The morning was a little more leisurely than planned – but eventually, after a bacon sandwich, the dog and I were packed into the car heading towards to Ravenstone, just East of Salcey Forest. The weather forecast was for strong winds and showers, however, other than a brief light shower, the rain held off and, whilst gusty, the wind was certainly bearable especially as it was surprisingly sunny (I was thankful I remembered my sun glasses!).

The first half of the walk followed The Milton Keynes Boundary Walk – from Ravenstone to Weston Underwood and then heading towards Bozeat. Being an official trail the route was well sign posted. Although a lot of the route was on quiet tracks, this was made up by some wonderful wood sections (through Kilwick Wood and Old Pastures) and high (for this neck of the woods) views across Buckinghamshire (and possibly Bedfordshire!!)

It is quite unusual to see fellow outdoor enthusiasts out in the countryside, other than a few dog walkers within sight of their villages. As I left Weston Underwood (after passing ‘The Knobs’, a fascinating feature on the main road out of the village) and headed up the bridleway track I was passed by a group of mountain bikers – a rare site in this part of the world.

For a short while, the track was left behind as the trail winded it’s way through Kilwick Wood – I prefer these private managed woods (usually managed for shooting) than the more heavily managed Forestry Commission ones – they just seem wilder and more interesting. The path soon rejoined another quiet track leading to Olney Park Farm and a variety of turkeys, clearly unaware of the fate that lies ahead of them!

After another easy to follow path through some fields, the route entered another wood – Old Pastures. Judging by the signs, the majority of the wood is used as a firing range, but I found a peaceful spot at the junction of several paths for lunch. Guarded by the dog, I settled down against a huge Horse Chestnut tree as I boiled up some soup and put on a brew.

At Horn Wood it was time to leave the Milton Keynes Boundary Walk to head back towards Yardley Chase. Just off the path, well away from any roads or other buildings, was a derelict barn with a remains of some kind of walled garden. I find these old ruined buildings fascinating - what were they used for? Why were they left to go to ruin? Who still visits it? (there was a well worn path through the undergrowth into it!)

At Yardley Hastings, I took another lunch break – basking in the sun on a bench on the village green. I was tempted to pop into the friendly looking pub, but unfortunately I only had enough money on me for a single pint, and I was saving that for the end of the walk! The path from Yardley Hastings into Yardley Chase, which I have walked before, is a rather dull road, but eventually I entered the estate proper (making friends with some huge pigs on the way). The estate is some kind of nature reserve – with information signs about some of the wildlife and plant life. Yardley Chase is also used for cadet training – the last time I passed through, I was accompanied by the sound of machine gun fire!

As the path turned to the South back towards Ravenstone, my feet began to tire. Checking ViewRanger, I noticed that my rough and ready route was a little too inaccurate as I was already approaching 17 miles. Reaching the car I felt completely justified to pop into Cowpers Oak in Weston Underwood for a pint of A380.

It was an enjoyable hike around some quiet and tranquil countryside – I was also mighty impressed with my Defy+ phone: I was running ViewRanger recording a track, BuddyBeacon pinging every 5 minutes and the Audible app running continuously, as well as taking photos and sending / receiving tweets. By the end the battery had only just gone yellow (less than 30%) (with a PowerMonkey Extreme top up at lunch time).

I love waterfalls. There is something so soothing and peaceful about the constant motion of water partnered with the natural splendour of water surging downwards. I also love forests. My ‘happy place’ would almost certainly be a waterfall in a forest (although I am yet to find a real world location that suits), so I was very excited when, back in May, I came across this waterfall walk on Surfnslide featuring several spectacular waterfalls. I added it to my ever-growing collection of routes in Evernote*, so I had it handy when I was planning this Brecon Beacons trip.

 [* Evernote is a fantastic tool for compiling routes you come across on the web or in magazines. I have to thank @stevenhorner for his excellent post Routes: My Way, which showed me the way!]

The walk starts from the car park just south of the village of Ystradfellte (928124). This area is renowned for its caves, so is very popular with cavers (a sport I never want to do!) and the car park has a small shop and toilets. I was eager to head off, so I completely missed the footpath leading down to Porth yr Ogof, the biggest cave entrance in Wales – instead I set off following the path south into the forest. For just over a mile the path is out of sight of the river – in places I was reminded of the final day on Offa’s Dyke, with twisted gnarled roots and dense foliage overhead. Eventually the path drops down to the river and you are greeted by the first waterfall – Sgwd Clun Gwyn.

Just below Sgwd Clun Gwyn is Sgwd Isaf Clun Gwyn. Although perhaps a lesser waterfall, I really liked this one – where it lacks in height it makes up for it in width.

I was quite frankly in heaven and in a daze from the splendour around me – and this probably goes a long way to explain what happened next. Just below Sgwd Isaf Clun Gwyn I saw a plunge pool that looked perfect for swimming. It was certainly deep and the fast flowing water meant there was nothing slimy clinging to the rocks (important after my experience the day before). I waited…. I had not seen anyone since I left the car park and no one seemed around….. before I lost my nerve, I stripped down to my under-shorts and slipped into the cold water. The dog once again watched my from the shore, unimpressed as I swam around a bit.  After taking a quick photo, I got out and no sooner had I slipped back on my baselayer, I was disturbed by a family of hikers who appeared on the ridge just above me. I had the grace to look embarrassed, they had the grace to not say anything! Still – like the day before it was an amazing experience, and I continued on the walk feeling a world better (as I had company I could not change, so I was also putting to the test the quick dry properties of my under-shorts and trousers).

The next waterfall, just slightly further down the river, was Sgwd y Pannwr.

