LEJOG
Distance walked – 30.3km (18.9miles)
Total Distance – 564.9km (353miles)
Take me in and dry the rain
Take me in and dry the rain
Beta Band – Dry the rain
Hunter’s Moon Inn
When we arrived at the pub yesterday afternoon, we immediately noticed a large marquee set up in the garden, festooned with Union Jack bunting. It housed several rows of long trestle tables. Sitting at the end of one of the tables were three men in walking gear with packs.
We said hello and found out that they were all doing a week’s walking on Offa’s Dyke path. They were having a quick pint before going on to the next village. We told them that we were staying at the pub here.
“Good luck” they said smugly. “They’re having a massive coronation party tonight with live music. You won’t be getting any sleep tonight”.
With that remark they all headed off down the road.
Ready to party
We checked in with some difficulty as the place was in disarray. The party was booked out and they were expecting over a hundred people (the ticket price included a curry and the live music). They obviously hadn’t planned what to do with us. Eventually the hassled publican said we could have a curry but there was only dhal or chicken curry left, and we couldn’t have it until after 7pm when the meals would come out. Luckily we both really like curry, so this was fine with us (too bad if we hadn’t). We retired upstairs to our basic room (at least the wifi and shower were good).
Not long after, the band started. They were actually very good (high standard wedding covers band) and played all the hits. It was very loud as they were set up just below our room, but we sang along and had a fun time. When they finished, at 7pm, we went down to find the earlier disarray had turned into chaos. The bar was ten people deep and there were bar-staff running around frantically.
We eventually, after some pleading looks, got some food about 8pm. It was actually pretty good curry. We ate and made our excuses, retiring back upstairs, with thoughts of bed.
Then the second band started. . . .
To be fair, they were probably better than the first band, mining the same vein of party favourite hits with a few curve balls, including an odd segue way from ‘Going Underground’ to the nah nahs of ‘Hey Jude’.
They luckily didn’t play for long and stopped just after 9pm. We put our earplugs in and fell off to sleep immediately having unexpectedly enjoyed our unexpected King Charles III coronation party.
We left the deserted, morning after the night before, pub at 6:30 am, the sheep in the neighbouring field our only onlookers. The party had gone on but we had slept well with our earplugs. It was raining steadily as we passed the pretty village church before crossing more fields on the initial three-kilometre walk to the next village of Pandy.
Misty Black Mountains
From Pandy, we were to climb into the Black Mountains, traversing the 15km long Hatterrall ridge, before descending into Hay-on-Wye. The Black Mountains, however, had disappeared, with dense low cloud hanging directly over the valley.
We crossed the main Cardiff to Manchester train line, a train whizzing through just after we crossed, before starting the long climb up. The farm lanes eventually petered out and we gained the open moor land by the well-preserved mound of the iron age fort at Pentwyn. By now we were in thick fog, with the visibility reduced to a few metres. As we gained height, the wind grew stronger, howling up and over the mountain from the left, driving the rain against our jacket hoods.
Eventually the first trig point, at 552m height, emerged from the mist. Our guidebook devotes several pages to enthusiastic description of what can be seen from this exhilarating ridge walk. Surrounded by a grey void, we can attest to naught.
The rest of the walk passed in a strange dream-like manner as we floated through the ether like mist that impeded our senses. Our bubble of Gore-Tex protecting us but also further cutting us off from our surroundings.
Luckily the path was easy to follow. There wasn’t much to see though. We passed a further trig and a small rudimentary shelter.
As we left the final trig, we looked back and were sure we saw a lone figure in the mist. But when we looked again, they were gone. We walked on, expecting to be overtaken, but no one appeared. We became increasingly convinced that we had seen a ghostly phantom walker. We hurried our pace, with frequent looks over our shoulders.
Many kilometres later, some figures did finally appear behind us. It turned out to be the three gents we had met yesterday afternoon when we arrived at the pub. We had a brief chat before they overtook us. They had stayed in Pandy at a pub that had run out of beer, had struggled to find food, and described the accommodation as ‘challenging’. As they left, it was our turn to feel smug . . .
Frist view of the day
As we started to descend from the highest point of the ridge at Hay Bluff (703m, the highest on our LEJOG so far), a view finally started to appear.
The dramatic profile of Hay Bluff appeared behind us as we descended, and we saw a few brave walkers attempting the straight-up ascent.
Hay Bluff
After a few more kilometres, the town of Hay-on-Wye appeared, and it was not long before we were ensconced in our warm and dry Airbnb. We are very much looking forward to our rest day tomorrow before heading off again on Offa’s Dyke path on Wednesday.
Hay-on-Wye
Today’s route
6 Responses
No description of the kissing bridge photo! Glad you had ear plugs… I always have a pair with me when travelling, they are magic for your sleep! I don’t know why people don’t use them more often.
Particularly good for tired snoring husbands!
What time did the party stop?
No idea, we have great ear-plugs! Lot of mess was left behind though, so I imagine late.
That’s shame it was cloudy hattersal ridge has some beautiful views…. Still plenty of amazing views await no doubt.
We will just have to come back one day 🙂