Away Days
Hay on Wye. October 2009
Hay on Wye is world famous for its book festival and an excellent location for many leisure pursuits including walking, so it proved an excellent venue for our autumn weekend away. John, Tim, Barry, Roger, Guy, Ann, Gwen, and I ensconced ourselves in various B&B's in the Town and assembled at The Granary Café for light refreshments at noon on Friday for our afternoon walk. It was a sunny day, and Guy our intrepid and adventurous leader outlined his intention and general directions we would be taking. We set off on a northerly route above the town, with many steep inclines, meandering through lush farmland in the general direction of Little Mountain a vantage point with far reaching views. Apart from ourselves we met no one except sheep, lots of them and as always John and I got rather agricultural about sheep what to do with, and what not to do with them, but most definitely not to turn your back on a ram. Rams are not fussy. Apart from that we were all quite civilised and well behaved just enjoying the scenery. It was not long before we were heading back to Hay and a very welcome tea stop at The Granary and the usual debate about the distance walked. Guy was firm - it was 11miles. OK? The evening dinner is always an entertaining event combining alcohol and good food. The venue was The Old Black Lion Inn and we weren't disappointed, the food was excellent and the local ale was up to the mark. A good end to the day!
We awoke on Saturday morning to a change of weather, a strong wind blowing from the west with a bit a Welsh mist mixed in. Undeterred we met at The Granary Café, at 9.30am where Guy told us his plan for the day. We were to drive to Painscastle, park our cars and start the walk from there. We were joined by Phil Heneghan, our Globe trotting adventurer, who has recently become an authority on the game of conkers. He had come away for the weekend to escape from the pursuing press having recently appeared on TV explaining how to play conkers properly. Now the paparazzi were after him for interviews. Gone are the days when you would soak a conker in vinegar then bake in the oven to end up with a real hard conker. "That's cheating", said Phil, "and not allowed". Walking on through the Radnorshire countryside we encountered lots of stiles, dodgy gates and barbed wire fences. These farmers do try to deter walkers, but the Wilt's Group are no wimps. The route took us through isolated farmsteads, some of which were derelict with old rusting agriculture machinery left lying around.
We were heading for the village of Colva to visit the 12th century Church, one of the highest in Wales. We were lucky as when we arrived at the Church, which is usually locked, we found two elderly ladies inside preparing the Church in readiness for the following day's harvest festival. On seeing a bedraggled bunch of walkers they offered us tea and biscuits. A small contribution was made to the Church funds and we moved on. Gaining height, the landscape ever changing, walking along paths that weaved their way through the bracken hillside kept clear by grazing sheep, the views were incredible with vistas stretching far into the distance. Despite the force of the wind and mizzle,(Ed. Don't ask me, I've never heard of it either) one could see large areas of land covered in bracken dotted with isolated farms and green fields. We were on route to the hamlet of Glascym where we were to have our lunch in the grounds of a 13th century Church. Onward and upwards we climbed yet another hill. Conversations were reasonably brief and quite respectful partly because of the wind and conserving our breath for the next incline with the occasional comment from Phil: "How much further it is before we get to the pub." However it wasn't long before we eventually arrived back at the Roast Ox at Painscastle, for a welcome cup of tea, )except Phil) It had been a very invigorating walk covering over 18 miles and around 3500ft ascent and lots of beautiful scenery. That evening we tried another venue for dinner The Three Tuns, an excellent choice, good food and local ale.
On Sunday morning we convened again at the café, promptly at 9.30am. Roger, Barry and Gwen had returned home, but we were joined by Sarah (Betty's daughter) and her son Edward. The sun came out and the wind subsided. We were to follow the river Wye for a while as it meandered through low level farmland to Llowes one of the many quaint villages in Radnorshire. It wasn't long before we began to encounter some rather steep bracken covered hills with open views. We were heading for a well known land mark called The Roundabout, the highest point on The Begwyns. It can be seen for miles. "Just over the next hill" said Guy, and the next one, and so on. Finally we made it. The Roundabout has a clump of trees on one side and a horseshoe seating arrangement on the other. The views from this point are fantastic. Moving on it was all down hill to Paincastle, visiting The Roast Ox for lunch. Tim thought we should sample their local cider. It was good, but we had to limit out intake knowing we had to walk back to Hay via the village of Clyro. Some how it seemed not to take very long before we were back for tea at The Granary, where else.
So that brought us to the end of a very enjoyable weekend. We shared good company, great scenery, and had a inspirational leader. Make a note in your next year's diary - John Walker is leading a walk in the Peak District on the weekend of the 7th to 9th May.
BE THERE!
Adrian Crocker