From here the path leaves the Afon Mellte and climbs up the valley and down to the Afon Hepste and the highlight of the walk – Sgwd yr Eira, a pretty waterfall in it’s own right but with the added bonus that you can walk behind it. Whilst there are no doubt better ‘walk behind’ waterfalls across the world, it was an amazing experience – feeling the spray across your face, hearing the roar of the water, seemingly shut off from the rest of the world behind a curtain of water.

After enjoying the moment for a while, I continued following the path steeply up out of the valley onto a muddy high level path following the Mellte valley. Despite leaving the fantastic waterfalls behind me (for now), I was quite taken with this area, with it’s views of the surrounding valleys, so I took a break to brew up some tea and soak up my surroundings. I continued down the path towards Pontneddfechan, eventually joining the main road, and reached The Angel pub. Despite a power cut, the pub was still open, so I stopped for a pint and a sandwich.

As I finished my pint I could see rain coming in fast from the south west, so I quickly finished up and headed under the cover of the trees and began following Nedd Fechan upstream. At this point I was grateful for the time spent as a youth doing judo – the rough uneven ground was really slippery and at one point I slipped. I would have landed badly on my leg, but thankfully the years of learning to fall kicked in, and I managed to twist at the last minute – no broken leg but a slightly twisted ankle. Despite this I still decided to take the slight detour to Sgwd Gwladus.

I was quite jealous of the couple going for a swim (there was a lot of screaming about how cold it was, rather than any actual swimming), but as much as I wanted to investigate the waterfall more (according to @DanSantillo you can also walk behind it), I decided to leave them in peace and headed back to rejoin the main path (and anyway I had finally dried out!). Looking back through surfnslide’s photos, I think I somehow missed Sgwd Ddwli, which looks pretty impressive, but I did find the unnamed waterfall slightly further upstream.

By the time I reached the picnic area at Pont Melin-fach the rain was coming down harder – I loitered briefly to have a snickers bar, before continuing to follow the Nedd Fechan north. Just like surfnslide, I essentially had this part of the route to myself as I followed the narrow path along the edge of the river. Eventually at Pont Rhyd-y-cnau I left the river behind me and followed an old track up the hill and back to the carpark.

A thorough enjoyable waterfall walk that I would recommend (11.8 miles, 2452ft height gain) – thanks again for surfnslide for originally sharing! I headed for home after a memorable three days on Brecon Beacons.

Thanks largely to one too many of the aptly named ‘Hikers Ruin’ I had consumed the night before and the fantastic breakfast my hosts had produced, day 2 was quite a late start! I wanted to head out onto the part of the Brecon Beacons just west of A470 but the lingering headache was making it hard to concentrate on the map, so in the end I download a free route on ViewRanger published by Trail Magazine.

By the time I arrived, close to midday, the car park at Storey Arms Centre was full and the car park slightly further down was heaving. Fortunately I managed to find a space and I quickly headed away from the bustle and out onto the hills. The first part of the route follows a narrow (and quite muddy) sheep trail along the side of the hills gradually climbing up to the top of Craig Cerrig-gleisiad.

The A470 was a constant companion down in the valley, but the views towards Brecon were spectacular. Unlike the previous day viability was much better with higher clouds and I was slightly disgruntled to notice that I could even make out people on Pen Y Fan who must be having some brilliant views I once again failed to get the day before!

The peak at Craig Cerrig-gleisiad gives you some great views across the mountains to the west, but is also home to a bees nest. The angry buggers quickly sent out a few scouts to drive me and the dog away, so rather than taking a breather I carried on towards Fan Frynych. Looking back there were some great views of the cliffs in the nature reserve. The trig point was thankfully free of bees, so I settled down for some lunch.

I remember having been to this trig point before a few years ago, just when I was beginning to get back into hiking again. That time we came up through the nature reserve, and from the trig point continued west before looping back to north. Whilst finishing off my pork pie I finally remembered to give the app Peak AR a go – using your camera it augments details of the peaks around you onto the view you can see. Nest idea, but I found it inaccurate in the placement of the peaks from my position.

Lunch finished, I retraced my steps back to join the Beacons Way and followed it towards Fan Dringarth. The way was quite hard going, with many small bogs to negotiate especially in the valley between hills and I was soon pretty muddy. At the point I was due to drop down to meet the river I found a nice sheltered spot to brew a cuppa and to survey the wilderness around me.

It was at this point that the niggling idea of going for a swim crept up on me, and I was actually nervously excited as I picked my way down to the river. You can read about the swim here: http://www.mycountryside.org.uk/2011/08/14/taking-the-plunge/. Afterwards I sat on a large rock jutting into the river, put on another brew, and enjoyed the tingling of my body after the cold water and the peacefulness of my surroundings.

The climb up to Fan Fawr was a nightware. There was no path and the incline was just at that angle where it saps the strength from your body at every step. I was already pretty sore from the day before and generally weaker than usual, so I really struggled to get to the top (take a few steps, rest, take a few more steps, rest). Eventually I made it to the trip point, which is not the actual summit, and after a quick breather carried on to the top.

Final peak of the day bagged I made my way back down Fan Fawr (noting that this route is even worse than my ascent) and back to the car. An excellent second day in Brecon Beacons, including my first wild swim! I had something special planned for day three though that I have been looking forward to for months… to be continued!

Whenever I am heading towards Wales there is always a point in the journey when everything seems better – after days on end of sitting in front of my computer working, my shoulders loosen, my mind clears and my mood lightens. It is the point in the journey when, after cresting yet another nondescript English hill, you suddenly see the hills and mountains of Wales laid out before you.

In this case I was driving down the A438 heading towards Brecon, on the edge of Brecon Beacons. It was the weekend of the annual Brecon Jazz festival which, in my younger days, I used to attend fairly regularly. This year I was combining spending some quality time with some old friends (and drinking the best homebrew brewed by my friend’s dad), with some much need quality time on the hills.

