was in use in the late 18th and early 19th enturies.  It was a 3Km figure of eight course and the track can still be seen (and followed) today.  An information board says that Jack Mytton used to race his horse here and named his son after one of his winners, Euphrates. There was a grandstand here  In the 1840s the course became less popular, partly due to “rowdy behaviour” and partly because as rail and road transport became better established it became easier for the local owners to try their luck at larger racecourses, e.g. Chester. Now only the footings of the grandstand remain.

About two thirds of the way along Racecourse Common the path came to a B road. I crossed the road and continues along a lane for about a mile. A footpath led off across fields accompanied by the Dyke. I skirted the slopes of Selattyn Hill and the path joined the Welsh/English border. I descended to a road at Craignant. The path then continued through farmland until it started to descend steeply to Bronygarth. I could see Chirk castle across the valley.

At Bronygarth I left the ODP to head down lanes into Wales, Chirk and the Hand hotel. There was a small diversion because of a collapsed path and I entered Pentre Wood to descend to the river Ceriog. I crossed to the left bank to enter Wales (the border runs along the river) and continued to the aqueduct and rail bridge across the river. The aqueduct was designed by Thomas Telford, as were so many bridges at that time. It is navigable and a narrowboat crossed the aqueduct as I walked underneath.

I then climbed steeply uphill to the road bridge and turned left to Chirk and the Hand Hotel.

There was a short delay at reception as the previous occupant of my room had left with the key and it took a short while to procure a spare.  While I was waiting the OPD walker I had seen on and off for a few days arrived.  I cannot believe I did not write down his name in my notes! Especially as we decided to eat dinner together which made a very pleasant evening. Good home cooked food. I remember he lives in Befordshire, is ex-army and has two sons in the military, one in the navy and the other in the army. If he reads this many apologies, my social ineptness knows no bounds.

This was an easy flat day along the Severn valley.  It was sunny and hot. I rejoined the ODP by walking down to the Montgomery canal. This used to connect the Llangollen canal to Welshpool and was originally planned to form part of a canal that would extend the network up to Ellesmere Port.   Only part of it is navigable now.  There are said to be otters in the section near Welshpool but I didn’t see any. The first part of the towpath was through Welshpool, passing the backs of houses and then an industrial estate, hidden by a high fence. Once outside Welshpool there were fields of sheep on the left bank.  I walked under trees which gave some shade from the sun that was hot even though it was only 10am.  A man in a small boat passed me, stopping to clear reeds from the side of the canal.  He told me he was able to sail as far as the lock at Pool Quay but was then impeded by a low bridge. I watched him navigate a swing bridge.

After about 3 miles I arrived at the hamlet of Pool Quay. I left the canal here, crossing farmland to find a path built on a modern flood defence embankment built above the river Severn.  The flow was very slow, it will get a shock when it gets to Gloucester and meets a Bore coming the other way (see Lejog day 31)!

To the South I could see along Long Mountain and I could now appreciate the appropriateness on its name.  To the North-east were the Breidden Hills, an old volcano.  There is an iron age hillfort on the northernmost summit, partially destroyed by a quarry. On the summit I could just make out Rodney’s pillar, commemorating Admiral Rodney’s victory over the French in 1782.  It was built by Montgomery Landowners who supplied oak for the fleet.

I followed the embankment for several miles.  Most of the fields had cows grazing.  Many of them were standing on the embankment but they let me pass without showing any interest in me. I walked past the village of Rhyd-esgyn where a cottage owner had placed a table and chairs in the shade of a clump of trees and there was homemade cake for sale.  I sat in the shade and enjoyed a slice of light fruit cake. Delicious.

Not long after the village I turned off the river by a sluice gate to walk along the side of the New Cut to Derwas Bridge.  There was no water in the cut so I assume it is there to protect the village in times of flood. In the next field farmers were herding cattle and driving them into an adjacent using 4 wheel drive vehicles.  Not as romantic as the horses used in wild west movies but very effective.

The way forward lay across fields and, for the first time today, I was accompanied by the Dyke.  The path led to the village of Four Crosses. The village is said to get its name from the Roman Roads that used to cross the area.  There is a legend that when the local saint (St Tysilo) died, there was an eclipse of the sun and the shadow of a cross fell on the four sides of the church. Sadly, like several that I passed on the ODP, the village pub is now closed but I was able to get a cold soft drink and an ice cream from the garage.

I left the village to the north, crossed under the A road and rejoined the Montgomery canal which took a 2 mile loop to get to Llanynynech.  This was very pleasant.  To the west, the hill of Bryn Mawr appeared, the hill fort on the top hidden by trees. I passed an old salt mill; now a private home, I think, with the old crane posts still intact.

The canal and towpath crossed the Vyrnwy acqueduct.  Just after the acqueduct the canal appeared to come to an abrupt halt as it crossed the B 4398, only to re-appear on the other side of the road. It then continued past the locks at Carreghofa, the lock gate can be seen through the bridge.

As I curved round to the east the Llanmynech rocks appeared, I will go up here tomorrow. As I approached the village the chimney of the Hoffman Kiln came into view.  Three are only 3 Hoffman Kilns left in the UK.  These were huge chambers with multiple furnaces used for firing bricks. I continued along the canal to the village and the Dolphin Inn.