Tuesday 4th July 2017 Welshpool - Pont Robert - 13 miles

Tuesday 4th July 2017 Welshpool - Pont Robert - 13 miles


Time to conquer Wales - 68 miles to go (according to the guide book!!).  A grey morning and we hit rain heading out, but by the time we got to Pont Robert, it was dry. Pont Robert was bigger than expected but we found parking by the Post Office and then headed back to Welshpool.

You follow the High Street out of Welshpool (much longer when you're walking!) to pick up the Glyndwr Way just past the steam railway. This takes you up (what else) over the parkland of Llanerclydol Hall and through farmland. Here we soon made our first error of the day, missing a stile hidden down in a dip in the hedge boundary! It took a fair bit of searching to find it and it obviously wasn't regularly walked; it was very overgrown! The next part was a bit obscure too, We think a field boundary hedge had been removed! We walked miles round the edge of the next field and the stile was meant to be 60 yards from the field corner! It wouldn't have been so bad, but the field margins were very narrow and full of brambles and nettles! When we eventually found the promised stile, it was very overgrown and in poor repair, but we squeezed across! This popped us out on the lane that you follow across Frochal Common and on out into open farmland with fabulous views all around! The weather had cleared totally and it was getting warm!

Eventually you leave the lanes to head off (up!) into Graig Wood - lovely old sessile oak woodland.

Here again, you are following Glyndwr's Way which helps navigation! You then drop into the newer planting  of Figyn Wood and the bracken was very lush - but also lots of butterflies and orchids.

You leave the wood to pick up a short section of road before turning off through a holiday park and equestrian centre. Stopping for a quick snack, perched on a handy wall, we met loads of people searching for a runaway riderless horse! Think it was long gone - we hadn't seen it!

Up again, across fields, down a lane, up around the edge of woodland - low trees, high nettles! Dropping down again, navigating from stile to stile, we were getting really warm with all this climbing! More ups and downs, but at least we were still following Glyndwr, which made things easier! Some stiles had been replaced with nice shiny kissing gates, but the 'ladder' by the rusty barn was very tricky - basically a fence of horizontal bars quite close together. So with no uprights to hang onto, or steps, and little room to fit your boots between the bars, it was a challenge an the gate was very firmly shut!

At the next lane, we left Glyndwr's Way, and headed off UP (again) around a wooded hill fort. The shade was welcome! More head high bracken to negotiate, up, up, up, and then a steep descent the other side! You finally come out onto a lane, with more stunning views, before dropping down across some very lumpy fields with some near vertical stiles to cross. All a bit tricky on a slope after rather a lot of miles! At least we could see Meifod ahead.

You then take the road into Meifod where we met a lovely lady watering her plants, who gave us a donation and offered us tea! Unfortunately, we couldn't stop as time was ticking - but how kind.

We rejoined the Glyndwr Way, to leave Meifod, climbing up again, firstly on lanes, then past gloomy conifers, then back to native broadleaf woodland over bumpy pasture land!

Ever upward, on lanes - fantastic views of the Vyrnwy Valley, down, then up yet again, across country, passing a lovely cottage - did someone call out to us? No time to stop, more lovely, open, rolling farmland, which took us back to Pont Robert! What a day! All very weary. Our planned 11 miles had somehow expanded to 13!?