To kick things off I decided to do a route I was already familiar with – Corn Du, Pen y Fan, Cribyn and Fan y Big (it could be argued I was jumping straight into the deep end by starting off with the highest peak in Southern UK.. but still!). Back in March last year, whilst I was training for Offa’s Dyke 4 MS, I came to the Brecon Beacons with Justin (@justinfleming) and we completed this walk on a miserable cold and windy day with low cloud obscuring any views from the peaks (view the Social Hiking map). Hopefully this time would be better!

The walk starts from the car park at the end of the tiny lane that follows the banks of Nant Cwm Llwch to the North of Pen y Fan (unbelievably the lane, despite it’s small stature, is on Google Street View). The car park was quite busy, and there were a number of campers along the banks of the river as the path gently climbed up from the valley. There were a group of hikers behind me, so I decided to pickup the pace to put some distance between us. Unfortunately this was a mistake – weeks of running myself down whilst working too hard had triggered a flare up of my condition and this weakness, combined with an already lower than usual level of fitness, left me in pieces. My lungs were burning, my legs were in agony, and I could feel my blood pressure rising too high. It was all I could do to drag myself up to Llyn Cwm Llwch, the lake at the top of the river.

I sat on a rock on the lake’s shore and soaked up the tranquilty as my body calmed down again. To be honest I contemplated turning around, giving up, and heading back down to the car, but that was not an option. I took it more slowly as I climbed up onto the cliffs above the lake, past the memorial of 5 year old Tommy Jones whose body was found after losing his way, and step by agonising step up to Corn Du. It was a bit depressing to discover my body has new lower limits, but I am glad I pushed on – sadly the weather was not really on my side either and as I reached Corn Du and crossed to Pen y Fan the low cloud obscured any hope of a view.

Pen y Fan is a busy peak – I counted about 40 people. Certainly the busiest peak I have visited (I refuse to climb Snowdon…. a restaurant on a peak… really!) I loited a little while in the hope of a break in the clouds, but eventually gave up and followed the path off the peak towards Cribyn. Hiking has traditionally been a white middle class activity, and it was great to be passed by a group of very pleasant hikers who do not fit into that category clearly enjoying their surroundings. As if to taunt my earlier impatience I noticed behind me (on one of my many pauses climbing up to Cribyn) that the cloud had broken and those currently on Pen y Fan would be having amazing views. The cloud was back by the time I reached the top of Cribyn, so I put a brew on and settled down for some lunch in the hope the cloud would break again.

This time I was rewarded, and the clouds briefly broke giving me a fleeting view across towards Brecon and beyond. The cloud quickly returned, and I was joined on Cribyn by a couple, about the same age as me, who immediately went into my good books when they offered me a Jaffa Cake. With hindsight I hope they were not expecting me to reciprocate and offer them tea! Jaffa Cake munched my dog, who had previously been curled up recovering, suddenly leaped up in alert mode. I turned expecting to see another dog walker, or perhaps a sheep, but instead I unbelievably saw the tiny head of a squirrel poking up from above rocks – the nearest trees being at least a mile away!

The wind picked up and it began to rain as I left Cribyn to drop down to Bwlch ar y Fan. I did not mind though – I was sufficiently recovered from my previous issues early on the ascent and I felt elated to be back on the hills again. The final part down was steep and slippy from the rain, but I managed to negotiate the path down safely without the dog speeding up my descent! Although my ultimate route back to the car follows the path heading north between the two peaks, I felt like I had sufficient energy reserves to make the slight detour up Fan y Big and back. At the top we took shelter from the wind and rain in the stone shelter just off from the peak and made another cup of tea.

By and large I am a responsible dog owner. I know my dog chases stuff and so in most cases she stays on the lead (I tend to let her off in crop fields or empty pastures when I walk locally, but in National Parks, or anywhere where sheep or other livestock roam free she is definitely on a lead). To my horror, as I followed the track heading down along the Cwm Cynwyn valley, I watched a dog ahead of me leaving it’s owners to chase sheep down to the river – the owners made a half-hearted effort to call it back but it paid no attention. More shockingly though was when it did finally return the owners made no effort to put it on a lead and they just carried on walking, dog loose, up the path. I gave them the dirtiest look I could as I past them!

Eventually the track meets the road and the remainder of the route was a rather dull, fly infested trudge following the quiet meandering lanes back to the car park. I was amused at reaching various landmarks I remembered from the previous year where I was equally uninspired at the return journey. I arrived back at the car to discover I had left the rear window completely open although my suitcase (containing non-camping clothes) was untouched, so no harm done!

Overall a great first day on the Brecon Beacons! To be continued….

After successfully tackling Fur Tor and the wilder parts of Dartmoor the previous day, the plan for the Sunday was to explore the more popular Western moors and Tors (a route lifted almost entirely from Backpackingbongos). We were camping at Langstone Manor, a lovely quiet campsite (with it’s own bar serving pretty decent meals!) tucked on the edge of the moor, so, after consuming some bacon sandwiches, we left the campsite and began the gradual climb onto Whitchurch Common.

View all the photos (please excuse the smudge on the camera lens btw…)

The sun was shining, although it was slightly cloudier with a stronger wind blowing than the previous day. As we followed the track up the hill between the gorse, we finally encountered some Dartmoor ponies (and a newborn fowl) – they were fairly unbothered by our presence nor the dog (who thankfully was on her best behaviour) and continued munching at the grass. They all looked either very pregnant or very fat from gorging on the spring grass!

We continued climbing the hill until we joined the path running along the top of the hill at a stream marked by one of the many old ancient crosses dotted across Dartmoor. The dog provided light entertainment as she jumped into the stream to “kill” the white water where the mini waterfalls were hitting the rocks – I have no idea where she got this habit, but she does the same to waves as they crash on the beach and hosepipes. Stupid dog!

We headed North, watching a kite flyer making the most of the brisker winds, across the fairly busy car park (disappointingly there was no icecream van) and began the ascent up Cox Tor. The Tor has a fairly flat grass covered top (strewn with rocks and boulders), which was the temporary home of another herd of ponies grazing and chilling in the sunshine. After a few photos by the trig point, we found some shelter from the wind to brew up some tea!

Compared to the remote wastes of Fur Tor, these Tors were practically heaving – there were plenty of hikers in a variety of practical, and in some case impractical, clothing and footwear enjoying the sunny weather. From Cox Tor we headed East to Great Staple Tor. The Tors of Dartmoor really highlight how desceptive height can be – from the foot of Cox Tor, the path between Cox Tor and Great Staple Tor seems almost flat, but from the top of Cox Tor it looks like a sharp drop down and a steep climb back up. In reality it was just a fairly gentle climb to the top of Great Staple Tor.

From Great Staple Tor we turned north and followed the well worn path, past Roos Tor, towards Langstone Moor and a stone circle, before dropping down into the valley carved out by the River Walkham (passing the remains of a settlement). At the river edge, and sheltered by the Tors around us, we found a lovely spot in the sunshine to have lunch. Despite all the busy Tors around us, it was tranqil and peaceful – it would make a great place to wild camp!

Eventually we dragged ourselves away and made the climb up Great Miss Tor, where we clambered about exploring the various rock formations. From here, the original plan was to cross the road and head up Kings Tor before looping back to Merrivale (and the pub) – as Backpackingbongos mentions on his blog, he added this extension as he wanted to spent a bit longer on the moor, but as it was mid afternoon already, we decided to follow the track from Little Miss Tor down to the road, and then follow alongside it to the pub.

We were quite lucky with the pub (The Dartmoor Inn) – they were officially closed, but were happy for us to order drinks as long as we stayed in the beer garden. I supped on my cider, enjoying the sunshine and good company. As tempting as it was to stay for the rest of the afternoon, we continued up the road to join the footpath heading around Vixen Tor (passing yet another herd of unbothered fat ponies). The tale of Vixen Tor is ready sad – it is probably one of the prettiest Tors encountered on this trip and a favourite of climbers, but the current owner greedily refuses access unless she is paid a ridiculous fee by the Dartmoor National Park Association (full details of this issue). As Backpackingbongos says, “hang your head in shame Mrs Alford” (I have just realised one of my walking companions shares her name – no relative I hope @DiveSciDiva)

From Vixen Tor (#sadangryface) we climbed up to Heckwood Tor, followed by Pew Tor. When I win the lottery (albeit unlikely as I do not buy tickets), I want to buy Pewtor Cottage – isolated in moorland, with an awesome looking walled garden and Pew Tor for company, it is idilic! Although I didn’t get much of a chance to explore it, Pew Tor was my favourite – it almost felt like a ruined castle with lush grassy floors – I would love to spend a night there! From Pew Tor we dropped back down the hill, on the way distrubing a hare who just about escaped the jaws of the dog (thankfully limited by her lead), and followed the road back to the campsite.

Dartmoor…. I will be back!

Whilst we waited for the lead car, who had mised the turn off the A30, I put a brew on and we got our kit together and layered ourselves in suncream. We were briefly joined in the carpark by a bunch of kids carrying heavy looking rucksacks, presumably completing their Duke of Edinburgh award, who had descended from Ger Tor under the watchful supervision of their checkpoint teacher. Replenished with water they headed down the road leaving the teacher to teach his dog how to play fetch whilst he waited for the next group.

We took off east down a farm track before cutting across to what appears to be a man-made steam “Mine Leat” (I am guessing it supplies the solitary houses nearby and old mine workings). The steam (it lacked babble to be a brook, and was too small to be a river) followed the contours around Nat Tor, passing the army firing range warning signs (being Easter weekend, all the ranges were open), before joining the river Tavy. There was quite an obvious path along the river edge, which we followed upstream, taking in the sight of the Tors towering above us. We past a few swimmers cooling off in the river (from a distance they seemed nude, but thankfully they were fully clothed!) which, with the sun beating down and the lack of breeze in the valley, seemed very tempting! The dog, on her extendable lead, obviously thought so too, as she swam across to the otherside, lead fully extended, and then refused to come back. Thankfully, after a little coaxing (and some gentle pulling) she got the message that I had no intention of swimming across to join her!

After crossing Snake Brook, the path disappeared and the way was much harder going as we climbed over boulders and skirted boggy patches. Rather than continuing to follow the river, we decided to cut across Western Oke, which looked easier and gave us a chance to see the hut circles and settlement remains shown on the map (Watern Oke) – it makes you wonder what it was like living on the moor (although I am sure the surrounding area was very different then). We rejoined the river and followed it to Sandy Ford which, whilst not particularly sandy, had a few suitable crossing points (although one of the pair we met there had decided to wade across rather than our method of majestically (some more than others) leaping from rock to rock). On the other side we found a dry patch to take a break ready for tackling Fur Tor, now dominating the moor in front of us.

According to the OS map, the flat stretch across Pinswell (between Sandy Ford and Fur Tor) is “bracken, health or rough grassland” (the green symbol), rather than “marsh” (the blue symbol). However it is classed, it is essentially a bog! Fortunately the preceeding few weeks of sun meant that, whilst there were still wet bits, it was mostly traversable (although I am not sure I would fancy the same route after heavy rain!). The views from the top of Fur Tor were spectacular, and well worth the climb – miles of wilderness with Tors against the horizon in all directions! We headed to the Tor to find some shade for lunch, only to disturb a now squawking baby bird (the size of a dog) in a nest halfway up the Tor (from reading other blog posts, I think it might have been a baby raven). Fearful of the mother’s anger, we choose a less sheltered spot some distance away beside some smaller rocks for lunch and another brew.

After lunch we strode off across the moor towards Great Kneeset. Crossing Cut Combe Water and the climb to Little Kneeset was fairly easy going, but the terrain got harder in the dip across to Great Kneeset – one of my companions described it as like walking on snow! I think if I was doing the route again, I would be tempted to stay on the ridge taking in Cut Hill, Black Hill and Black Ridge on the way to Great Kneeset. By the time we reached the top, a fairly refreshing wind had picked up, although the sun was still shining! As we soaked up the rudged landscape, we had to deal with our only emergency of the day – a folded contact lense (it required using coats to block the wind, an antisceptic wipe from the first aid kit, and an improvised mirror using my sunglasses!).

When I originally worked out the route, the plan was to head to Lints Tor and then cut across to Kitty Tor, but as it was getting late (and approaching beer o’clock) and we were getting tired, we decided to cut straight across to Green Tor. During the weekend I wanted to go back to basics and use map and compass as much as possible (rather than relying on ViewRanger sitting in my pocket pinging our location to Social Hiking), and as Green Tor was out of sight, we took a compass bearing and followed a kind of path down into a pass between the headwaters of two rivers before climbing around the side of Amicombe Hill (following the compass worked pretty well, although I have to admit to taking a peak at ViewRanger at one point to double check our progress!). At some point I discovered I had managed to lose my camera – whilst I was annoyed about the lost photos, I was secretely glad for the perfect excuse to buy a new one when I got back!

Eventally we all arrived at Green Tor, where I was reunited with my camera which had been picked up by one of my fellow walkers (I tried to hide my disappointment). We briefly toyed with the idea of splitting up, with one group heading straight to the Dartmoor Inn whilst the drivers returned to the carpark to collect the cars, however after discussion we decided to push on as a group. At Bleak House (which I completely failed to explore) we joined a fairly decent path climbing up to Chat Tor and beyond. Spured on by the nearness of beer an easier terrain, the remaining Tors were a blur as we walked to each one in turn, took a breather, then walked to the next – Chat Tor, Sharp Tor, Hare Tor and finally Ger Tor. On Hare Tor we had an amazing view of the route we had completed – the Tavy valley snaking away from us, Fur Tor in the far distance to the West, and Great Kneeset to the North West. It was enormously satisfying to see what we had managed to accomplish!

From Ger Tor we could see the carpark (and thankfully also the cars) – we followed an obvious path (albeit a boggy one) down the hill, finally rejoining Mine Leat. The dog, by now covered in bog and other discusting muck, decided to have a paddle to clean herself off before the night in my tent (she is well trained!). We arrived back at the cars tired (and a bit sunburnt in a few cases) after having spent a thoroughly enjoyable day on Dartmoor!

The trip to Dartmoor was inspired after reading the walk write ups from BackpackingBongos blog after his recent trip – I have not been camping this year and really fancied a few days on the moor. I initially invited a friend, who lives in Bristol, to join me, but thanks to a Facebook post, there is now a total of six of us. As I am yet to quite have the kit together for wild camping, we are staying at the Langstone Manor Caravan and Camping park right on the edge of the moor in Moortown near Tavistock.

Day 1 – Fur Tor

After a chat with @groovy_nut on Twitter, I really wanted to visit Fur Tor - apparently the remotest tor on Dartmoor standing at 1776ft.

Fur Tor is one of the most remote places in North Dartmoor. It is perhaps the grandest of Dartmoor tors as it looks down from its height onto the Amicombe stream and the moor beyond. The views over North Dartmoor are absolutely fantastic. Nowhere else in Dartmoor do you get such an impressive feel of majesty and isolation. Fur Tor (or Vwr – the great tor, or Feor – the far distant tor) is not an easy place to get to.  It is placed in the centremost part of the northern moor and is largely surrounded by difficult terrain, especially the peat hags around South Tavy head.
Dartmoor Walks

After doing a bit of searching on the web and chatting to former local @DanSantillo on Twitter, I ended up with three possible routes to Fur Tor. Dan’s route is an epic 17 mile route starting near Lydford (view route on OS map). The route follows the footpath from Lydford to Bleak House, then to Green Tor, then taking a compass bearing and heading across the moor to Fur Tor. The return route is via Great Kneeset, Lints Tor, Dinger Tor, High Willhays and Yes Tor, before returning back to Lydford. I like Dan’s route, but it is probably too long for this trip (especially with another walk the following day), and I have been warned away from High Willhays.

Another suggested route is from go4awalk.com (view route on OS map). This one starts at Linehead car park and follows the River Tavy to Sandy Ford, from there heading East to Fur Tor. The return route is South to Lynch Tor and then following a footpath back to the car park. On the map, the return route looks boggy and the last few miles are through farmland, so it is probably not ideal.

The final route is taken from Dartmoor Walks (view route on OS map). This starts at Postbridge, and approaches Fur Tor from the East via Broad Down and Cut Hill. For the return route, I have taken it South to Rough Tor (hopefully skirting the bogs) and then back to Postbridge (again avoiding the bogs).

Looking at all three routes, I think the best plan is combining the best bits of Dan’s route with the part of the go4awalk route which goes along the River Tavy.

The route starts at Lane End car park, and follows the River Tavy before cutting East across to Fur Tor.  From here it follows part of Dan’s route to Little Kneeset, Great Kneeset and Lints Tor, but then cutting across to Kitty Tor before heading South to Green Tor and Bleak House. Connecting the route together takes in Chat Tor, Sharp Tor, Hare Tor and Ger Tor.

Day 2 – Western Moors and Tors of Dartmoor

As the camp site is just off one of the routes Backpackingbongos did, it makes for a perfect second day route to follow in his footsteps – it also has the added bonus of having a pub towards the end.

The route goes from the camp site to Feather Tor, then North to Cox Tor, Staple Tor, and past Roos Tor. After crossing the River Walkham (hopefully it will be dry enough to cross easily), the route climbs to Great Mis Tor, then heads South, past Little Mis Tor, and crossing the road to King’s Tor. After a brief (?) stop in the pub in Merrivale, the route returns to the campsite skirting around Vixen Tor (angry-face) and via Pew Tor.

It should be an enjoyable trip! I am not sure what the weather will be like though (although part of me wants to be able to test out my new North Face Apex Bionic Soft Shell jacket!) Both walks (on the Saturday and Sunday) will be on Social Hiking live (although maybe not many photos until I get back, as my phone has stopped taking half-decent photos!)

View all the photos from day 6 | View the interactive map for day 6

After the wonderful evening the night before with Jude and her family, a fantastic cooked breakfast (the best black pudding ever!), and a leisurely start to the morning, Alex and I were in high spirits ready for the day ahead. It looked to be another warm and sunny day, my feet seemed much better, and Alex was even quite happy despite losing the coin toss (again)!

The first part of the day was mainly sheep fields and tiny country lanes, but we were eventually rewarded(?) with a steep climb up to the top of Llanymynech Hill. The hill has a golf course on its flat top, and we followed Offa’s Dyke around the edge watching the golfers.

The hill was the site of a battleground for Caractacus in AD 50, in his quest to rid the country of Romans, and the gold course straddles the English-Welsh border [Source - Wikipedia]. The south side of the hill has some picturesque cliffs, caused by lime mining in the area, where we met the support team who had bravely climbed part of the hill to escort us down to Llanyomynech village and lunch!

This stretch of Offa’s Dyke is renowned for being “the dull bit” – to be fair it is probably a nice little stretch in it’s own right, following the Montgomery Canal and the River Severn, but it is definitely the least interesting part of Offa’s Dyke path overall. The problems with my feet had also started to reappear, and without anything interesting to take my mind off the pain, every step became a struggle.

During the afternoon, we encountered several obstacles. The first obstacle was crossing a, fortunately not that busy, lorry park – the footpath, which cut straight through the park, was bordered by yellow lines which really did not leave you feeling very protected from the lorries all around you.

Almost immediately we hit the second obstacle as we tried to pass the edge of a cow farm – at first the ground seemed to just be dried mud, but when the dog sunk to her waist we realised in horror that it was actually deep moist cow excrement that had crusted over! The dog was completely covered in the stuff! We just about managed to negotiate the obstacle by jumping across floating hay bails, scaling walls and clambering on gates to keep off the ground.

To add insult to injury, once we had struggled through the excrement, we discovered that the Offa’s Dyke path had (sensibly) been routed around the farm – obvious if you were coming from the South, but impossible to see from the North! The dog was thrown into the next available river to clean off (but not before licking some equally unpleasant liquid being injected into a field we were crossing).

The remainder of the day was spent walking the Severn embankment, a flood defense built on top of Offa’s Dyke – it really wasn’t the same, and my aching feet made the last few miles pass very slowly.

It was with great relief when we finally made it to The Powis Arms in Pool Quay, where Alex’s mum was waiting for us – it took several beers and a huge plate of food before my feet started feeling slightly better! The food was great, and the owners of the pub are quite happy to let walkers on Offa’s Dyke camp in the beer garden (although they also have some bnb rooms for the less adventurous)!

Day 6 was tough – but nothing would prepare me for my struggles on Day 7… to be continued…

Sponsors of our Offa’s Dyke Challenge:

View all the photos from Day 5 | View the interactive map for Day 5

After a light breakfast we climbed back up the hill to rejoin the official route. Alex summarised our morning routine (quite accurately!): “Settled into morning routine,get up,wash,dress,breakfast,lose the coin toss,carry the heavy bag.Set off.”

This leg consists of a significant amount of tarmac, initially following the picturesque high road above Llangollen before dropping down to Telford’s Pont Cysyllte canal aqueduct. The weather was cloudy but warm, and it was safe to say neither of us felt particularly inspired – we just kept on trudging to eat up the miles!

As we approached the aquaduct we decided to take the alternative route which takes us over the aquaduct, fortuitously this also meant we came across a tea shop – which meant a relaxing break in the sunshine drinking tea.

The aquaduct is the longest and highest one in Britain – a grade I listed building and a World Heritage Site (source – Wikpedia). To be honest I am not sure we thought about crossing it all the way through – there we were with big rucksacks (in my case with a big roll mat sticking out) and a dog which looks scary to children and is overly “friendly” to other dogs, trying to walk down a metre wide tow path (water one side and a big drop the other) filled with tourists, children and their dogs. We made it to the other side, but it was possibly the most stressful experience of my life!

After a few more miles of trudging along canal tow path (interestingly at one point we were 50m from a layby we broke down in the year before on the way to a training weekend in Snowdonia) we came upon Pete (@Pete_Knight on Twitter) who was walking with us for the rest of the day. Pete is a veteran of Offa’s Dyke, having walked the path the previous year. We found Pete very knowledgeable and personable – and we were very grateful to have him along on what had so far been a day of trudging.

Another motivational pick me up was our first encounter with the actual Offa’s Dyke (thus far we had been following the Offa’s Dyke route with no sign of the Dyke!). It does not look like much at this point – but it put us back in touch with the history of the route we are following!

After several more miles of hard earth and tarmac, we took the permissive route to Chirk Castle to meet up with the support team. At this point I was starting to really suffer from sore and painful feet – so a break was much needed.

Chirk Castle, now managed by The National Trust, was built in1295 as part of King Edward I’s chain of fortresses across the North of Wales (source: Wikipedia). A permissive route on Offa’s Dyke is open April to September which takes you through the grounds and right past the castle itself.

From Chirk Castle, and a fairly steep climb, the route rejoins Offa’s Dyke which it follows for several miles.

To be honest the rest of the day was a bit of blur – my feet were absolutely agony and all I could do was focus on keeping going. There was a lot more roads and the remains of the Oswestry Racecourse. By the time we reached the pub in Trefonen (which is also the location of the Offa’s Dyke brewery) I could barely walk and my feet felt like they were on fire. After a quick pint, we bid farewell to Pete – I was very grateful for his company, as his conversation kept me distracted from the pain in my feet!

We had struggled to find a campsite anywhere near Trefonen, but thanks to the wonders of Twitter, we had arranged to camp in the garden of Jude (@JabberingJude) who lived nearby. I came across Jude after doing a local search and asked her for recommendations of local campsites – without hesitation she had offered us space in her garden!

Alex and I had a thoroughly top evening with Jude, her husband Gary, and their lovely children – and we were spoiled rotten: home cooked dinner, fresh flapjack, beer, and a cooked breakfast in the morning (with possibly the best black pudding we have ever had). We had a lot of fun – and it was definitely our latest night to bed of the whole trip!

Jude is a fantastic artist, and you can see some of her work on her website: http://www.artbyjude.co.uk/

Gary runs his own business GWR Fasteners – http://www.gwr-fasteners.co.uk/

Sponsors of our Offa’s Dyke Challenge:

In April 2010, Alex and I (and my dog) undertook an epic adventure to walk the Offa’s Dyke National Trail in aid of  MS Society. This is my account of leg 1, The Clywdian Range – Prestatyn to Llangollen (5th April to 8th April 2010).

Day 1 – Prestatyn to Rhuallt (9 miles)

View all the photos from day 1 | View the interactive map for day 1

Prestatyn has few positive reviews from other walkers of Offa’s Dyke, so we made the decision to travel up (from Northampton) and make a start on our adventure on the first afternoon to get us out of town and into the Welsh countryside.

My dog, who could tell something exciting was happening, was very grateful when my parents, who were acting as our support team for the whole trip, turned up at 7.30am – the car was quickly loaded, and we were off! By 12.30pm, we were at the start and ready to go – the dog, whose excitement had reached mega-levels, was to be honest a bit of a nightmare with all the other dogs around, so, after a few quick photos, we headed off (sadly neglecting to wade into the sea or collect any pebbles).

The first few miles are straight through the fairly dull town center, but being fresh and eager we quickly left the town behind us and climbed up to the Prestatyn Hillside Nature Reserve. We past a couple of people just finishing Offa’s Dyke who, quite alarmingly, looked exhausted!

It was cloudy and windy, but the sun was straining through, and there was no sign of rain. There were amazing views across the valley to Snowdonia – and the snowy peaks of Snowdon were just about visible! The last few miles were through farm land, with fields filled with lots of baby lambs. Just as we had got into our stride, we left Offa’s Dyke to head to our campsite – Penisar Mynydd Caravan Park.

The campsite was the most expensive of our entire trip – partially this was due to an incorrect booking on my part, but even with the £5 donation they gave towards The MS Society (they couldn’t do a refund), it was still expensive. The facilities were pretty good, but compared to cheaper better campsites later in the trip, it was a disappointment.

After a dinner of Wayfarers Chicken Tikka and flavoured rice, we settled down for the night. We were sleeping in a 3 man Vango Banshee 300 tent (review to follow) – we could just about fit both of us, the dog (who had the most space of course!) and our two backpacks, but it was certainly cosy (although comfortable). It’s a good job we are good friends!

Day 2 – Rhuallt to Bodfari (9 miles)

View all the photos from day 2 | View the interactive map for day 2

Sleeping in a tent with my dog is a pain. At the end of a day’s walking, she will curl up and fall asleep straight after her tea – but this lulls you into a false sense of security. Her recovery time seems much quicker than ours, and once it gets light (any time after about 4am), she interprets any movement as a sign that something exciting is about to happen. This involves her leaping to her feet and trying to lick the face of the person who stirred (she has long ago perfected the art of getting her snout into the tiny opening of a sleeping bag) – the other person has the pleasure (?) of her big hairy tail whipping them in her excitement! On the morning of Day 2 we both agreed that the dog needs to be more tired!

Whilst Alex was in the shower I recorded an Audioboo – I had hoped to do this everyday, but to be honest I hate the sound of my own voice (and apparently sound unexcited), so this was the only daily update I did. Here it is:

We had quite a relaxed start, and left the campsite about 10am – in the evening we had arranged to camp in the garden of Elizabeth (@gwenoldy) who had walked Offa’s Dyke in 2009, so again we had quite a short day ahead of us.

The terrain was fairly hilly, but with some amazing views showing The Clywdian Range in the distance – we would be walking them properly the following day! The weather was mainly dull (occasionally the sun shone through) – but the rain seemed to be keeping away!

The “highlight” of the day was relating to snacks. At our first stop, Alex pulls out a solitary Crème Egg – I was a little disappointed that there was only one, so I unveiled a solitary Pepparami Hot – which I deem a far superior snack. A brief debate followed on Twitter as to which was the best snack, which Alex won (although subsequent discussions have shown that the people are with me on this!)

For the last few miles we could see the hilltop radio mast which marks our finish for the day. As we dropped down to Bodfari, we met another Offa’s Dyker – he was on his last day, and had to put up with snow, heavy rain and lots of mud during his walk, but had thoroughly enjoyed it. We both hoped the environmental conditions would fair better for us!

Sadly the pub was shut in Bodfari (so there goes our plan for a pub lunch), however we discovered the local shop did some excellent homemade pies, so we stocked up ready for the following day. As we trudged up the hill from Bodfari, the rain began (fortunately quite light) and we were met by Elizabeth – who escorted us to her lovely sixteenth century farmhouse on the hillside with stunning views across the valley. To see how wonderful it is, have a look at her blog: http://welshhillsagain.blogspot.com (they also have a holiday cottage available for hire).

There are several fantastic advantages to camping in people’s gardens: firstly, it is wonderful to meet people who you have been chatting with during the months of preparations (especially someone who has walked Offa’s Dyke before!), secondly, you have somewhere to dry out, and thirdly (and possibly the most important)….. tea and cake after a day of walking. Elizabeth had baked some fantastic lemon drizzle cake which we devoured for a few mugs of tea!

In the evening, Elizabeth’s husband drove us to the local pub, where we sheltered from the now quite heavy rain, had a lovely dinner and a few pints of “Wainwright” – indeed it is beer worth walking for! The pub, despite a no dog policy, very kindly let us come in with my dog as long as she was quiet and well behaved!

Day 3 – Bodfari to Gweryd Lakes (14 miles)

View all the photos from day 3 | View the interactive map for day 3

It rained throughout the night (the only time on the whole trip), but by morning the rain had stopped to be replaced by a bit of drizzle and a mist that clung to the hills around us.

After a wonderful breakfast – Elizabeth’s homemade damson jam was particularly delicious – we were given a lift back to where we left Offa’s Dyke the day before. It was a miserable morning – the stunning views from the hills we had hoped to see were replaced by an ere gloom. As our first proper day, we were keen to not push ourselves too much, so the plan was to get as far as Gweryd Lakes camp site, just North of Llandegla – about 14 miles of going up and down hills! Our muscles were feeling a little tight but, fueled by the breakfast, we headed into the mist.

It took a few hours, but eventually the mist began to clear, the sun appeared (admittedly accompanied by the wind) and the views around us started opening up – and wow…. the views were truly amazing. To the West we could see right across the plain to the peaks of Snowdonia in the distance – we could even make out the snow still on top of Snowdon!

After munching down our left over pies from the previous day, and a slice of Elizabeth’s left over lemon drizzle cake each, we headed up to the Jubilee Tower. The Jubilee Tower was built to commemorate the golden jubilee of George III in 1810. The tower was never finished, and a storm in 1862 blew the incomplete tower down. To make it safe, the tower was demolished down to the unsheltered base. See more on Wikipedia about Jubilee Tower and Moel Famau.

From the Jubilee Tower we followed the gently descending path down the hill – this was definitely the busiest part of the entire Offa’s Dyke, especially in half term with parents dragging their kids up to see the tower. As we descended, we met the support team, who accompanied us down to the car park to resupply us with water and flapjack – we have met them everyday so far to resupply dog food, but this was the first time they joined us for part of the walk.

For the rest of the day, the weather continued to improve – we actually even had a chance to sunbath during a break just off the A494 – there was supposed to be a restaurant, but sadly it wasn’t due to open for another two weeks (again our plans for a pint lay in tatters).

After a few more miles of sauntering along the edge of hills with wonderful views back the way we had come (even as far as the coast), we once again left Offa’s Dyke to drop down to Gweryd Lakes (review to follow), a campsite on the edge of a fishing lake tucked away in the middle of nowhere. By early evening the temperature started to drop quite suddenly, so after our boil in the bag dinner, we headed to bed.

Day 4 – Gweryd Lakes to Llangollen (13 miles)

View all the photos from day 4 | View the interactive map for day 4

Both Alex and I are in agreement that Day 4 was definitely the best day of the whole of Offa’s Dyke. Throughout the day there was such an amazing variety of landscapes, the weather was amazing, the distance just right and there was not too much climbing to do.

After a full cooked breakfast at the campsite cafe, we headed back to rejoin the Dyke. The first few miles were painful – my body had obviously started rejecting the punishment I was giving it, and my hips were bruised and my calfs were very stiff. A few miles in through, and all the aches and pains faded away!

To start the day, the terrain was moorland as we left the last of The Clywdian Range, but we quickly dropped down into lush farmland, following the course of the River Alun – the path weaving around trees and tributaries. As the temperature rose, I put the “fetch the pebble” trick to good use to encourage the dog to go for a swim to cool down.

At Llandegla (148 miles to go) we treated ourselves to an ice cream and a bottle of Lucozade, before heading up the hill towards Llandegla Forest – a wall of trees in front of us! Although just a conifer plantation, there was something very pleasant about the few miles spent in the Forest (forests always remind me of The Forest of Fangorn from Lord of The Rings). There was plenty of sunlight coming down through the trees, and the track gently meandered through the trees.

Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, we were out of the forest and in moorland following board walks over the bogs. Looking behind us, there was this amazing line of trees where the forest just stops.

We followed the path through the moorland, before meeting up with a single track road that drops down to Worlds End – here we met the support team who escorted us to the car park, their car, and more flapjack!

The final part of the day was truly stunning – from World’s End until we dropped down to our campsite on the outskirts of Llangollen, we were walking halfway up the hillside through the scree – there were wonderful views to the West, and imposing rocky crags above us.

As we approached Llangollen, we began to see the remains of, the presumably easily defendable, castle Dinas Bran (which means Castle of the City of Crows), towering over Llangollen. A castle has stood on the site since an iron age hill fort was built there in around 600BC. The visible remains are of the castle built in 1260 – it was destroyed by the Welsh in order to stop the English capturing it. Read more about Dinas Bran on Wikipedia.

After setting up camp at Tower Farm (review to follow), we headed down into the town for dinner and beers, at the very dog friendly Bridge End, to celebrate an awesome day!